Madinat Jumierah will host AHIC 2016

The Arabian Hotel Investment Conference will mark 12 years of offering an unrivalled platform for the hotel investment industry in the Middle East to discuss the future of the industry when it opens in Dubai today.

Organisers have just announced a range of facts to explain more about this year’s event which is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Airports, president of Dubai Department for Civil Aviation and chairman of Emirates.

AHIC will also give exclusive data and research to delegates with studies coming from HVS Dubai and Berwin Leighton Paisner this year.

In light of the political and economic challenges facing the hospitality industry globally and regionally, HVS Dubai will be sharing its annual publication for 2016 - Middle East Hotel Survey, Sailing Through Rough Seas which covers a total of 42 cities and spans over a history of 20 years.

In addition to an analysis of occupancy and RevPAR of the branded hotel market, the event presents a summary of revenue mix and achievable gross operating profit for the key cities in the region.
BLP’s MENA Hotels Survey Results 2016 will offer insights from 200 hotel industry professionals from 25 countries who were surveyed in March this year.

Highlights from the findings include that 43 per cent of respondents believe that RevPAR will grow in MENA and 74 per cent believe a third party operator with a franchise brand could be a more profitable proposition for an owner, over a brand managed hotel.

“This year’s event promises to be the most significant and successful for attendees to date,” said Jonathan Worsley, chairman of Bench Events and co-founder of AHIC.

“We have a diverse range of speakers who will offer exclusive insights and unveil new data for our industry as well as discussing hot topics such as oil price in relation to investment and how the industry should be delaying with the threat of terrorism and what that means for the world as a whole.”