Arabian Hotel Investment Conference 2010 Advisory Board line up announced

The exclusive AHIC Advisory Board is made up of over 40 hotel stakeholders, key investors and governmental representatives from across the Middle East and Africa.

Including industry-leaders such as Sami Al Ansari, CEO of Ishraq Gulf Estate Holding, , Paul Bell, Managing Director; Aldar Hotels; Susan Harmsworth, CEO, ESPA; Omar Benanni, CEO, Morocco Tourist National Development; Abdulla Almulla, Chairman, Almulla Hospitality; Marc Dardenne, CEO, Emaar Hotels and Resorts and Michael Scully, Managing Director, Seven Tides Hospitality, the board plays a key role in establishing the theme and programme of the 6th Annual Arabian Hotel Investment Conference held on 1 - 3 May 2010, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

This year's face-to-face meeting which takes place at the Emirates Academy allows the board to drive the growing success of AHIC and to discuss potential key elements of the expert program, including hotel ownership and investment opportunities, current industry developments, global economic outlook and future markets.

The meeting comes at a critical time for the MENA region's hospitality sector which has seen a decline in occupancy rates, but has since revealed a promising development pipeline of 468 hotels with 126,464 rooms according to the August 2009 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report.

The UAE is currently leading the way in the region with projects in the 'in-construction' phase with over four times the number of rooms under construction compared with its closest competitor, Saudi Arabia, according to the report.

Sami Al Ansari CEO of Ishraq Gulf Estate Holding, commented:

"2009 has been extremely challenging for the hospitality industry in Dubai, the drop in demand for hotel rooms as a result of the recession coupled with a huge increase of 17% in rooms inventory drove occupancy down by 15% and revenue per available room by 35% so far this year as compared to 2008."

Al Ansari further commented, "Signs of improved demand for the remainder of 2009 are evident, nevertheless pressure continues on room rates as a result of fierce competition. The outlook for 2010 is cautious, as a lot will depend on how soon the world economy can recover thus the return of leisure and business demand for hotel rooms in Dubai."

In addition, the board meeting encompasses key panel sessions for Emirates Academy students, the industry leaders of the future. These key panel sessions will examine closely the elements necessary for succeeding within the hotel industry and will also include the leading regional commentators Sean Brierley, Content Director, MEED; Philippe Doizelet, Managing Partner, Horwath HTL, Dr Costas Verginis, Director Consulting, Deloitte and Jalil Mekouar, Executive Vice-President - Head of Middle East & Africa, Jones Lang Lasalle Hotels. This morning they presented for students their top three industry predictions for 2010.

Al Ansari concluded, "The challenge continues to be the entry of new rooms supply estimated at 15% in 2010 which will increase the available rooms in Dubai to 54,000. This is a staggering 40% additional supply when compared to 2008."

The 6th annual AHIC conference, which is jointly organized by MEED and Bench Events, takes place at the Madinat Jumeirah from 1st-3rd May 2010. We are delighted to announce that in 2010 The Rezidor Hotels Group, Morocco Tourist National Development Company, The Address Hotels + Resorts, Hamilton Hotel Partners, Hilton Worldwide, Jumeirah Group, IHG, Corinthia Hotels and WATG have demonstrated their commitment to growth in the region by sponsoring AHIC 2010. Additionally the AHIC opening reception on 1 May will be hosted by Jumeirah and the networking reception on 2 May will be hosted by Emaar at the yet to opened, highly anticipated, world's first Armani Hotel.