Tareq Bagaeen
Rivalry Brewing: UAE Vs. Saudi Arabia
Tareq Bagaeen | March 25, 2024
By Tareq Bagaeen It is no secret that The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is changing. Over just the past five years the change has been staggering, both socially, and politically as well as a dramatic shift in its economic vision. Oil & Gas has been the foundation of its strength, and it continues to be but the shift to diversify is massive. Great festivals bolster their main cities and act as significant drivers of local tourism; Formula E has been lighting up Riyadh since 2018; Formula 1 since 2021 in Jeddah, along with a host of significant political and business conferences. Of course, Hajj & Umrah are another major stream of inbou...
Hotel Market Report: Asia’s Path Forward in 2024
HotStats | December 15, 2023
By Tareq Bagaeen Earlier this week I was talking to a regional commercial head of Asia for one of the world’s largest hotel chains and the view forward into 2024 is one of concern, to say the least. At the moment, the hotel benchmarking data look goods; for many destinations within this region, 2023 was a record year both in terms of topline revenue as well as Gross Operating Profit (GOP). Expectations are significant for the coming year; thus, the higher than usual level of apprehension. Let us start with the GOP king of Asia, and, all the world: Maldives. A destination that has a GOP figure of just under 300 USD per...
1
Technology
2
Appointments/People on the Move
3
Operations
4
Industry Happenings
5
All Things Independent