Most founders enter a new market from the top. Amirans Kavtaradze walked in through the front door and started selling. He had run his own real estate companies in Europe, a career begun in Latvia in 2008 and continued in London, and every reason to arrive in Dubai as a chief executive. Instead, in 2022, he took a job as a broker at one of the city’s large agencies.

“I deliberately started on the front line,” he says. “Within two years I knew exactly how this market works: what investors actually need, which projects perform and, most importantly, what was missing.” His conclusion: Dubai did not need another brokerage. “What was missing was never brokers; Dubai has thousands. It was a company that owns the client’s entire journey.”

“A person entering the UAE isn’t just buying an apartment; they’re often relocating a life: opening a business here, moving an existing one, bringing the family, finding schools for the kids, arranging residency and banking.” The market, he says, “forced them to assemble all of that alone, piece by piece, across companies that never talked to each other.”

So, Alcenza Properties, his own agency, had a different premise from day one: give the investor the full cycle in one place.

The inversion

The conventional reading is that a successful brokerage later diversified. Kavtaradze says that reverses the sequence.

“People assume the ecosystem came later, as an add-on to a successful brokerage. The truth is the opposite: the ecosystem was the founding idea, and brokerage was the right place to start, because handling the largest purchase of someone’s life is where trust is earned.” Alcenza Business Services, he says, “simply gave that idea its own home.” Alcenza Properties proved itself fast. “In our first year we were already among the top 10 partners of developers like Emaar and Nakheel.”

Scaling judgment, not revenue

Ask what has been hardest about growing quickly and he names none of the usual suspects. “The hardest thing to scale isn’t revenue; it’s judgment. The barrier to entry in Dubai brokerage is low; the barrier to consistency is enormous.”

His diagnosis is unusually blunt for a chief executive on the record. “Most of the competition here isn’t really between companies; it’s between hungry agents fighting for money today. No strategy, no thought about tomorrow: push whatever project pays the highest commission, collect, move on.” The consequence is visible in the resale market: “You see buyers who bought into certain projects and now can’t resell them, or exit at a painful loss. The client ends up paying the price for the agent’s hunger.”

Alcenza Properties’ counter-position is a constraint it imposes on itself: it will not sell an illiquid project for a higher commission. “A client should come to us once and stay for life. That means defending only their interests,” he says. “What matters is location, location and location again, and the client’s actual goal: a home for the family or an investment with a clear exit. A genuinely happy client comes back tomorrow, brings a friend, and works with you for years. That philosophy, more than anything, is what separates us in this market.”

Institutionalising that is harder, and he treats it as an operational problem, not a values statement. The company hires for character before track record, trains agents to advise rather than push, and uses AI to strip away the administrative routine so agents’ hours go to clients. Success is measured on repeat business and referrals, “the only honest test of the philosophy.” The external scorecard is the developers. “Developers see everything: when Emaar places us among its top partners, and Meraas and Nakheel rank us in their top five, I read it as evidence that our standards survived our growth.” Then he refuses the tidy ending: “That challenge never ends, and it shouldn’t.”

The contrarian on AI

Kavtaradze departs most sharply from the proptech consensus on what AI should be allowed to touch. The fashionable investment is AI-powered lead qualification: bots screening prospects before a human gets involved.

Alcenza Properties has refused to build it. “People buy from people,” he says. “A property purchase is one of the most emotional decisions a person ever makes: there’s excitement, there’s fear, there’s a family behind it. A great agent reads all of that in the first two minutes and adapts. No algorithm does that. AI can process language, but it can’t feel the moment, and it can’t build the trust that closes a seven-figure deal.”

The objection is also commercial. “Part of your audience doesn’t notice, and a large part is turned off instantly; AI qualification calls have become the new spam.” Meanwhile, competition for attention in the UAE keeps driving up the cost of every lead.

