An Eye on Africa

In Global Tourism Forum Hala Matar Choufany was moderating ''An Eye on Africa Hospitality and Investment Opportunities'' with Paul Gardiner, Bani Haddad and Ramsay Rankoussi.
Hala Matar Choufany
In Global Tourism Forum, Hala Matar Choufany was in conversation with Ramsay Rankoussi, Vice President of Development Radisson Hotels Africa & Turkey, Bani Haddad, Managing Director of Aleph Hospitality and Paul Gardiner, CEO of Mantis Collection about the Africa hospitality and investment opportunities. Throughout the session, they have covered and shared insights about the following points; 
 
  1. Where do the opportunities lie for hotel development in Africa? What are the key differences between Africa and more mature hotel markets?
  2. What is the commitment received or required from the respective tourism authorities and ministries in Africa for hotel development? 
  3. How relevant is domestic tourism and reliance on internationmal tourism? 
  4. What are the challenges for internationally branded hotel developments in Africa? 
  5. How can the issues around financing and resources be resolved? 
  6. What asset classes/segments are going to dominate the African hotel development landscape moving forward? 
  7. Is product differentiation going to be the key for future success in Africa? 

Hala is an experienced Regional President and Managing Partner, an industry expert, and is recognized as one of the most influential leaders in the hospitality industry, notably in the Middle East and Africa region.

Hala has advised on more than 5,000 hospitality and mixed-use projects in the last 20 years across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. She has advised clients in areas such as Valuations, Acquisitions, Asset Management, Strategic investments and development, Contract Negotiations, and general Real Estate Strategic Advisory.

Hala has authored more than 50 publications and speaks frequently at investment and hospitality related conferences on a range of topics including asset valuation, investments, management issues and women leadership.

In addition to being a Board Member of HVS Global, Hala sits on the Boards of Harvard Business School Club of the GCC, Hotel Investment Advisory Board, and is regularly invited to Boards as a subject matter expert in the industry. Hala is frequently invited to discuss hotel and tourism trends on major news channel including Alarabiya, Bloomberg, Abu Dhabi TV, Forbes, Breaking Travel News and CNN.

Hala is also a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC). 

Hala completed Executive Education at Harvard Business School. She also holds an MBA in Finance and Strategy from IMHI (Essec- Cornell) University, Paris, France and a BA in Hospitality Management from Notre Dame University, Lebanon. Hala is fluent in English, French and Arabic.

Born in Beirut, Hala lived and worked in several cities across Europe, Asia and Middle East and is a mother of three.


For more information, contact Hala at [email protected].

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