21. Sheikh Mubarak al Sabah

Founder and Chairman, Action Hotels

Sheikh Mubarak Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah founded hotel ownership, hotel development and asset management compant Action Hotels in 2005, after identifying a gap in the underserved three- and four-star branded hotel market in the Middle East.

These days, Action Hotels counts 10 mid-scale hotels in its Middle East portfolio. These include the following: ibis Salmiya and ibis Sharq, Kuwait; ibis Muscat, Holiday Inn Muscat Al Seeb and Mercure Sohar, Oman; ibis Amman, Jordan; ibis Seef and the newly opened ibis Styles Diplomatic Area, Manama, Bahrain; Al Majaz Hotel, Sharjah in the UAE; and  Tulip Inn Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE.

The group’s development pipeline remains healthy and firmly focused on the mid-scale, with  the group venturing into Saudi Arabia, as well as Dubai, for the first time. Upcoming properties include Tulip Inn Modon in Jeddah, Mercure Riyadh Olaya, both in  the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the UAE, a new Novotel in  Dubai Creek.

According to a statement from Action Hotels in March 2017, the outlook for 2017 was “positive”, with total revenue in Q1 up 14% over the same period last year and  average occupancy at its mature operating hotels at 77%, up slightly from last year’s 76%.

A company statement attributes the positive results to a deliberate, focused strategy of focusing on working with mid-scale branded hotel operators in prized locations. “Our success is the result of the careful execution of a focused plan to develop high quality assets in locations which have the potential for growth, coupled with our local market knowledge and well-developed network of contacts which allows a creative approach to hospitality development,” the company statement said.

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