17 Ali Lakhraim

A dedication to the Middle East hospitality industry over the past 13 years in terms of both investment and management earns Ali Lakhraim a top spot in the Power 50.

Lakhraim was responsible in 2002 for the initiation of Millennium Hotels Management Company (MC) in the Middle East — at the time known as Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) Plc.

The partnership is the only one in M&C’s history where the company has a pure management focus, allowing it to grow at an unprecedented pace. Under Lakhraim’s leadership, the company has signed 30 contracts in seven years, with the aim of achieving 50 properties in the next two years.

While this may be Lakhraim’s greatest achievement, he is also a keen investor into the region’s hospitality industry, with a vast asset portfolio As vice-chairman and founder of Pearl Azure Hotels, he owns among others the Crowne Plaza hotels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road.

Lakhraim is also founder and vice chairman of Emirates Hotels Company (EHC), which owns various hotel interests such as the Vista Fujairah Beach Resort and is the majority share holder in the National Corporation for Hotels and Tourism based in Abu Dhabi.

And Abu Dhabi was where Lakhraim’s career in the industry began as general manager of Al Ghazal Taxi and then deputy director general in 1999 for Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH).

His motivation stems from a desire to bring a common fabric to the industry, which he considers quite fragmented, based on shared goals and measures of success, and he attributes his inspiration for driving this growth to HE Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Public Works and chairman of Emirates Hotels.