Hospitality Awards 2025 celebrate visionaries shaping future of Saudi hospitality

Short Url
Updated 16 June 2025
Follow

Hospitality Awards 2025 celebrate visionaries shaping future of Saudi hospitality

The Hospitality Network has unveiled the winners of The Hospitality Awards 2025, honoring excellence across 11 categories that spotlight innovation, leadership, and alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. The awards ceremony, held as part of The 2025 KSA Stakeholder Gathering, brought together senior decision-makers from the hotel and real estate industries at this influential conference.

Winners of the 2025 Hospitality Awards are:

  1. City of Tomorrow: Mohammed Bin Salman Nonprofit City 
  2. Cultural and Architectural Preservation: AlUla Development Company 
  3. Development Leader: Imran Changezi, Diriyah Company 
  4. Groundbreaking Project: Desert Rock Resort 
  5. Heritage Conservation Project: Bab Samhan, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Diriyah
  6. Iconic Project: Shebara Resort 
  7. Innovator of the Year: King Abdullah Financial District 
  8. Luxury Hospitality Pioneer: Desert Rock Resort 
  9. National Hospitality Champion: Fabien Toscano, AlUla Development Company
  10. Sustainability Champion: King Abdullah Financial District 
  11. Urban Living Excellence: Rua Al-Madinah Holding 

A celebration of vision and progress

“These awards are milestones on a much larger journey, powered by purpose, passion, and vision,” said Martina Bjorkenor, managing director, The Hospitality Network. The evening celebrated the drive of Saudi Arabia’s hospitality and real estate leaders to innovate while preserving heritage and advancing sustainability.

Beyond awards, creating opportunity through connection

Held as part of the 2025 KSA Stakeholder Gathering, The Hospitality Awards took place during a high-impact event that brought together over 500 senior leaders from Saudi Arabia’s hospitality and real estate sectors. 

The program featured keynote speeches from Joseph Bradley of TONOMUS, who explored the future of AI in hospitality, and Philip Wooller of STR, a CoStar Group Company, who shared key insights on regional hotel performance. 

Attendees participated in expert-led panel discussions covering technology, sustainability, development as well as design and architecture. Together, these elements created a strategic platform to accelerate partnerships, create new opportunities, and drive forward Vision 2030’s ambitious hospitality goals.

What’s next?

The momentum continues at The 2025 EMEA Stakeholder Conference in Dubai this November, where The Hospitality Network will unite the industry’s most influential leaders shaping the future of hospitality and real estate across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

This exclusive gathering brings together owners, operators, giga-developers, consultants, and leading suppliers who are key decision-makers driving hundreds of hotel and real estate projects in the region.


GIB Capital strengthens regional leadership with $2.1bn ICM transactions

Updated 15 December 2025
Follow

GIB Capital strengthens regional leadership with $2.1bn ICM transactions

GIB Capital, one of the region’s leading financial and investment banking advisers, has announced the successful execution of three major international capital markets transactions in November, underscoring the firm’s growing influence and distribution strength across global debt markets.

In a single month, GIB Capital acted in joint lead manager roles across three landmark issuances — supporting clients in the banking, aviation and government sectors — and attracting an aggregate of more than $4.6 billion in investor demand from the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the UK and the US. These transactions, which collectively raised over $2.1 billion, further demonstrate the confidence international investors place in GCC issuers and the strategic value GIB Capital brings to each mandate.

The firm began the month by serving as joint global coordinator, joint lead manager and bookrunner on the inaugural ICM issuance for GIB — Saudi Arabia. The $500 million perpetual non-call 5.5-year additional Tier 1 instrument was priced on Nov. 5 and generated an impressive $1.3 billion in orders, achieving a 2.6-times oversubscribed orderbook. The strong participation from regional, UK, Asian and European investors reflect the bank’s robust credit fundamentals and GIB Capital’s ability to deliver global reach for its clients.

On the same day, GIB Capital also acted as joint lead manager and bookrunner for AviLease’s first-ever ICM transaction — an $850 million bond offering that attracted exceptionally strong interest, closing in at over 3.7 times oversubscribed orderbook. The transaction drew participation from a diverse pool of regional, US, UK, European and Asian investors, highlighting the appeal to Saudi Arabia’s fastest-growing aviation leasing company. 

Further reinforcing its leadership in Islamic finance, GIB Capital concluded the month as joint lead manager and bookrunner on the government of Sharjah’s $750 million sukuk issuance, priced on Nov. 18. The transaction secured $2 billion in orders, representing a 2.6-times oversubscribed orderbook, with interest coming primarily from regional, UK and European accounts. This issuance marked government of Sharjah’s first US dollar public issuance in 2025 and benefited from strong investor confidence toward Sharjah’s credit story and in GIB Capital’s advisory expertise.

Commenting on the milestone month, Osamah Mohammed Shaker, CEO of GIB Capital, said: “These three successful issuances reflect the depth of trust our clients place in GIB Capital and the strength of our distribution network across global markets. The robust oversubscriptions and high-quality investor participation are clear indicators of the continued confidence in GCC credit stories and the resilience of the region’s economic outlook. We remain committed to delivering best-in-class execution, innovative structuring, and strategic advisory that enable our clients to access international liquidity efficiently and competitively.”

With a growing portfolio of successful mandates, GIB Capital continues to expand its presence as a leading provider of debt capital markets solutions, capital markets advisory, mergers and acquisitions, debt advisory, asset management and brokerage services. Combining deep regional insight with global investor connectivity, the firm remains committed to supporting clients across sectors with innovative, tailored, and high-impact financial solutions.