Dubai, UAE – Over 50 senior hospitality leaders gathered in Dubai final week for the annual FHS World Advisory Board assembly to form the programme for the Future Hospitality Summit – FHS World 2026, happening from 29 September to 1 October at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.
With the hospitality trade shifting at excessive velocity towards a extra institutionalised, tech-driven, and investor-centric future, the FHS Advisory Board comprising esteemed leaders from throughout the hospitality trade, recognized the important thing market dynamics defining 2026 and past.
Listed below are 4 key insights that emerged from the Advisory Board’s discussions.
Center East lodge efficiency leads the worldwide stage
The info offered by STR through the Advisory Board assembly paints an image of a area that continues to steer the worldwide stage. The Center East at the moment instructions the best common room price (ARR) globally at USD$183, a 6% improve year-on-year. Abu Dhabi and Dubai stay prime world performers with 81% occupancy, rivalled solely by cities like Tokyo and New York. Globally, demand for lodge rooms is powerful with the Jap hemisphere main development, occupancy continues to be rising which in flip supplies a platform for common day by day price (ADR) to rise.
Within the GCC, demand continues to rise at a sooner tempo than provide with luxurious nonetheless the principle driver of demand with a year-on-year improve of 10%, whereas RevPar development within the GCC was 10.1% in 2025.
There’s an institutional shift from household places of work to ‘banker’ traders
A key theme of the assembly was the altering nature of hospitality traders. The trade is shifting away from conventional family-run companies towards institutional traders, pension funds, and sovereign funds.
These new homeowners strategy hospitality by a special lens, centered on danger matrices, exit methods, and dividend methods. The board emphasised that for hospitality to stay engaging to this capital, the trade should present clearer definitions of asset lessons and extra clear reporting on the life cycle of asset deployment.
Wellness and longevity thought-about as a standalone asset class
The dialog round wellness has shifted from being a peripheral lodge amenity to a core funding pillar. The advisory board mentioned that for wellness to achieve success, it have to be handled as a standalone, financially viable asset class relatively than an add-on to a lodge’s providing.
Because the youthful era of travellers prioritises way of life experiences, wellness and longevity have gotten defining elements of their journey decisions. The board steered that future funding ought to give attention to the basics of wellness similar to optimising the sleep surroundings.
The necessity to bridge the expertise belief hole
Know-how spend is at an all-time excessive, with 78% AI integration within the hospitality sector this 12 months, anticipated to achieve 89% by subsequent 12 months. Nonetheless, a big belief hole stays between technical groups and lodge homeowners.
The board recognized that the problem is not only adopting AI however educating homeowners on its worth creation and ROI. There’s a transfer towards expertise as an enabler of human interplay, automating back-of-house workflows and lodge distribution in order that workers can give attention to the visitor expertise. A crucial future debate will centre on knowledge possession and whether or not manufacturers, homeowners, or tech suppliers are really in command of visitor knowledge.
The 2026 FHS Advisory Board assembly and networking reception was hosted by RIKAS Hospitality Group at Tagomago, The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. With a transparent ambition for FHS to turn into a year-round, digitally enabled platform for curated, intentional funding connections, organisers The Bench introduced the launch of FHS Egypt, additional extending the FHS portfolio into one of many area’s most strategically important hospitality markets. The brand new occasion will construct on Egypt’s accelerating tourism pipeline and rising investor curiosity, making a devoted discussion board for capital, improvement and operational dialogue in North Africa. FHS Egypt will happen on 10-11 November 2026 on the Sofitel Downtown Cairo Nile.
About The Bench
The Bench has constructed a legacy as a world curator of alternative, designing transformative boards and summits that empower the hospitality and journey industries to attach, innovate, and thrive. With over 20 years of experience, The Bench creates platforms that transcend transactions to encourage collaboration and drive significant change.
Every occasion brings collectively authorities leaders, tourism ministries, world journey associations, main hospitality manufacturers, lodge homeowners and traders, airways, vacation spot builders, and extra. From flagship gatherings like FHS World (previously AHIC) and FHS Saudi Arabia, to FHS Africa (previously AHIF) and AviaDev, The Bench creates occasions the place concepts spark, relationships deepen, and investments take flight.
The Bench thrives on fostering dynamic and forward-looking dialogues, uniting trade pioneers to handle challenges, seize alternatives, and co-create the long run. Every occasion is crafted to ship extra than simply connections – it is about reworking concepts into motion and constructing a greater tomorrow.
Uncover extra at thebench.com
About FHS World
Dates: 27-29 October 2025
Location: Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE
Sponsors:
Jumeirah as Host Sponsor; Neom, Rua Al Madinah Holding and Taiba Investments at Strategic Companions; PwC as Data Associate; Accor, Arada Hospitality, Membership Med, Maldives Fund Administration Company (MFMC), Marriott Worldwide, Radisson Lodge Group, Pink Sea International, Rotana and The Ascott Restricted as Headline Sponsors; Aleph Hospitality, ARK Individuals Options, BeCause, BWH Lodges, Compass Venture Consulting, Credibl ESG, EHL Hospitality Enterprise College, IHCL, JLL, JT+P, Knight Frank, Louvre Lodges Group, Minor Lodges, Quo, Rikas Hospitality, STR, The First Group, The Water Firm and Wyndham Lodges & Resorts as Sponsors, and Centara Lodges & Resorts, Rove Lodges, Shaza Lodges and Time Lodges as Exhibitors.
Anne BleekerIn2 Consulting+971 56 603 0886 The Bench