He concedes one exception. When leads arrive faster than a team can answer, “a robot beats a lead that sits untouched until everyone forgets it existed. But that’s triage, not a sales strategy.”
The bigger risk is invisible. “A machine filters people out at its own discretion, and these models carry a known error rate, filling gaps with assumptions that aren’t grounded in fact. Every such mistake is a paying client silently deleted from your pipeline.”
So Alcenza Properties points the technology the other way. “AI belongs behind the agent, multiplying their capacity. Not between the agent and the client, killing the relationship before it starts.”

Building the machine behind the agent

That principle is now a product. Alcenza is building its own ecosystem inside its CRM, built around AI, “not features for a demo, but tools agents actually need every day.”

Start with listings, the industry’s hidden tax. “On most platforms, getting a live listing onto the portals is heavy work: documents collected by hand, forms, checks, formatting.”

So the company built its own publication system. It verifies documents automatically, matching the data inside them against the listing fields, turns quick photos shot on an agent’s phone into professional images, and generates the title and description. “The agent ticks a few fields, and the listing cross-publishes from our CRM to all the major portals and across our partner and project sites.”
The same logic runs through the rest of the agent’s day. When a lead arrives, the agent gets an instant WhatsApp notification with the project information already assembled. “All that’s left is to pick up the phone and talk to the client.”

The pipeline maintains itself. “Nobody has to live inside the CRM: the system recognises the actions an agent has taken with a client and updates the pipeline automatically.” A working day of data entry becomes 10 to 20 minutes of review and comments. Internal chat assistants answer agents’ questions and retrieve information on demand.

Notice what is deliberately absent. Nothing in the stack talks to a customer. AI verifies documents, writes listing copy, files data and routes information, all upstream of the conversation, never inside it. Where it does touch the top of the funnel, it is narrow by design: filtering spam and verifying suspicious contacts, “so they never eat an agent’s time.” Below that, it automates the routine that fills an agent’s day: listings, documents, follow-ups, reporting.

“Every tool exists to return time to the conversation with the client. Free an agent from routine, and the same agent properly handles far more leads, and a human talking to a human converts far more often than any bot ever will.” Technology claims are usually unfalsifiable, because growth has many causes. So he offers the cleanest natural experiment his business has produced. “We spent about a year working toward a target number of live listings. After these tools went live, we doubled that number in less than three months. Same team, same market, same standards; the only thing that changed was the technology.”

He does not overclaim. “Growth always has many parents, and I’d never deny what recruitment and training contribute. But when you see a step change like that with the same people, you know what caused it.” The rule is short: “If we can’t measure a tool’s effect, we don’t scale it.”

Reading a maturing market

His read on the market is neither promotional nor bearish. “Every property market in the world is cyclical, and the UAE is no exception. This market has been through several crises, and every time the recovery carried it to a higher level than before.” That is the context for the current numbers: nearly eighty thousand transactions worth roughly Dhs286bn in the first half of 2026, “after the boom of 2021–2024, not during it. That isn’t speculation anymore; that’s structure.”

Composition matters more than the total. “The clearest sign of maturity is who is buying, and why. A few years ago off-plan dominated, and much of it was bought to flip. Today the focus is shifting toward ready homes, because people aren’t just parking capital here; they’re moving here. More demand comes from people buying a home to live in, and that end-user base is exactly what makes a market stable.”
Then the argument he thinks international investors still underestimate.

That gap, he says, is why close to 10,000 millionaires relocate to the UAE every year, more than to any other country, “and why business follows: the Emirates are investing heavily in AI and turning themselves into a global platform for technology companies and startups. For the next decade, this is where people will come to build a business and raise a family.”

Turn to the next two to three years, and he gets specific. The opportunities, as he sees them, are “prime and waterfront locations with genuinely constrained supply; branded residences; communities where end-user demand outruns supply; and the corridors around Dubai South and the Al Maktoum airport expansion.” The risks are as clearly drawn: “a heavy supply pipeline through 2027 in specific segments, and off-plan bought purely to flip, with no underwriting of the developer, the location or the exit.”

