11. Panos Loupasis, Vice President Development, Middle East & Africa, Wyndham Hotel Group
With a specific focus on Africa, Wyndham hopes to add to its pipeline and portfolio, having signed quite a few properties in the last 12 months
Panos Loupasis has occupied the position of vice president development for Middle East and Africa for just little under a year, but he has ensured Wyndham has looked towards new frontiers — especially the African continent.
At the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference earlier this year, Loupasis claimed the company signed seven contracts: two new hotels in Oman, two new hotels in Iraq and three new hotels in Ethiopia.
The American operator also debuted its Wyndham brand in the UAE earlier this year, in partnership with The First Group, a Dubai-based developer with whom Wyndham plans to develop more hotels in the coming years. Loupasis says: “Since I took over business development at Wyndham Hotel Group in 2011, the company’s Middle East and Africa portfolio of operational hotels has grown 46%, from 37 to 54 operational hotels, with a further 20 hotels in development.”
Wyndham has added four new properties to its tally over the last 12 months, bringing its total number of operational assets to 46 in the Middle East. The number of hotels in the pipeline, however, stands at 14 (down from 15 last year).
Loupasis is quick to point out the success of its Ramada brand. “In the Middle East we went from a relatively unknown player to the leader in supplying mid-market accommodation across the region with our Ramada brand.
Currently, we have 31 operational Ramada hotels across the Middle East. We also continue to introduce more of our brand portfolio across the Middle East, including Wyndham Grand, Wyndham, Wyndham Garden, Tryp by Wyndham, Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Ramada Encore and Super 8.”
By the numbers
9 Number of months in role
5 Number of years with company
46 Number of Middle East operating hotels
14 Number of Middle East pipeline hotels
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