Christie + Co, a leading hospitality business property adviser, has appointed John Podaras as a director of the Mena office based out of Dubai, effective April 22.

“In just over a year of operation, our Mena office has undertaken a number of high-profile consultancy projects in the UAE, Oman and Qatar advising some of the region’s best known hotel owners, developers and operators,” said Gavin Samson, managing director, Christie + Co Mena.

“The need to deliver tailored solutions to suit our clients’ needs combined with advice that is honest, dependable and credible is what we pride ourselves on and we see Saudi Arabia as a key market in which to continue this approach.”

“The Kingdom’s key commercial hubs and secondary cities present potential hotel investors with good investment opportunities driven by strong hotel performance in Jeddah and Makkah in particular, despite increased supply. We are also keen to unlock the enormous potential in India, and John’s extensive experience in both these countries is significant as we look to meet this increased demand,” he added.

Podaras joins Christie + Co from major real estate developer The Office of Darshan Hiranandani, where he was the development director.

Samson and Podaras have previously worked together on a number of high-profile projects during the defining years of hotel development in the region over the last decade.

Specifically in Saudi Arabia, Podaras has covered a number of hospitality related projects, providing feasibility advice for owners on the development of hotels, serviced apartments and mixed-use developments, consulting on the strategic planning and feasibility of a national chain of highway motels, as well as assessing the operational efficiency of existing hotels as one of the region’s first sale and leaseback models.

“My areas of expertise lie in hospitality consultancy, financial analysis, management, and business applications, across a wide variety of disciplines, including customer relationships at the highest levels,” said Podaras.

“Having also worked for an owning company, this development experience will be instrumental when consulting for the different players within the hospitality industry.” – TradeArabia News Service