His verdict splits the difference. “I don’t expect a crash, but returns will diverge sharply between good assets and average ones. The era of buying anything and watching it double is
over; the era of buying the right asset, with the right advice, is just beginning.”

The second engine
“Relocating to a new country is always stressful,” Kavtaradze says. “Unfamiliar laws, procedures, paperwork; even registering the property you’ve just bought can feel overwhelming.” Most Alcenza Properties’ customers are international, and for them the purchase is an entry point, not an endpoint: residency, “often the Golden Visa their property already qualifies them for”, a bank account, a company licence, the relocation of a business, schools for the children. “We watched clients complete a flawless purchase with us and then walk alone into a fragmented, opaque services market. That’s the gap this company was created to close.”

The proposition is deliberately unglamorous. “Come, choose, buy, and relax. We’ll open the bank account, handle the visa, transfer the business, even place the kids in kindergarten and school, and anyone who has faced Dubai’s school waitlists knows what kind of headache we’re removing. The client shouldn’t have to worry about a single step twice: we organise it, we process it, it gets done.”
The flow runs both ways. “You don’t need to buy property to come to us; many arrive first to open a company. But we know how that story continues: today he sets up a business, tomorrow he buys an apartment or an office with us, later he expands, rents or sells.”

“We don’t chase profit here and now. We’re built for relationships that last, where every single request gets handled, and the client has a reason to stay with us for decades.” The strategic reading is sharper than the service list suggests: “Dubai’s growth story isn’t really about property; it’s about people moving their lives and businesses here. Property is just the most visible part of that move.”

Building for 2033
Is the ambition a full-service platform for investors entering the UAE rather than a brokerage? “Yes, that’s precisely the ambition, and everything we see confirms the timing.”

“Over the next five years, the UAE will be the country people actively move to, and that’s not just my optimism, it’s the government’s published strategy.” He lists them: D33, aiming to double the economy by 2033 and place Dubai among the world’s top three cities to live, work and do business in; the 2040 Urban Master Plan, building for a population approaching six million; and the Land Department’s target of a trillion dirhams in transactions and 33 per cent homeownership by 2033.

“Dubai is building the city of the future openly, on a published schedule, and it has a habit of beating its own deadlines. When a city publishes plans like that, you align your own growth with them.”

Demand is already running ahead of it. “There’s product for every taste, yet commercial occupancy sits at 95 per cent and higher; in prime districts there’s simply no space left; business is outgrowing the city.” The country, he adds, will welcome more newcomers every year.

Three things sit on the roadmap.
1. International reach. Expanding the office network and international representation, “bringing the UAE closer to the markets our clients come from.”
2. Tokenisation. A dedicated service, built on regulation already in place: “the Land Department has launched tokenised title deeds, and the secondary market is live.” His interest is in who it admits: “Tokenisation will open this market to investors entering with smaller capital, letting them hold a share of UAE real estate and earn from it.”
3. Exclusives. “Several projects are already under our exclusive management, which lets us control quality end-to-end: the property, the transaction, and every service around it, from company formation to handover. The more of the chain we control, the more we can personally answer for the result.”
The finished product is an experience, not a service list. “You don’t worry about a thing. We start the entire process remotely: the selection, the structuring, the residency, the company, the schools, so you fly in at the last moment, when it’s all ready. One decision, one team, zero stress.”

The internal design mirrors it. “We’ll keep building the company the same way: so that both clients and agents feel it was made for them. When agents aren’t buried in routine, they understand the client better, and the client feels it. I want Alcenza Properties to be as comfortable and modern as Dubai itself.”

Kavtaradze has a phrase for what he wants the company to become: “The first call a person makes when they decide the UAE is their future, and the last partner they ever need to replace.”

The UAE’s new rules restricting access to social media for children under 15 could have far-reaching implications for technology companies well beyond traditional social media platforms, according to Jamie Ryder, partner and Middle East head of Entertainment and Media at international law firm Reed Smith.

