The latest virtual edition of FHS World has gone live, allowing hospitality leaders, investors and professionals anywhere in the world to explore the Dubai event online, at any time and from any device.

The second day of FHS World 2026 in Dubai brought together some of the hospitality sector’s most influential investors, operators, policymakers and innovators, with discussions ranging from longevity and wellness to artificial intelligence, investment strategy, food security and the changing relationship between hotel owners and operators. Across 25 sessions, a consistent message emerged: hospitality is entering a period in which access to capital and technology alone will not determine success. The industry’s next phase will depend increasingly on disciplined investment, resilient destinations, stronger organisational cultures and the ability to use technology to enhance — rather than replace — the human experience.

Rove Hotels was created to fill a gap between conventional budget accommodation and design-led lifestyle hotels. The rooms were efficient, the public spaces social and the tone informal. Paul Bridger has been closely involved in translating that concept from one Dubai opening into a growing regional business. Bridger joined Rove in 2016 and became chief operating officer in 2021. He brought more than two decades of hospitality experience across the Middle East, Asia, the UK and Ireland. That career gave him exposure to both international brands and the operational realities of building a new proposition from the ground up.

Guests may know the Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach or JW Marriott Hotel Marina without knowing that Abu Dhabi National Hotels sits behind the asset. Khalid Anib’s role is to ensure that the owner remains an active participant in the performance and long-term value of those properties. Anib became chief executive of ADNH in 2016. Before joining the group, he spent five years in Saudi Arabia managing the hospitality division of Al Hokair Group, experience that gave him a regional operator’s understanding of hotels, restaurants and entertainment assets.

Amir Golbarg began his hospitality career in Dubai in 2007 at Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah. The experience placed him inside large, high-profile luxury operations at the start of a career that would later span Bangkok, Doha and a rapidly expanding Middle East and African portfolio. He first joined Minor Hotels in 2012 as director of operations and hotel openings at its Bangkok headquarters. International assignments followed, including hotel management at Souq Waqif in Doha. Golbarg then moved to Al Rayyan Hospitality and Katara Hospitality, where he gained experience from the owner and corporate side of hotel operations.

Hospitality was part of Adrian Messerli’s life before it became his profession. He was raised in a fourth-generation family-owned hotel in a Swiss resort village, later worked for Swissair and graduated from Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne. In 2005, he joined Four Seasons and began a career that would take him across several continents. Messerli’s assignments included the United States, Caribbean, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He became a general manager in the Seychelles, later led a city hotel in Shanghai and served as regional vice president and general manager of Four Seasons Hotel Madrid. In 2023, he became president of hotel operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

AlUla cannot be marketed like an ordinary resort. Its value lies in a cultural landscape formed over millennia, including Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, an ancient oasis, dramatic geology and living communities. Rami Almoallim must convert that significance into visitation without allowing demand to overwhelm the place. Almoallim became vice president of destination management and marketing at the Royal Commission for AlUla in March 2023. His career spans more than two decades and includes experience with Saudia in ground-handling agreements and communications work connected to Saudi ports, followed by senior roles across marketing and destination development.