Organisers of this year’s Arabian Hotel Investment Conference are confident the economic downturn provides even more reason to attend the region’s best investment event.
Conference co-organiser Jonathan Worsley said the theme for the conference — The Challenge of Maintaining Growth — was “more apt than ever” in the current market.
“We are at a stage where people who have previously been priced out of the market have a chance to get back into the game,” he explained.
“The current environment has been welcomed by a lot of people as a chance to separate the serious players from the cowboys.”
Worsley said there had been a great deal of interest in the conference this year.
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“Currently people are looking at how to protect their investment or looking for an opportunity that is still viable and going to provide returns in the long run,” he added.
“More so than in recent years, investors and developers are looking for information and that is essentially what we provide.
“Particularly in this region, investors are in a bit of a holding pattern waiting to see how things will play out over the next few months.
“There is a great deal of rumour and conjecture but not a great deal of facts floating around at the moment. That is why AHIC is really more important than ever this year as it gives the industry a chance to really come together and discuss what is actually going on and happening on the ground.”
Long-term attendees of the conference would see fresh faces topics on the programme, Worsley said.
“I believe that those participating will be much more candid than in previous years and with panels you never know where the discussion is going to go — plus with audience questions you always get insight on the ‘tough topics’.”
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