40. David Grant Thomson, chief operating officer, JA Resorts & Hotels

While the group’s number of operating hotels in the Middle East and Africa has remained flat at five, two of the properties in the UAE, JA Hatta Fort Hotel and JA Jebel Ali Golf Resort, have undergone modernisation and expansion in the last year. The company has also added two properties to its Middle East pipeline – a 350-key property and a 20-villa property. The proposed location and other details of these new additions are yet to be announced, however.

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