22. Mohamed Ahmed Awadalla, Chief Executive Officer, Time Hotels Management L.L.C.
Awadalla drives significant revenue and pipeline growth for this home-grown hotel brand
Mohamed Ahmed Awadalla has over 30 years of international hospitality industry experience under his belt, working with global groups such as Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Hilton International and Rotana Hotels. In his role as CEO for four years, Awadalla was one of the founding partners of home-grown brand Time Hotels.
Since 2012, Awadalla has seen Time’s portfolio expand from four hotels to 11, across the UAE. Now, with a total of seven upcoming properties (six of which are expected to open by the end of 2017), Time’s current pipeline also represents expansion into Qatar, Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Awadalla told Hotelier Middle East: “My vision for Time Hotels is to take a successful home-grown UAE brand and develop it to become a major player within the hospitality industry in the region, delivering international standards of service supported by signature warm and welcoming hospitality. Our strategy is focused on penetrating key gateway destinations in the UAE and across the Middle East, and reinforcing our position as a leading local brand with long term regional ambition.”
Time’s current pipeline includes Doha debut the Time Rako Hotel (Q4 2016); two additional Dubai projects, Time Express Al Jadaf (2017) and Time Royal Hotel & Spa (2017); plus entry into KSA with two hotels due to open in 2017 — Time Express Hotel Riyadh and Time Al Qurrayat Hotel; and entry into Egypt with two properties with Time Hotel Sohag (2017) and Time Tut Hotel, Luxor, Egypt (opening date TBC). Along with steady pipeline growth, Awadalla has also seen significant growth in revenue for Time Hotels. In 2016, the hotel group achieved a total revenue of US $191million, up from $150 million in 2015, and $133 million in 2014.
While Awadalla currently oversees a workforce of 531 employees, with the group’s anticpated growth, the number is expected to rise to 650 by 2017. Time Hotels has also branched out with a separate F&B portfolio, opening two UAE branches of O’Learys Sports Restaurant this year, located in Fujairah and Dubai.
Awadalla has also driven a sustainable focus at Time Hotels, achieving Green Key certification at six out of 11 hotels in the UAE, and partnering with the Slow Food alliance.
By the numbers
4 Number of years in role
9 Number of years with company
11 Number of Middle East operating hotels as of July 2016
7 Number of Middle East pipeline hotels as of July 2016
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