AHIC Talks

In this week’s episode of AHIC Talks, Jonathan Worsley spoke with Jalil Mekouar, Founder & CEO of inHovate Solutions about the data challenges in hospitality and how his company uses data science, machine learning and A.I to help solve them. As properties across the globe look to optimise and stay lean, finding solutions like inHovate have become paramount, as it provides 360° degree optimization across all functions including revenue management, operations and CX through its suite of web-based applications – providing complete visibility into hotel operations.

In this episode of AHIC Talks, Matthew Weihs spoke with Amos Wekesa, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Great Lakes Safaris about the challenges African owners have faced over the past 18 months.  Great Lakes Safaris, a brand synonymous with luxury leisure travel in East African destinations, has been severely impacted by the lack of international tourism. Amos shared how he dealt with the situation and how he was able to diversify his offering during the period. Looking forward, Amos also shares the opportunities he is looking towards in 2022. 

In this episode, Ian Ohan & Food Sheikh joined us to announce the Rise Up challenge, a competition searching for food entrepreneurs in the UAE, with the finals taking place live and in-person at AHIC in September. Their conversation with Jennifer Pettinger-Haines touched on why they put such a competition together and what kind of contestant would make the cut. Interested in participating or know someone who would be interested? Visit https://www.riseupdxb.com/ for more information.

James Asquith has set the Guinness World Record for being the youngest person to travel to all 196 countries in the world by the age of 25. In this episode of AHIC Talks, he speaks with Jonathan Worsley about how he came across the idea for Holiday Swap and what his future plans are.

Holiday Swap is an award-winning home exchange platform.
It has been designed for travellers to securely swap and host their homes across 185 countries for just $1 per person, per night. With their subscription plans, travellers can save even more and benefit from unlimited swaps, instantly messaging unmatched users and bringing one guest for free.

In this episode of AHIC Talks, Matthew Weihs chats with Michael Grove, COO of Hotstats on the findings of the recently published Profit Matters Review in 2020.  Obviously, on the back of a very difficult year for the industry, the two looked at what the report covered and some of the key operational areas hoteliers could look at going forward.  A few other key themes discussed were the return of events and some of the winners and losers in the Middle East and Africa region.  

In this episode of AHIC Talks, Jonathan Worsley, Chairman and Founder of Bench, caught up with Mohamed Awadalla, CEO of Time Hotels & Resorts at the Arabian Travel Market held live and in-person in Dubai. The two spoke about how Time Hotels & Resorts had fared during the pandemic and what Mohamed's development plans are for the future.

In this episode of AHIC Talks, Jennifer Pettinger-Haines, Managing Director of Bench, speaks with Andrew Morrow. Director of Operations for the Firmament. The conversations touch on Andrew's impressions of Australia's restaurant scene and the differences he sees in comparison to Dubai. Andrew also shares exciting news about the Firmament's expansion plans for the overseas market.

On the eve of publishing the 13th Annual Hotel Chain Development Pipelines in Africa, Trevor Ward, Managing Director at W Hospitality Group spoke with Matthew Weihs, Managing Director at bench about the report findings.

They discussed what the 2020 hotel development numbers looked like for Africa and what this implied for the industry. They also dived into the key operators across the continent and the markets that are leading development.  

Download your copy of the report today.