Bani Haddad launches Aleph Hospitality

A third-party hotel management company, Aleph Hospitality, has been founded and officially launched by industry veteran Bani Haddad and headquartered in Dubai.

In addition to providing prospective hotel owners and business partners with an overview of the company’s services, the site seeks to help demystify the concept of third-party management, which, despite being relatively little known in the region today, is widely tipped to fuel significant future expansion within the Middle East and African hotel industry.

Third-party or ‘white label’ hotel management allows a hotel owner to appoint a specialist hotel management company to operate their hotel, in addition to taking a franchise from a major hotel company to secure an international brand above the door.

"By establishing a credible third-party hotel management solution for the Middle East and Africa, our aim is to open doors that were previously closed," said Aleph Hospitality founder and managing director Bani Haddad.

"We want to create opportunities both for hotel companies, by providing a trusted intermediary with whom they can grow their franchise portfolios, and for owners of hotels of all shapes and sizes who wish to benefit from a combination of dedicated operational support and the advantages of an internationally-renowned brand," he added.

A statement revealed that the company's name was inspired by "the entrepreneurial spirit of the ancient Phoenicians, widely credited with revolutionising the way the world communicates through the development of the ‘Aleph-bet’, or alphabet".

Having already signed its first management contract and with its first hotel opening, the 116-room Best Western Addis Ababa is set to open in three months.

“With some regional owners historically locked out of a market where management agreements were largely the preserve of upscale developments in established destinations, we truly see this as an exciting new beginning for the regional hotel landscape,” said Haddad.

“Hotel companies, consultants and owners that we’ve spoken to right across the region have all been extremely positive about the accelerated growth this model could bring.”

Haddad's career history has spanned all aspects of hotel management and roles at major industry players including Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Wyndham Hotel Group and Disney.