By Aaron Laurie and Hala Matar Choufany
The region continues to face distraught; dwindling economic conditions, changing demographics and source markets, and a saturation of luxury hotels pose an opportunity for developers to build mid-market.
2017 Middle East Hotel Survey – Chaos, Consolidation & Opportunity
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Aaron Laurie is a research assistant with HVS Canada. He is currently enrolled as a fourth year student at the University of Guelph, working to earn his Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Hotel & Food Administration. Prior to his work with HVS, Aaron held various positions in hotel operations with companies including Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, IHG, and Wyndham Hotel Group. For more information contact, alaurie@hvs.com
Hala Matar Choufany is the Managing Partner of HVS Dubai and is responsible for the firm's valuation and consulting work in the Middle East and Africa. She has worked on several mixed use developments and conducted numerous valuations, feasibility studies, operator searches, operational assessments, strategy advice in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Hala has in-depth expertise in regional hotel markets and a broad exposure to international markets and maintains excellent contacts with developers, owners, operators, investment institutions and government entities. Before joining HVS International, Hala had several years of operational and managerial hotel industry experience. Hala is an official Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) and also holds an MPhil from Leeds University U.K., an MBA in Finance and Strategy from IMHI (Essec-Cornell) University, Paris, France. For more information contact, hchoufany@hvs.com