While much of the public discussion has centred on social media companies, Ryder says the legal definition is significantly broader than many businesses may realise.

“The definition of ‘Social Media Platform’ in Cabinet Resolution No. (106) of 2026 Regarding the Regulation of Children’s Access to Social Media Platforms (the Resolution) is far broader than you might expect, and it captures any platform that enables user profiles, social interaction, content sharing, or algorithmic recommendation,” Ryder says.

“The ‘or’ throughout the definition is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Gaming companies, streaming services, and effectively any digital platform with social or interactive features should be paying close attention.”

He notes that gaming platforms with player profiles and in-game chat, as well as streaming services offering personalised recommendations, could potentially fall within the scope of the regulation.

“The Ministry of Family has signalled that the initial focus is on ‘pure’ social media platforms, but the legal definition extends beyond pure social media.”

Broad compliance implications

According to Ryder, businesses should not wait for regulators to determine whether they are covered by the rules.

“The starting point is the four-limb definition of ‘Social Media Platform’ set out in the Resolution. If a platform enables user accounts, or facilitates social interaction, or allows content publication, or uses algorithmic recommendations (with the key being ‘or’, not ‘and’) the platform could be in scope.” He advises companies to assess their existing products against the legislation and begin compliance planning immediately.

“Businesses should map their product features against the definition, assess where they currently sit from a compliance perspective, and start planning for compliance, rather than waiting for a regulator to tell them they are in scope.”

Beyond gaming and streaming, Ryder says the legislation could potentially affect a much wider range of digital businesses.

“Educational technology platforms with user profiles and discussion forums; Ecommerce platforms with community features, reviews, or recommendation engines; even a fitness app that lets users share workout content or connect with friends could all, on a literal reading, satisfy part of the definition.”

He adds that commentary from the Ministry of Family has acknowledged the possibility of children moving to gaming chat platforms instead of traditional social media, suggesting regulators are aware of the broader digital ecosystem.

Platform blocking a key commercial risk

One of the most significant enforcement tools available to UAE regulators is the ability to block non-compliant platforms.

“The most immediate and practical risk is platform blocking,” Ryder says. “The UAE has a well-established track record of blocking non-compliant digital services, and both Federal Decree by Law No. (26) of 2025 Regarding Child Digital Safety (the Child Digital Safety Law) and the Resolution expressly provide for partial or total blocking as a consequence of non-compliance.”

Rather than waiting for additional guidance on administrative penalties, Ryder believes businesses should use the current compliance window to strengthen their systems.

“Our advice is not to wait for the administrative penalty framework to be finalised. The core obligations, for example age verification, account restrictions for under-15s, enhanced safeguards for 15 to 16-year-olds, etc., are clear enough to act on now.”

He recommends companies conduct a gap analysis and begin implementing compliant systems, while recognising that further regulatory clarification may require adjustments.
Although the Resolution provides a compliance window until 29 June 2027, Ryder notes that platforms may effectively face an earlier deadline because the Child Digital Safety Law expires on 31 December 2026.

“As ‘Social Media Platforms’ are also covered under the Child Digital Safety Law, it would be prudent to target the earlier date.”

Privacy and child safety must be balanced

The introduction of age verification requirements also creates new challenges around personal data protection.

“There is an obvious, but necessary, tension at the heart of the Resolution,” Ryder says.

“Effective age verification may require platforms to collect sensitive data, for example biometric information, identity documents, facial images, etc. — information that they would have never previously processed.”

However, he notes that the UAE’s personal data protection framework also requires organisations to minimise data collection and retention.

“The key is proportionality. Collect only what is necessary to achieve the purpose (i.e. Age verification), do not retain it beyond the verification process, and be transparent with users about what personal data is being processed, and why.”

“Platforms that build privacy-by-design into their verification systems from the outset will be best positioned to meet both sets of obligations.”

