The Hotel Show and Index Showcases Global Brands With International Insights

• MENA’s flagship events for hospitality and interior design feature over 900 exhibitors from 48 countries, with companies hailing The Hotel Show for providing expanded visibility and reach
• Multinational panels at co-located INDEX and HITEC exhibitions focus on everything from experiential design and hospitality technology to gender inclusivity and cybersecurity   

Dubai, UAE, May 29, 2025: The Hotel Show and INDEX, Middle East and North Africa’s leading events for the hospitality and interior design sectors, showcased their diversity on day two as a range of local and international companies looked to tap into valuable business opportunities while speaker sessions featuring thought-leaders from around the globe provided expert insights and visions for a more connected future.

Taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre and co-located alongside The Hotel Show, WORKSPACE, and HITEC, INDEX feature over 900 exhibitors, each showcasing their latest products, designs, and industry solutions. Representing 48 countries –  from Brazil to Italy, Thailand to Turkey – exhibitors are capitalising on this year’s show popularity, with organizers dmg events expecting some 35,000 visitors over the show’s three days.  

Jude Varghese, Hospitality Sales Manager at Tramontina UAE, said the local arm of the Brazilian high-end houseware manufacturer is reaping the benefits of increased regional prominence this week. “The Hotel Show 2025 gives us the visibility and reach to connect with key buyers and showcase our commitment to excellence,” he said. 

Kurram Shaheryar, Director of Operations at UAE-based Gulf Asian General Trading, added that the annual hospitality exhibition – now into its fourth decade – provides a window into the industry,  both its present and future. “The Hotel Show isn’t just an exhibition for us – it’s where we benchmark ourselves, watch the competition, and understand where the market is heading,” he said. “We serve a primarily B2B audience, and this platform allows us to engage directly with hotel operators, procurement heads, and decision-makers.”

Restofair RAK / RAK Porcelain have attended The Hotel Show since the inaugural show. Anand Nair, the company’s Managing Director, said it remains an important fixture. “It’s a valuable space to meet with long-standing clients, reach both B2B and B2C audiences, and stay connected with the wider hospitality industry.”

At the co-located INDEX 2025, the Middle East and North Africa’s flagship interior design and furniture exhibition, its Design Talks Stage – sponsored by Geberit and created by 4SPACE – featured a host of international speakers from companies around the world. An afternoon panel discussion presented by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and focusing on gender inclusivity in architecture featured six women from six countries across four continents.

 German Mariska Stoffel, Principal Architect at Killa Design, American Stephanie Kinnick, the International Secretary at AIA, Filipina Christine Espinosa-Erlanda, Associate Director at Godwin Austen Johnson, and Egypt’s Shereen El Margoushy, Lead Designer at OBMI International, highlighted their diverse experiences at home and in the UAE.

Earlier in the day, the Design Talks Stage hosted a discussion in which Paul Boldy, Head of Hospitality Futures at Benoy, discussed the evolution of the hospitality experience, emphasizing a growing focus on emotional design and cultural immersion. 

“For a long time, hotels have been revenue generators – now they need to be regenerative,” said Boldy, who has worked in the hospitality sector across the Middle East and Africa for 20 years. “If you look at where new luxury is going, it’s all about the lifestyle brand because it plays to that personalization, the demographics. Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Z all want something slightly different, be it quiet luxury or immersive culture or Instagrammable moments. So the way operators are dealing with that is by giving a lot more flexible space, particularly within public areas.”

Modern luxury envelopes everything from cultural experiences to sustainability to community engagement. Boldy said such characteristics cannot “exist as an island”, while his fellow panellist Dina Murali, Design Director and Founder at DZ Design, elaborated: “Most of the lobby spaces that we are designing right now are no longer lobby spaces – they are social hubs. That is a really brilliant way most operators are looking at engaging community, by creating a space for everyone to relax, work, and create a community with social impact. Now when you talk about designing, they are very fluid spaces.”

Meanwhile at the HITEC stage, which is in partnership with HFTP, explored hospitality technology. Fahad Qureshi, Senior Director IT Operations at Talabat, sat down to discuss scaling smart and how the Kuwaiti firm built a future-ready IT ecosystem. Qureshi noted the challenges in building IT systems from scratch and facing early scaling challenges as Talabat grew from 100 to 7,000 employees across nine countries. 

“The implementation of chatbots has significantly reduced the number of tickets coming to our staff by 20 per cent,” he said. “This allows the team to focus on strategy rather than responding to FAQs. IT is a business enabler and has contributed to the profitability of the business. For example, with AI we have saved time by automating local password changes and asset tracking.”

 Cybersecurity also came under the microscope, with a focus on technological advancements that increase the risk of data breaches due to the handling of sensitive guest information. Willem Both, Executive VP IT at Kerzner International, noted the rise of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks during politically sensitive periods and stressed the importance of data privacy in protecting brand reputation. Cybersecurity is now a critical factor in vendor selection, and IT’s role has evolved beyond defence to include operational and revenue contributions, he said.

“IT used to fall under finance – we would conduct backups and make sure we were patched, but it was very much defensive,” Both added. “It has now moved up the value chain and become more operational, more revenue- and guest experience-enhancing. It’s not 100 per cent risk avoidance now, it is more risk management.”
The Hotel Show runs alongside INDEX, WORKSPACE, and HITEC, from May 27-29 at Dubai World Trade Centre