Top 12 hoteliers to watch in 2012

Alex Kyriakidis

8 Alex Kyriakidis
president and managing director – Middle East and Africa, Marriott International

Alex Kyriakidis has officially stepped into the big boots of the well-respected Ed Fuller — who retired on March 31 — as president and managing director for Marriott’s Middle East and Africa division.

With 38 hotels in operation, the division is poised for major growth; approximately 40 hotels are in Marriott’s hotel development pipeline in the region and plans include significant developments in sub-Saharan African markets.

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It’s the challenge of overseeing Marriott’s ambitious regional expansion plans that drew Kyriakidis to the role. He may not be your average hotel chief, but as former global managing director for Deloitte he led a team of 4500 in a division that generated $700 million of revenues.  

His wide-ranging, 38-year career extends to 25 countries and involves broad experience in strategic and financial planning, mergers and acquisitions and asset management.

“I worked with Deloitte for the biggest hotel companies in the world, the biggest leisure companies in the world and for government. I’ve done major strategy work, I’ve been involved with $7 billion of hotel real estate M&A and have worked on international expansion,” he says.

Today, Kyriakidis is overseeing all aspects of the division’s business activities, including operations, sales and marketing, finance and hotel development.  

By appointing Kyriakidis — who is based in Dubai and fluent in three languages including Arabic — Marriott has placed importance on the region and he is already taking the bull by the horns.

Discussing his strategy in relation to the region’s varying hotel markets, he says: “We have countries that are booming economically, that the sheer momentum of the investment in the economy is going to give rise to significant demand for hotel rooms.

“We have some countries in North Africa going through some challenges like Egypt and Libya. Let’s not forget how successful Egypt tourism was up until the civil unrest,” he continues.

Kyriakidis confirms that he will be making a big push to help revive Egypt’s fortunes, but the country needs to be seen as safe.

“Arne Sorenson, the chief executive, wants the Middle East to be completely on the same level as the other regions of the world, with its own president, its own team in the region. This is a very powerful statement which underscores the confidence in the region and expectations of growth,” he concludes.

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