EVENTS
SEEN AND HEARD
WHAT WE LEARNED AT AHIC More than 700 hospitality owners, investors, developers and operators from across the Middle East and Africa came together for the 17th edition of AHIC, which took place live and in person from September 20-22 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. We asked four of AHIC’s guest speakers to share their outlook on hospitality in a post-Covid-19 era. For the first time, AHIC 2021, organized by Bench and MEED, has brought together the four close-knit investment communities of the Arabian Hospitality Investment Conference (AHIC), Saudi Arabia Hospitality Investment Conference (SHIC), Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) and the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) under one roof. United by the theme “Rise Together”, more than 700 investors, financiers, franchise
owners, innovators, developers, brand leaders and tourism officials networked, shared insights and did business, with the potential for partnerships greater than ever. The program featured close to 200 speakers, including keynote interviews with hoteliers such as Sébastien Bazin, CEO and chairman, Accor; José Silva, chief executive officer, Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts; and Kenneth Macpherson, chief executive officer, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa, IHG.
While conversation on the main stage centered on how to recover and rise up from the Covid-19 pandemic, was also available a roster of workshops, numerous networking opportunities and a host of special features including the Sustainability Hospitality Challenge and the AHIC Innovation Den. ahic.com
“The crisis seems to have aligned both the owners’ and the operators’ interests toward one common goal: the long-term survival of the business. At Stirling, we know that disruption creates opportunities. If you have the right strategy and the right people, you can achieve amazing things. As it became clear that the impact of Covid-19 would be long lasting for the industry, new initiatives were launched.”
DONALD BREMNER COO, RAK National Hotels
MARCUS BERNHARDT
CEO, Steigenberger Hotels AG / Deutsche Hospitality Fotocredits © Steigenberger Hotels AG.
CARLOS KHNEISSER
VP development, Middle East & Africa, Hilton
ANDREW MCEVOY
Head of tourism sector, NEOM
“The outlook is very positive. There is strong pent-up demand, and destinations such as NEOM are being built sustainably, with a post-Covid future in mind. The world craves travel, and NEOM will be a place like no other.”
26
HOSPITALITY NEWS ME | OCT - NOV 2021
“Despite the array of unfavorable commercial conditions during the pandemic, we have worked extremely hard to continue our growth trajectory and leverage high market confidence in our brands, and we are seeing green shoots of recovery. With business starting to come back, we were ready to reap the rewards of efforts that we put in place. Thanks to the robust recovery and development framework that Hilton created, our brands will continue to carefully nurture a recovery that will only grow larger and stronger as we move into what we all hope will be a post-pandemic phase for the industry.”
“Deutsche Hospitality is looking ahead optimistically. We are planning to grow to 700 hotels by 2027 and have used the period during the pandemic to set up the company for strong growth. We have a diversified portfolio across all segments, from luxury to economy, and will drive growth particularly in the midscale and economy segments via franchise, mergers and acquisitions. Diversification and digitalization are becoming even more significant. In general, we see a strong desire to travel. Business travel will take longer to recover than leisure travel, but face-to-face encounters are returning — often in conjunction with digital options. Many of the safety protocols implemented to address Covid-19 will become standard practices. The upcoming Expo in Dubai will be a great opportunity to show the whole world that business and travel is making a comeback.”