More regulation to come

Looking ahead, Ryder expects the UAE’s child online safety framework to continue evolving through additional implementing regulations. “It is hard to say with certainty, but what is clear is that this is the first chapter, rather than the last.”

He expects future regulations to address platform classification, media content standards, administrative penalties and technical age-verification requirements, while increasing regulatory scrutiny across the sector.

For international technology companies operating across multiple jurisdictions, Ryder believes compliance will become increasingly complex as governments pursue similar policy objectives through different legal frameworks.

“There is clear convergence on policy objective, that is, governments worldwide are moving to strengthen child safety online. But the implementation mechanisms differ, and that undoubtedly creates complexity.”

His advice to technology companies operating in the UAE is straightforward.

“Do not wait!”

“The regulatory direction is clear, even if much of the detail is still to come. Companies that engage proactively (including potentially engaging with the regulators during the ramp-up period), will be far better positioned than those that treat this as a future problem.”

He concludes that “the commercial risk of getting this wrong, particularly the risk of platform blocking, should be a significant motivating factor in getting compliance right.”

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) reported resilient first-half 2026 earnings despite the Iranian attack on Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD) that forced an emergency shutdown of its Al Taweelah operations, with stronger aluminium prices and disciplined cost management helping offset the financial impact.

The UAE aluminium producer reported adjusted EBITDA of Dhs4.51bn for the six months ended June 30, up 11 per cent year-on-year, while adjusted net profit rose 34 per cent to Dhs2.46bn. The company said these adjusted figures exclude the impact of the Iranian attack, which struck KEZAD in March and disrupted operations.

On a reported basis, after accounting for the incident, EBITDA stood at AED4.42bn, while net income came in at Dhs1.74bn after recognising a net impact of Dhs725m related to the attack.

Read: After Iran attacks, Emirates Global Aluminium warns of 12-month recovery at KEZAD site

The results underline how favourable market conditions helped cushion the blow from the shutdown. EGA said earnings were supported by higher realised aluminium prices, stronger regional premiums, lower alumina prices and disciplined cost management, despite lower production and sales volumes following the disruption.

Revenue declined 10 per cent year-on-year to Dhs13.54bn as cast metal production fell 29 per cent and aluminium sales dropped 32 per cent due to reduced output at Al Taweelah. However, Jebel Ali maintained uninterrupted production throughout the period, while EGA established alternative export routes outside the Strait of Hormuz to continue customer shipments and secure raw material supplies.

Global aluminium market conditions also remained supportive. The average London Metal Exchange aluminium price rose to $3,382 per tonne in the first half of 2026 from $2,538 a year earlier, while regional premiums increased sharply across Japan, Europe and the United States.

Chief executive Abdulnasser Bin Kalban described the first half as “the most challenging period in the long history of EGA”, adding that the company’s financial and operational performance demonstrated its resilience despite significant logistics challenges. He said the company continued to make deliveries to customers while advancing the restoration of production at Al Taweelah.

EGA said restoration work at Al Taweelah is progressing, with 227 reduction cells—around 18 per cent of the smelter’s total capacity—restarted as of this week. Production is expected to gradually recover to pre-incident levels in the first quarter of 2027, while capital expenditure for the restoration programme is estimated at around Dhs1.5bn

talabat Holding raised its full-year guidance on Wednesday after second-quarter revenue increased 16 per cent, supported by growth in its customer base, grocery operations and advertising business.

Revenue rose to $1.14bn in the three months ended June 30 from $981m a year earlier. At constant currency, revenue grew 17 per cent.

Gross merchandise value, or GMV, increased 11 per cent to $2.92bn on a reported basis and 12 per cent at constant currency.

talabat estimated underlying GMV growth at about 15 per cent after adjusting for the timing of Eid Al Fitr.

The company said the holiday fell 10 days earlier in 2026, supporting first-quarter growth while raising the comparative base for the second quarter.

