Prince Alwaleed recognised for achievement by tourism sector

HRH Prince Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company, has been presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for services to tourism at the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference.

Prince Alwaleed, who established the Kingdom Hotel Investment Group, is recognised as a global player in the tourism sector and is noted for his astute investments.

He has substantial holdings in Four Seasons, Fairmont and Movenpick hotel groups, as well as diversified, successful ventures in banking, real estate, entertainment and broadcast-media, information technology, fashion retailing, supermarkets, agriculture, and the automotive industry.

The award was the result of voting across a panel of regional tourism leaders. Conference organiser Jonathan Worsley said, “Prince Alwaleed was the natural choice as the first recipient of our Lifetime Achievement. He has mixed studied investment opportunities around the world with a measured expansion plan in the Middle East, and is widely recognised as one of the most visionary leaders in Arabia.”

Kingdom has substantial developments underway, including Four Seasons hotels in Alexandria, Beirut, Damascus, Kuwait, Dubai and Doha (the latter opening in May), while Fairmont’s flag is due to be planted in Cairo, Abu Dhabi and The Palm, Dubai, and Movenpick also has extensive expansion plans covering Dubai, Libya, Lebanon and Egypt in particular.

Global names that form part of Prince Alwaleed’s investment portfolio are Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney Company, Saks Fifth Avenue, News Corporation Citigroup, Apple Computers, AOL Time/Warner, and Ford Motor Company.

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