He believes hotel assets should be built on strategy, operational clarity, and guest experiences to be at pace with the evolution in the Middle East hospitality market.
Tourism growth, mixed-use developments, and traveller expectations are the major factors that shape the current hospitality landscape in the Middle East. In this sector, assessments amongst businesses include their efficiency in balancing guest experience, operational efficiency, and financial sustainability.
Offering valuable insights is Ali Manzoor, Head of Hospitality, who currently leads the Hotels & Tourism team at CBRE MENA. He has been in the hospitality industry since 2007 and in the Middle East since 2011, which has developed his extensive expertise in hotel advisory and operations.
Throughout his career, Manzoor has advised developers, investors, and government institutions on feasibility studies, hotel valuations, pricing strategies, asset reviews, and hotel management agreement negotiations across multiple jurisdictions within the Middle East and Africa. His work spans large-scale mixed-use developments and standalone hospitality assets, giving him a commercially grounded perspective on the realities of hospitality investment in the region.
With this background, Manzoor has built a strong reputation for navigating the commercial and operational complexities of hospitality projects across the region. His experience has also placed him at the forefront of conversations surrounding hotel performance, investment strategy, tourism expansion, and the expectations of today’s travellers in the Middle East.
As a judge for the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards 2026 - Middle East, Manzoor shared his views on balancing creativity with financial discipline in hotel developments and changing investor sentiment. He also tackled the need to protect hospitality talent during challenging market conditions, and the growing importance of differentiation.
Leading the Hotels & Tourism team at CBRE MENA, what have been some of the most complex challenges you faced when advising clients across different markets?
Developing hotel real estate is a complex endeavour in which there is often an emotional element that does not exist to the same degree in office or retail developments. In some cases, strong vision can outweigh financial discipline, which underscores the importance of aligning creativity with clear return benchmarks. Ultimately the end result more often than not is a scheme that does not meet the required rate of return despite being visually impressive.
What we have started to see more often in mixed use schemes is that underperforming hospitality assets that are not positioned or sized correctly are being financially carried by other asset classes, and this does not have to be the case. If emotion is removed from the equation, it is possible to drive financial returns from hotel assets so long as the positioning, costing and operator selection are done diligently.
Having worked extensively on feasibility studies and hotel valuations, what do you think are some key factors that define a successful hospitality investment in the Middle East?
Generally speaking, successful developments tend to have three defining characteristics in common: the financials rather than design determine the product offering; there is strict discipline to develop exactly to — and never beyond — brand standards unless there is a direct financial incentive; and there is a willingness to outsource whatever lies outside core areas of expertise.
How are investor expectations shifting when it comes to hotel performance and returns in the region?
It is too early to tell, but in a general sense, whenever there are market disruptions such as the geopolitical unrest that we see today, there tends to be a divergence of expectations in terms of buyer and seller expectations. This makes the market more difficult to enter for potential investors, which is unfortunate, as we were starting to see some great deals executed in the market over the past few years. That said, the region has historically demonstrated a strong ability to recalibrate and sustain deal flow, so our short to medium-term outlook is broadly positive.
How should hospitality business owners and operators balance control, risk, and profitability in today’s market?
Many hotels have faced margin pressure in recent months, prompting operators to reassess cost structures. Whilst this is understandable given that their obligations ultimately lie with the asset owners, it is times like these in which identifying and protecting in-house talent is more important than ever. This is because if the market recovery looks anything like it did after the pandemic, it will be sharp, and having these team members already in place will be critical to ramp up as quickly as possible.
In what ways can the region adapt to changing traveller preferences, such as sustainability and experiential travel?
The hospitality sector is fiercely competitive, and without a clear differentiator, the only way to compete is on price. Whilst for a midscale airport offering, for example, such a strategy may be ingrained within the business model, for properties with a higher positioning, competing solely on price is not a sustainable business practice. As such, it has never been more important for properties to have a key differentiator, whether that be through the site characteristics, an augmented product offering, or both. Examples we have seen come to market in the UAE include best-in-class heritage hotels, hideaway eco retreats with legitimate credentials, and experiential destinations with enhanced activity programming.
As a returning judge in the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards 2026 - Middle East, what qualities or innovations do you consider essential in assessing the nominees?
In a general sense, any initiative or property that has managed to enhance the bottom line whilst not impacting or even enhancing the guest experience is the gold standard.