Quarterly net income fell 18 per cent to $100m from $121m, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation declined 13 per cent to $147m.

The adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed to 5 per cent of GMV from 6.4 per cent a year earlier. The company attributed the decline to investments in food delivery and its broader platform.

Free cash flow dropped 41 per cent to $162m, partly because the timing of working-capital items had lifted the figure in the same period last year.

Guidance raised

talabat now expects constant-currency GMV growth of 13 to 15 per cent in 2026, compared with its previous forecast of 11 to 14 per cent.

It raised its revenue growth forecast to 16 to 18 per cent from 14 to 17 per cent.

The company expects adjusted EBITDA of between $535m and $565m, up from its previous guidance of $510m to $540m. Its net income forecast was raised to between $325m and $355m from $300m to $330m.

Free cash flow is expected to reach between $400m and $430m, compared with an earlier forecast of $370m to $400m.

Talabat maintained its dividend policy of paying 90 per cent of net income. It expects to declare an interim dividend based on first-half earnings in September and pay it in October.

talabat’s first-half performance highlights

First-half GMV increased 15 per cent to $5.6bn, while revenue rose 19 per cent to $2.19bn.

Adjusted EBITDA declined 11 per cent to $277m, with the margin narrowing to 4.9 per cent from 6.4 per cent. Net income fell 18 per cent to $186m, while free cash flow declined 29 per cent to $266m.

The comparative first-half figures were prepared on a pro forma basis as though Talabat’s acquisition of Instashop, completed on February 25, 2025, had taken place at the start of that year.

GCC GMV reached $2.27bn during the second quarter, up 5 per cent and accounting for 78 per cent of the total. Non-GCC GMV rose 41 per cent to $642m and represented 22 per cent.

Investment programme

Talabat is implementing a $120m investment programme in 2026, comprising about $75m in operating expenditure and $45m in capital expenditure.

The programme is focused on expanding Talabat Mart’s dark-store and supply-chain network, extending benefits offered through the Talabat Pro subscription service and developing new retail and related services.

The company deployed close to $58m in operating, capital and lease expenditure under the programme during the first half.

Active partners increased 14 per cent to about 97,000 in the second quarter, while the active rider network grew 25 per cent to approximately 189,000.

Customers ordering across more than one category generated 75 per cent of GMV, up four percentage points from a year earlier. Talabat Pro subscribers accounted for 51 per cent of GMV on the Talabat platform.

Talabat had repurchased 108.1 million shares as of August 12 at an average price of Dhs1.182 per share.

The shares cost about $35m and represented 0.46 per cent of the company’s issued capital. Shareholders approved the buyback programme at Talabat’s annual general meeting in April.

The Middle East has become one of the most closely watched hospitality markets in the world, a region that keeps drawing tourists, business travellers and investors even as global uncertainty tests demand elsewhere. For IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the sector’s largest operators, that resilience is both an opportunity and a test of strategy.

Few people are better placed to read the region’s direction than Haitham Mattar, MD, India, Middle East & Africa at IHG Hotels & Resorts. With more than 37 years of experience in global destination and hospitality management and marketing, Mattar has helped shape destination strategies on both sides of the equation, as CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority and as a senior advisor to Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambitions, before returning to lead IHG’s growth across a portfolio of more than 224 hotels and a pipeline of over 245 properties in 2021.

In this conversation with Gulf Business, Mattar discusses how geopolitical shifts are reshaping travel demand, why the GCC continues to defy global headwinds, and where IHG sees its strongest growth. He also reflects on the forces redefining the guest experience, from artificial intelligence and sustainability to changing expectations of what a hotel should be, and shares the lessons from destination-building that now guide the group’s expansion across the region.

Geopolitical developments have influenced travel patterns and investor sentiment globally. How has the current geopolitical landscape affected hospitality demand in the Middle East, and how is IHG adapting its strategy in response?

