Zikar Zaour

Pleased to announce the signing of Four Points by Sheraton Makkah Ibrahim Al Khalil, in partnership with Aleph Hospitality, further strengthening our growing footprint in the Holy City. Located on Ibrahim Khalil Street, just moments from the Haram, this 338-key hotel will serve the rapidly rising demand from Umrah and Hajj travelers. Grateful to Mr. Riyad Alhoraibi, Mr. Sami Al Horaibi, and Tariq Dowidar for the partnership and shared ambition, and to our teams at Marriott International and Aleph for bringing this together. Himanshu Khandelwal, CFA Sandeep Walia Ahmed HOZAIEN Talal Yousif Karim Cheltout Firas El Zein Sandra Schulze-Potgieter Piotr Stempkowski Maliha Nishat Edward Ewart Sánchez Charlotte Jackson Richard Bleakley Bani Haddad Neil George Aman Raheja #MarriottInternational #FourPointsBySheraton #Makkah #HotelDevelopment #SaudiArabia

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Exciting news: The Egyptian Hotels Association has partnered with Sommet Education to upskill Egypt’s hospitality talent through world-class training from Glion and Les Roches. A big step for the future of tourism in Egypt! 🇪🇬✨ #Hospitality #Education #Tourism #Egypt #SommetEducation https://lnkd.in/d6h-BTtv Egyptian Hotels Association Signs Strategic Partnership with Sommet Education to Empower Egyptian Hospitality Talent

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Rotana Hotel Management reaffirms its full readiness and operational excellence across all Information Systems infrastructure. Our technology landscape is built on a resilient, secure, and highly governed foundation that ensures uninterrupted business operations and unwavering protection of our digital assets. We maintain a comprehensive cybersecurity framework aligned with international best practices, safeguarding our systems, networks, and data. Our Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans are robustly structured, regularly tested, and designed to guarantee service availability across all mission‑critical systems, ensuring seamless operations within every hotel and corporate function. Data integrity and confidentiality remain paramount. Through stringent data protection measures, controlled access, and continuous monitoring, Rotana ensures that all information assets are preserved with the highest levels of security and compliance. Our connectivity architecture is optimized to sustain high‑performance communication channels across the entire portfolio, enabling efficient service delivery, system interoperability, and real‑time support for hotel operations. Rotana’s Information Systems infrastructure stands fully ready, resilient, and adoptable, empowering our hotels with the technology, security, and stability required to excel in a dynamic and digitally driven hospitality environment. #rotanahotels #hospitalitytechbology

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Pleased to share the signing of a MOU between King Salman International University (KSIU) and Hilton Egypt Hotels.   This collaboration protocol was signed with Prof. Ashraf Hussein, President of King Salman International University, marking an important step in our commitment to developing future hospitality talent. Through this partnership, KSIU students will gain valuable exposure and hands-on experience across our hotels in Egypt, while creating a strong platform to attract and hire fresh graduates.   At Hilton, we firmly believe in investing in people and supporting the next generation of hospitality leaders. We look forward to a successful collaboration and many shared successes ahead.   #HiltonForTheStay #KSIU #1WorldsBestWorkplace #FutureLeaders

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I am pleased to announce that I will be presenting at the International Conference IALS 2.0: Innovate, Adapt, Lead, and Sustain - Shaping the Future of Business. My presentation, "The Quiet Revolution: How Hospitality Education Transforms Egyptian Women's Lives," examines how educational opportunities in the hospitality sector are transforming the professional lives of Egyptian women. This research sheds light on the challenges and opportunities women face as they navigate career paths in an industry that has traditionally been male-dominated. Organized by the International Executive School in Strasbourg, France and Sharda School of Business Studies at Sharda University in Greater Noida, India, this conference brings together scholars, researchers, and industry professionals from around the world to address critical issues in innovation, leadership, and sustainability. The conference will take place February 20-21, 2026 via Microsoft Teams, providing a global platform to explore how education can drive empowerment and create more inclusive workplaces in the hospitality sector. I look forward to exchanging insights with colleagues and contributing to important conversations about gender equality and workforce development. #WomenEmpowerment #HospitalityEducation #GenderEquality #Egypt #HospitalityIndustry #WomenInBusiness #Education #SocialImpact #InternationalConference #ResearchConference #ShardaUniversity #InternationalExecutiveSchool #Tourism #WorkforceDevelopment #HigherEducation #Inclusion #MiddleEast #GlobalBusiness

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🌟 Proud Moment for the Egyptian Hospitality Industry 🌟 It was an honor to take part, on behalf of the Egyptian Hotels Association, in signing this strategic partnership with Lobster Ink | EcoSure, one of the world’s leading digital training platforms for the hospitality sector, developed in collaboration with Ecolab. This collaboration marks a major step forward in advancing training and development across Egyptian hotels — providing over 200 programs and 2,500 learning modules, completely free of charge, to all member hotels. At the EHA, we strongly believe that the future of hospitality excellence begins with empowering our people. Through this partnership and the support of HE Sherif Fathi Attia along with our colleagues in the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities - Egypt, we’re enabling every hospitality professional across Egypt to access world-class learning resources, ensuring consistency, quality, and service standards that reflect Egypt’s true potential on the global stage. Proud to be part of this important milestone alongside my colleague Adham Garranah on the Training Committee, working together toward a more skilled and competitive Egyptian hospitality sector. #EgyptianHotelsAssociation #LobsterInk #Ecolab #HospitalityExcellence #DigitalTraining #HumanCapital #HospitalityInnovation #EHA #EgyptTourism #HotelsEgypt

