The Arabian & African Hospitality Investment Conference (AHIC) will address the most pressing issues impacting the hotel market in a post-pandemic world when it returns this week.

The show is scheduled to take place at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai live in person from September 20-22.

Under the theme Rise Together, event organisers Bench and Meed, in collaboration with the AHIC Advisory Board, have designed the AHIC 2021 programme around the key themes of ‘innovation, sustainability and the future’.

Jonathan Worsley, chairman of Bench and founder of AHIC, said: “As the industry strives to emerge from the pandemic stronger and more resilient than ever, we want to facilitate real and genuine conversations around the best ways to do this. 

“The programme features more than 50 opportunities for our delegates to deliberate, learn and network over three exciting days.

“There will be a focus on industry transformation and collaboration with debates, data and trend reports written exclusively for AHIC, interviews with industry leaders, smaller breakout sessions for specific communities, such as investors focused on Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects and spectacular evening receptions.”

He added: “We’re looking forward to the return of our off-the-record ‘AHIC Interactive’ workshops, including Breakfast with the Bankers, Roya’s Owners-Only Majlis, an in-depth look at owner-operator agreements with Al Tamimi & Company, and the HAMA Asset Management Members workshop.”

AHIC 2021 will present a series of Hard Talk interviews with industry leaders live on stage, including: Sébastien Bazin, chief executive, Accor; Samih Sawiris, chairman, Orascom Hotels & Development; John Pagano, chief executive of the Red Sea Development Company and Amaala; and José Silva, chief executive, Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts.

Innovation will be another major theme of AHIC 2021, with the highly-anticipated launch of Kube Ventures, an incubator for change in the industry; the AHIC Innovation Den for business start-ups transforming the industry; and the AHIC Operators’ Pitch Den, which will see global brands and newcomers alike present their most innovative brands for the new normal.

More Information

Reimagined for 2021, the Arabian & African Hospitality Investment Conference (AHIC) will bring 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).

Find out more on the official website.