AHIF13 Photo Gallery
2013 Speakers
Catalin Cighi
Managing Partner, Cain Hospitality Innovation
Khalaf Al Habtoor
Chairman, Al Habtoor Group
Amine Moukarzel
President, Golden Tulip Hotels, Suites & Resorts MENA
Salman A. Haider
Executive Managing Director, Hotels, Majid Al Futtaim Properties
Pascal Gauvin
Chief Operating Officer of IHG, India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA), IHG
Nilay Ozral
Director of Real Estate Operations, ALDAR Properties PJSC
Roeland Vos
President, Europe, Africa & Middle East, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Brian Rafferty
Vice President - Engineering, Jumeirah Group
Yousef Wahbah
Partner - Head of Transaction Advisory Real Estate, Hospitality and Leisure - MENA , Ernst & Young
Samer Abu Ayash
Head of Design, Construction & Real Estate, Kingdom Hotel investments
Julide Ozbilge Nuss
Food and Beverage Asset Manager, Abu Dhabi National Hotels
Selim El Zein
Head of Hospitality Asset Management, Colliers International MENA Region
Arthur de Haast
Chairman, Hotels and Hospitality Group, Jones Lang LaSalle
Jonathan Worsley
Chairman, Bench Events, Board Director, STR Global
Ahmed Al Fahim
Executive Director – Marketing, Communications, Sales and Leasing, TDIC
Margreet Papamichael
Director, AECOM Economics
Paul Griffiths
Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Airports
Lo’ai B. Bateineh
Head of Investment Mangement Group, Oman Arab Bank
Joe Sita
President, IFA Hotel Investments
Bani Haddad
Regional Vice President – Middle East & Africa, Wyndham Hotel Group
Bill Heinecke
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Anantara / Minor International PCL
Carlos Khneisser
Vice President Development - Middle East, Hilton Worldwide
Russel Sharpe
Chief Operating Officer, Citymax Hotels - Landmark Group
David Thomson
Chief Operating Officer, JA Resorts and Hotels
Gary Chapman
President Group Services & DNATA, Emirates Group
Maria Zarraluqui
Vice President Development, Melia Hotels International
Jennifer Fox
President, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
Guido de Wilde
Senior Vice President, Regional Director Middle East, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Alex Kyriakidis
President & Managing Director Middle East & Africa, Marriott International, Inc.
Ajay Malik
Senior Investment Officer, International Financial Corporation (IFC)
Cherif Hosny
Senior Vice President Development – Middle East, Africa & South Asia, Jumeirah Group
Rachel Ziemba
Head of Emerging Markets, Roubini Global Economics
Christophe Landais
Managing Director Middle East, ACCOR
Gabriel Von Bonsdorff
Assistant Vice President - Investments, IFA Hotels Investments
H.E. Mohammed Mahfoodh Al Ardhi
Vice Chairman, National Bank of Oman
Alain Debare
General Manager, Action Hotels
David Vely
Senior Vice President Development Middle East & Africa, Whitbread Hotels & Restaurants International
Mohmamed K. Al Dhaheri
Quality & Performance Manager, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority
Margaret McMahon
Managing Director, Wimberly Interiors
Richard Thompson
Editor, MEED
Dr Abdullah S. Alweshail
General Director National Project for Tourism HR Development, Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities
Gabriel Matar
Head of Hotels & Hospitality, Middle East & Africa, Jones Lang LaSalle
Anita Mendiratta
Managing Director, CACHET Consulting
Marcello Baricordi
Country Manager UAE, Visa
Andrew Sangster
Editorial Director, Hotel Analyst
Dr Salah Al-Bukayyet
Deputy Secretary General - Investments, Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities
Filippo Sona
Director and Head of Hotels (MENA Region) , Colliers International MENA Region
Hadi Nezir
Chairman, UB Holding
Paul Pisani
Senior Vice President, Hotel Development, Corinthia Hotels
Adel Ali
Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia
Nigel Teasdale
Senior Asset Manager, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC)
Dinesh Chadha
Head of Business Development, Citymax Hotels, Landmark Hospitality
Stefan Breg
Chief Worrier, TRIBE
Sarmad Zok
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Kingdom Hotel Investments
Dr Badr Al Badr
Chief Executive Officer, SHARACO
Christoph Härle
CEO Continental Europe, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels & Hospitality Group
Rudi Jagersbacher
President, Middle East and Africa, Hilton Worldwide
Taras Ettl
Vice President Development - Middle East & Africa, IHG
Essameldeen Abdelhady Mohamed
Chairman and Managing Director, The Egyptian General Company for Tourism and Hotels " E G O T H "
Duncan Fraser-Smith
Director of Food and Beverage Concepts Asia Middle east and Africa, IHG
Amr Abdel Ghaffar
Regional Director - Middle East, UNWTO
Yann Caillere
Chief Executive Officer, Accor
Susan Harmsworth MBE
Chief Executive Officer, ESPA International
Geoffrey Breeze
Executive Director , World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)
Raja Nasri
Chairman, Turnkey Ventures
Eric Danziger
President & CEO, Wyndham Hotel Group
Jean-Jacques Dessors
COO Africa, Middle East, Indian Ocean & Caribbean Islands, ACCOR
Kevin Underwood
Vice President & Principal, AECOM Design + Planning
Ahmer Naushad
Director - Asset Management and Business Planning, Majid Al Futtaim Properties
Wolfgang M. Neumann
President & CEO, The Rezidor Hotel Group
Hamad Eghdani
