Lakhraim is highest-ranking hotelier on power list

Millennium and Copthorne's Ali Hamad Lakhraim Al Zaabi is the highest-ranking travel and hospitality professional on Arabian Business’ Power 500, coming in at number 107.

The Arabian Business Power 500 2012 recognises the world’s most influential Arabs.

Millennium & Copthorne Middle East is one of the fastest-growing hotel groups in the Middle East thanks to Ali Hamad Lakhraim Al Zaabi, who established the firm in 2008.

Since then, Al Zaabi has worked tirelessly to establish the brand, the report said. The operator, which has 12 hotels in the region, has made significant in-roads into Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The firm announced in September it will be opening six new Copthorne hotels, accounting for more than 1000 guest rooms in the coming twelve months.

Al Zaabi has extended the brand portfolio, with the addition of the luxury Biltmore brand and the first Biltmore property signed for Abu Dhabi, due to open in 2013. Al Zaabi has an extensive involvement in the MENA hospitality sector, with a number of investment companies operating across a spectrum of market segments. In total, his investment companies hold assets in the hotel sector worth more than $3bn.