The Middle East has consistently demonstrated an ability to absorb periods of global uncertainty and continue generating demand across multiple segments. While geopolitical developments have influenced short-term travel flows to varying degrees, the impact has not been uniform across markets. Resorts, staycations, long-stay accommodation and religious tourism have remained comparatively resilient, supported by strong domestic and regional GCC demand. Throughout, the safety and wellbeing of our guests and colleagues remain a constant priority, and we continue to monitor developments carefully.

Our role is to help owners adapt quickly and make informed decisions during periods of uncertainty. We take a market-by-market approach, working closely with owners and our teams on the ground to adjust commercial strategies and operational plans where needed. We are also tracking booking pace, lead times and the recovery of key source markets. While we remain cautious given the wider geopolitical environment, early indicators suggest travel confidence is returning, which is encouraging as we look ahead to the remainder of the year and beyond.

Despite global uncertainty, the GCC continues to attract tourists, business travellers, and investors. What factors are driving the region’s resilience, and where do you see the strongest growth opportunities?

The GCC’s resilience is underpinned by strong long-term fundamentals: economic diversification, sustained infrastructure investment, global aviation connectivity and clear national tourism strategies. Across the region, governments continue to invest in destinations, cultural attractions, entertainment, sports, business events and transport networks, creating a broader and more sustainable mix of demand.

Another important factor is the diversity of the region’s travel proposition. The UAE benefits from a mature tourism ecosystem and an established position as a global hub for leisure, business, MICE, family travel and luxury experiences. Saudi Arabia combines strong domestic and religious tourism with growing corporate, government, events, entertainment and leisure demand. Egypt, as part of the wider region, also continues to stand out as a high-potential market, supported by its scale, strong leisure appeal, cultural heritage and improving infrastructure.

Looking ahead, we see particularly strong opportunities in luxury and lifestyle hospitality, branded residences, resorts, long-stay accommodation, conversions and mainstream brands that can serve both domestic and international travellers.

How is IHG approaching expansion across the Middle East, and what role do markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia play in the group’s long-term growth strategy?

We are deliberate about where and how we grow, bringing the right brand to the right location based on rigorous demand analysis and each project’s long-term potential. For us, growth is about long-term value, not scale for its own sake. We work closely with owners, developers and tourism authorities to ensure our growth supports both destination priorities and the performance of individual hotels. Across the region, our focus is on quality growth that strengthens our portfolio, responds to evolving demand and creates long-term value for owners.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia are central to this strategy. As of March 2026, IHG has 39 hotels and nearly 12,000 rooms in the UAE, with 12 hotels and over 2,300 rooms in the pipeline. In Saudi Arabia, we have 48 hotels and approximately 24,800 rooms, with a further 62 hotels and close to 20,000 rooms in the pipeline. The UAE offers maturity, global connectivity and a highly diversified visitor base, while Saudi Arabia provides significant scale and new demand across religious tourism, business, events, entertainment and emerging leisure destinations.

IHG has continued to grow its portfolio across different segments, from luxury and lifestyle to midscale brands. How is changing traveller behaviour influencing the brands and concepts the group is bringing to the region?

Travellers increasingly want more than a place to stay. They are looking for experiences that feel personal, flexible and connected to the destination, whether through wellness, food, culture, sport, entertainment or time with family and friends. As a result, hotels are becoming destinations in their own right, with stronger roles to play in how people experience a city, resort or community.

At the same time, there is no single definition of today’s traveller. Some guests are seeking highly individual luxury experiences, while others prioritise value, convenience, longer stays or accommodation suited to families. This is why the breadth of IHG’s portfolio is so important. Our luxury and lifestyle brands, including Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental, Vignette Collection and Hotel Indigo, allow us to respond to growing demand for distinctive and experience-led stays. Brands such as voco and Crowne Plaza address premium business and leisure demand, while Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express provide accessible, reliable accommodation for a broader range of travellers.