Director of Government Relations & Emiratisation , Emaar Hospitality Group & Emaar Hotels + Resorts (Armani Hotels Group)
Elizabeth Randall Winkle
Managing Director, STR Global
Gerald Lawless
President and Group Chief Executive Officer, Jumeirah Group
Olivier Granet
Director of Development Middle East, ACCOR
Mohamed Najia
Secretary General, Kuwait Hotel Owners Association
Ivor McBurney
Vice President Finance – Development Projects, Kingdom Hotel Investments
Hala Matar Choufany
Managing Director, HVS Dubai
HE Helal Al Marri
Director General, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing
Darroch Crawford
Managing Director, Premier Inn Hotels International
Neil George
Vice President, Acquisitions & Development EAME, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Welcome to AHIC 2014
Welcome to AHIC 2014, we hope you can join us in celebrating our 10th year! AHIC has proven to be the Middle East's annual meeting place for the region's most senior hotel investors, developers, operators and advisors. It is the annual conference that connects business leaders from international and local markets to do deals accross the region.
Year on year AHIC attracts over 600 attendees from over 40 countries. It is addressed by over 120 industry leaders, speakers & panelists. The conference provides a wealth of networking opportunities through lavish evening receptions, roundtables, online networking systems, buffet lunches and workshops. Click here to view the 2013 attendee list
Attend this event and you will see it as an invaluable platform to promote your business, meet potential business partners and further your knowledge by learning from the biggest leaders of the hotel investment industry.
Ahead of AHIC 2014, given the success of the regional briefings last year, we will be hosting another series of regional briefings in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Egypt bringing together the local investment, development and finance community. These briefings are invitation only, if you are interested in learning more, please click here
To see what happened at the 2013 event, click here to download the post-show report
A snapshot of AHIC 2013
Congratulations to our Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Khalaf Al Habtoor, The award was presented by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, who is also the key patron of AHIC.
"Middle East" to attract 141 million tourists in 2013
"Achieving the 20-million tourist target by 2020 is a great challenge and we are looking forward to achieve this goal with the help of private sector to make Dubai top tourist destination in the world, HE Helal Al Marri, Director General, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said at the conference. Referring to the recently-concluded Emirates-Qantas partnership, Almarri said the deal has p made the task easy for Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, which he is director-general of. Amr Abdel Ghaffar, regional director for the Middle East at the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), spoke on the future of travel in the Middle East and said the region is expected to welcome 141 million visitors by 2030 as travel trends shift from West to East. Adel Ali, chief executive officer of Air Arabia, said a GCC tourist visa would be a "fantastic move" that will promote tourism in the region.”In another panel discussion, Emirates Group president for group services and Dnata Gary Chapman, Dubai Airports CÉO Paul Griffiths, and Jumeirah Group President and group CEO Gerald Lawless discussed various environmental aspects in the hospitality and aviation industries.
20,000 hotel rooms will enter UAE's market by 2015
UAE witnesses 20,000 new hotel rooms by 2015 according to a study done by Jones Lang LaSalle that was discussed in Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) 2013 at Madinat in participation of key corporations such as Dnata, Visa Credit card, and Jumeirah International Group.
AHIC told 150 hotels to open in the GCC in 2013
“We have 150 hotels opening this year in the GCC and 450 in the pipeline so we are going to have a lot of construction in the sector in the next few years,” Jonathan Worsley stated in his opening remarks.
Kingdom Hotel Investments says Africa is next hot spot
Sarmad Zok, chairman and CEO of Kingdom Hotel Investments says Africa is a hotspot the company is looking to for potential investment.
Addressing AHIC, he said, "Africa is the mother of all resources in the world. It's a bit like Asia 30 years ago."
Let us keep you informed
We have many knowledgeable industry sponsors, supporters and friends who keep us up to date with the latest news and reports which we are happy to share with you, Visit our Market intelligence Library which is updated weekly and stay ahead with the latest news from AHIC and the hotel investment industry.
Why not follow us on twitter via @ahicevent or join our linkedin group which has over 900 members.
This was my first time at AHIC and I found it to be a great learning experience… If you are in the business of hotels (or plan to be in it) or are associated with businesses interested in B2B contacts in the MENA Region, AHIC is the must attend event.
Salman Haider
Executive Managing Director HotelsMajid Al Futtaim Properties
Organisers
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