THE MIDDLE EAST’S

Top 100 Travel & Tourism
Leaders 2023

1. Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum

Emirates Airline & Group

2. Akbar Al Baker

Qatar Airways Group

3. Helal Saeed Almarri

Department of Economy and Tourism – Dubai

4. Paul Griffiths

Dubai Airports

5. Fahd Hamidaddin

Saudi Tourism Authority (STA)

6. Mohammed Almaghlouth

MATARAT Holding

7. Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry

Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi)

8. Jerry Inzerillo

The Diriyah Company

9. Hesham Al Qassim

wasl Asset Management Group

10. Ibrahim Koshy

SAUDIA

11. John Pagano

Red Sea Global (RSG)

12. Guy Hutchinson

Rotana Hotel Management Corporation (Rotana)

13. Yehia Zakaria Ismail

EGYPTAIR Holding Company

14. Katerina Giannouka

Jumeirah Group

15. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri

Abu Dhabi Airports

16. Sandeep Walia

Marriott International

17. Antonoaldo Neves

Etihad Aviation Group

18. Adel El Fakir

Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT)

19. Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi

Miral Group

20. Ghaith Al Ghaith

flydubai

21. Kamil Al-Awadhi

International Air Transport Association (IATA)

22. Nasser Matar AlKawari

Katara Hospitality

23. Adel Abdullah Ali

Air Arabia

24. Kabir Mulchandani

FIVE Global Holdings

25. Tarek M. El Sayed

Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Company (ARTIC)

26. Duncan O’Rourke

Accor Group

27. Philippe Zuber

Kerzner International

28. Sami Bin Abdulmohsen AlHokair

Abdulmohsen Alhokair Group for Tourism and Development (Al Hokair Group)

29. Haitham Mattar

IHG Hotels & Resorts

30. Raki Phillips

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA)

31. Badr Mohammed Al Meer

Hamad International Airport (DOH)

32. Habiba Laklalech

Moroccan Airports Authority ONDA

33. Basmah Al-Mayman

United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

34. Yacine Benslimane

Air Algérie

35. Fernando Eiroa

Dubai Holding Entertainment

36. Chris Newman

NEOM Hotel Development

37. Abdulaziz Al Raisi

Oman Air

38. Ali Salim Al Midfa

Sharjah Airport Authority

39. Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri

ADNEC Group

40. Khalid Al-Amoudi

Jabal Omar Development Company (JODC)

41. Abdelhamid Addou

Royal Air Maroc

42. Mohammed Husain Ahmed

RoyalJet

43. Nicolas Claude

Airport International Group (AIG)

44. Bander Almohanna

flynas

45. Hisham Talaat Moustafa

Talaat Moustafa Group Holding (TMG Holding)

46. Simon Casson

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

47. Philip Jones

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU)

48. Amir Golbarg

Minor Hotels

49. Waleed Al Alawi

Gulf Air

50. Hashil Al Mahrouqi

OMRAN Group

51. Maen Mahmoud Razouqi

Kuwait Airways

52. Adel Waly

Holding Company for Tourism and Hotels (HOTAC)

53. Hussein Sherif Fahmi

Air Cairo

54. Khalifa Bin Braik

Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management Business

55. Samer Majali

Royal Jordanian Airlines

56. Panos Loupasis

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

57. Rohit Ramachandran

Jazeera Airways

58. Fahad Abdulrahim Kazim

Millennium Hotels and Resorts MEA, Tetra Hospitality Investment

59. Mohamad El Hout

Middle East Airlines – Air Liban (MEA)

60. Adel Ezzat

Elaf Group

61. Robert Carey

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi

62. Tim Cordon

Radisson Hotel Group

63. Abdulla Aujan

Aujan Group Holding (AGH)

64. Sultan Al-Otaibi

Dur Hospitality

65. Fawaz Farooqui

Cruise Saudi

66. Nader Ahmed Al Hammadi

Abu Dhabi Aviation (ADA)

67. Marloes Knippenberg

Kerten Hospitality

68. Talal Jassim Al-Bahar

IFA Hotels & Resorts (IFA HR)

69. Hossam El Shaer

SUNRISE Resorts and Cruises; SkyMax Holidays

70. Stuart Deeson

Hyatt Hotels Corporation

71. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa

Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA)

72. Julien Bergue

Valor Hospitality Partners

73. Prateek Kumar

Dusit International

74. Joachim Schmitt

Orascom Hotels Management

75. Khalid Anib

Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH)

76. Nadia Zaal

Zaya and Abwab Real Estate Group

77. Adel Mardini

Jetex

78. Hany Farag

National Corporation for Tourism and Hotels (NCT&H)

79. Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh

International Wings Group (IWG)

80. Mohamed Ahmed

SalamAir

81. Rob Burns

The First Group

82. Simon Leigh

Premier Inn – MENA

83. Ranjit Phillipose

The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)

84. Laurent Voivenel

Swiss Belhotel International

85. Alison Grinnell

RAK Hospitality Holding

86. Bani Haddad

Aleph Hospitality

87. Monther Darwish

Palazzo Versace Dubai; Palazzo Hospitality

88. Anthony Costa

Caesars Palace Dubai

89. Raj Rana

Citymax Hotels and Foodmark

90. Paras Dhamecha

Empire Aviation Group

91. Mohamed Awadalla

Time Hotels Management

92. Richard Haddad

Ishraq Hospitality

93. Kamal Fakhoury

Cristal Group

94. Abdullah Omar Al-Suwailem

Tourism Enterprise Company (Shams)

95. Siegfried Nierhaus

Deutsche Hospitality

96. Fariborz (Fred) Vessali

Oman Hotels Tourism Company (OHTC) SAOC

97. Nadim Yousef Muasher

The Arab International Hotels Company (AIHO)

98. Sumair Tariq

R Hotels

99. JS Anand

LEVA Hotels

100. Sanjiv Malhotra

Shaza Hotels Management

Methodology

For this ranking, we included leaders that span the entire travel ecosystem, including aviation, hotels, destinations, and tourism development authorities. All individuals had to be based in the Middle East.
We ranked entries based on the following:
• Size of the business, including the number of hotels, rooms, passengers, and visitors, revenues, values of investments and assets, fleet size, etc.
• Ownership of assets.
• Designation of the business leader.
• Experience of the business leader.
• Degree of influence of the business leader.
• Other achievements of the business leader.