We are also seeing increasing interest in resorts, branded residences, suites and long-stay concepts. Our approach is not to bring every brand to every market, but to identify the concept that best reflects local demand, the destination’s character and the owner’s long-term objectives.

Technology, sustainability and personalised experiences are reshaping hospitality. Which trends do you believe will have the biggest impact on the industry over the next few years?

Artificial intelligence will be one of the most transformative forces in hospitality over the next few years, reshaping how hotels understand demand, personalise the guest journey and run their operations. AI, automation and predictive analytics are already helping hotels anticipate guest needs, make faster and more precise commercial decisions, improve planning and remove operational friction. Used responsibly, these tools can strengthen – not replace – the human connection at the heart of our industry, drive better performance for owners and free colleagues from routine processes, allowing them to spend more time creating memorable experiences for guests.

Personalisation continues to be increasingly important. Travellers expect brands to understand their preferences and provide experiences that are relevant to the purpose of their trip. Through IHG One Rewards and our digital platforms, we can use insights responsibly to offer greater choice, recognition and flexibility throughout the guest journey.

Sustainability will continue to influence how hotels are designed, operated and evaluated by guests, owners and investors. The industry will need to use energy, water and other resources more efficiently while maintaining high standards of comfort and service. Owners will increasingly look for solutions that support responsible operations, improve efficiency and protect the long-term value of their assets.

As competition in the Middle East hospitality market increases, what will differentiate successful hotel operators in attracting guests, partners and investors?

The operators who succeed will be those that deliver consistently for both guests and owners. Guests want relevant experiences, reliable service and clear brand identities, while owners and investors want strong distribution, commercial expertise, cost discipline and an operator that understands the needs of each asset. The real differentiator will be the ability to translate these capabilities into sustained performance, operational efficiency and long-term asset value across different market cycles.

Talent will remain just as decisive. Hospitality is a people business, and technology and global systems only deliver their full value when they enable colleagues to provide better, more intuitive service.

With responsibility for more than 224 hotels and a pipeline of over 245 properties across India, the Middle East and Africa, how are you balancing growth ambitions with ensuring operational consistency and delivering long-term value for hotel owners and partners?

Growth and operational consistency must go hand in hand. Expanding a portfolio is only meaningful when each hotel has the systems, support and talent required to deliver on its brand promise, perform through different market cycles and create sustainable long-term value for its owner.

Our approach starts with disciplined development. We assess whether there is a clear demand case, whether the brand is right for the location and whether the project aligns with the owner’s long-term ambitions. Once a hotel joins the system, it benefits from IHG’s global capabilities across distribution, loyalty, revenue management, procurement, technology and operations. These platforms provide consistency at scale, while our regional and local teams ensure each property remains responsive to its market.

We also maintain close relationships with owners and general managers throughout the lifecycle of an asset. This includes supporting commercial performance, reviewing guest feedback, identifying operational efficiencies and advising on renovations or repositioning when required. The objective is not simply to support near-term results, but to protect the hotel’s competitiveness and asset value over time. During periods of disruption, this partnership becomes even more important, enabling us to provide targeted guidance based on the circumstances of each hotel.

Having previously worked on destination development strategies in Saudi Arabia and Ras Al Khaimah, what lessons from building tourism ecosystems have shaped your approach to growing IHG’s presence across emerging hospitality markets?

From my experience working on destination development strategies in both Saudi Arabia and Ras Al Khaimah, the clearest lesson is that hotels cannot build a destination alone. I have seen first-hand that sustainable tourism growth depends on connectivity, infrastructure, attractions, effective marketing and skilled talent, supported by close collaboration between the public and private sectors.

It is also important for each destination to build around its own strengths. Saudi Arabia, for example, is developing a broad proposition spanning religious, business, cultural, entertainment and leisure travel. Across emerging markets, hotel supply must grow in line with sustainable demand, rather than ahead of it.

These lessons shape our approach at IHG: we take a long-term view, work closely with local stakeholders and select brands according to the role they can play within the wider destination.