Who has the power?

I've always been a big fan of quotations. Those genius little one-line insights into an entire philosophy or wider truth.

After all, as the English playwright Tom Stoppard said, "It is better to be quotable than to be honest".

Also, if you're struggling for a way to start a comment piece, you could do a lot worse than a good quotation.

The greats like Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain were imminently quotable on a wide range of subjects, but one of the most quote-laden topics that pops up time and time again in power.

It's a subject I'm reminded of now as we bring you the Hotelier Middle East Power 50 - a who's who of the 50 most influential names in the Middle East's hospitality industry.

So, what exactly does 'power' mean in the hospitality industry? Is it longevity? Is it defined by the number of employees that report to you? Does turning a failing property into a success make you a power player?

According to proverbs, “Knowledge becomes power only when we put it into use”, so a certain degree of experience must be essential. “The power of accomplishment is often a hairline between success and failure.” Does this mean that a truly successful hotelier will have also failed in the past too?

Perhaps one of the most telling of insights into power and influence is this phrase, coined by the academic Diane Ravitch: "The person who knows how will always have a job. The person who knows why will always be his boss."

Therefore, the truly powerful don't just know the industry, they understand it too - a completely different and more complex skill.

So, do you think we successfully managed to pinpoint the most influential people operating in the Middle East's hospitality industry? Who deserved a mention in our Power 50 and didn't get one; indeed, should someone other than Rotana's Selim El Zyr have topped it? Let us know your opinions.

To my mind, power is only true power if it is shared and used to further the greater good. “Wisdom is the power that enables us to use knowledge for the benefit of ourselves and others,” as IBM's Thomas Watson once said.

It can also be a curse; I'm sure we've all heard the saying "power corrupts".

“The wrong sort of people are always in power because they would not be in power if they were not the wrong sort of people,” in the words of publisher Jon Wynne-Tyson.

Have any of the GCC's hoteliers gone a step too far and proven Tyson's point for him or are they, by and large, interested in driving the region's hospitality industry forwards sensibly and morally?

Let us know your thoughts on the Hotelier Middle East Power 50.