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Welcome to the third week of our #HWIMEIANews summer series. This week, we're bringing you behind the scenes at our HWI #MEIA Region team center in Dubai, where we're shaping H World International’s presence in a region rich in culture, diversity, and opportunity. Out of all eight brands in our global portfolio, today I want to focus on one in particular: #Steigenberger. And this year, we have a major milestone to celebrate— #95thAnniversary of Steigenberger excellence. Steigenberger is more than just a hotel brand—it’s a symbol of vision, heritage, and sophistication. Its hallmarks follow two defining streams: First, the Founder's Story: The journey began in 1930 when Albert Steigenberger opened his first hotel in Baden-Baden, Germany. What started as a small, family-run business quickly became synonymous with refinement and personal care. His vision was simple yet powerful: to combine traditional hospitality with a commitment to quality. Over the decades, that vision has not only endured—it has shaped a global brand that continues to welcome world leaders, and cultural icons like Queen Elizabeth, Sophia Loren, and Elton John. Second, the German Showcase: Steigenberger proudly reflects the values that define German excellence—precision, efficiency, craftsmanship, and reliability. Across our portfolio, these qualities shine through: - in the refined culinary experiences, - in the architectural harmony of heritage and modern design, - and in the consistent elevated service standards that guests experience around the world. A beautiful example is the #SteigenbergerCecil in Alexandria, Egypt—an icon dating back to the 1930s, where vintage interiors and classic architecture speak volumes about the timeless elegance at the heart of our brand. Today, Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts is playing a leading role in our MEIA region’s development. Our portfolio now includes 19 hotels and 6 cruise ships across Qatar, Egypt, and Tunisia. In Egypt, Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts Egypt is among the leading holders of the largest room inventory, with standout properties such as: Steigenberger Resort #RasSoma on the Red Sea, Steigenberger #Alcazar in Sharm El Sheikh, Steigenberger #ElGouna, nestled in a vibrant, upscale resort town, and more historic addresses in Luxor and Cairo. In Doha, the Steigenberger Hotel Doha, proudly serves as our regional flagship. Its prime location near the airport and the addition of the first-ever Steigenberger Residence showcase our growing commitment to long-stay luxury experiences in the region. In #Tunisia, the Steigenberger Marhaba Thalasso Hammamet carries forward our heritage in thermal wellness, tracing back to our original property—the Steigenberger Icon Europäischer Hof in Baden-Baden. As we look to the future, the Founder's vision and German showcase remain at the core of Steigenberger—guiding our growth, shaping our experiences, and inspiring us to deliver world-class hospitality to every guest, every day.

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Are we watching #Lebanese hospitality become a new asset class in real time? Last week, #Americana Restaurants quietly did something historic: it secured Malak Al Tawouk’s IP and a 75‑year exclusive license to roll the brand out across 13 markets in #MENA, the #GCC, and #Central Asia. This is not a one-off trophy deal; it sits on top of hard numbers—10 GCC stores generating ~USD 21.1m in annualized sales and ~USD 2.3m in pre‑IFRS EBITDA, or roughly USD ~2.1m AUV per store at ~11% margins. That’s not “nice shawarma business”; that’s institutional unit economics. Nor is Malak Al Tawouk alone. Em Sherif has already crossed the same threshold on the luxury side: now under the control of ADMO Lifestyle Holding, the group counts 29 operating outlets across 16 countries, 56 signed across 29 countries, and a stated mission to reach 68 outlets by 2027. That’s no longer a “beloved Beirut restaurant”; it’s a pipeline being built as an exportable Lebanese luxury hospitality platform. #Lebanon has exported restaurant brands before—think Zaatar w Zeit, Roadster, and others—but those waves were built on lighter franchise models and pre‑crisis balance sheets, not on Gulf-scale platform capital treating Lebanese concepts as long-horizon assets. What’s distinctive here is the combination of serious money, distinctly Lebanese flavor profiles, and concepts that have eliminated friction and proven they can rise through Lebanon’s crisis rather than around it. #MalakAlTawouk and Em Sherif are not just traveling brands; they are institutional bets on Lebanese IP as scalable infrastructure. One industrial play (Malak Al Tawouk). One luxury play (Em Sherif). One emerging asset class. Between Americana’s Arabic QSR bet on Malak Al Tawouk and ADMO’s luxury export thesis for Em Sherif, Gulf platforms are starting to treat Lebanese hospitality #IP as an emerging asset class—priced, licensed, and scaled like a system, not a sentiment. If you’re building or backing F&B in MENA, I’d love your take in the comments. And if you want the full report—deal terms, unit economics, rollout scenarios, and what this implies for the next wave of Lebanese brands—DM me and I’ll share the PDF.

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