Ph.D. in Tourism. CEO at Málaga Tourism Authority. Former UNWTO International Liaison Officer. +10 years of experience teaching in spanish, central-american and european universities and business schools. DMO expert & Tourism Boards director and deeply involved with the international travel & tourism industry relations. Ms in Tourism Consulting / Ms in MICE Tourism / Ms in Mkt & Communication / Ms in Hospitality Management / GD in International Relations
As Director of Investments and Special Projects, Mohamed Belkhodja is responsible for the ongoing expansion of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority’s business strategies across the EMEA region. He is a true hospitality professional who brings over 15 years of hospitality and management consulting experience to the team. His role is to lead key investment strategies and increase global awareness of the Emirate. Belkhodja delivers on over three decades of expertise across several markets (Global expertise with Local focus).
Belkhodja is a seasoned Eco, Wellness, Agri and Adventure (EWAA) Tourism expert and believes that a combination of sustainable & conscious tourism along with the fractional economy will stimulate the economic & social development of the Emirate. His mandate is to enhance the existing destination product portfolio and develop new tourism attractions to elevate the destination’s tourist appeal and enhance the current infrastructure. He strives to develop a conscious ecosystem for entrepreneurs, tourists and residents with projects that blend health, sustainability, and technology.
He was part of the team that won the multi-billion dollar Wynn integrated resort on Marjan Island. He also implemented the Bureau Veritas Safe Guard Program in Ras Al Khaimah which positioned RAK as the first city in the world to be certified as safe by Bureau Veritas and the first emirate to receive the world travel and tourism council (WTTC) safe travels stamp. Last but not least, he implemented the SelectRAK Residency by investment Program in partnership with ARTON CAPITAL in order to boost Tourism & Investment.
Belkhodja holds a Master’s Degree in International Hotel Management from VATEL International Hospitality Management Business School and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Management Information Systems from the Université Pierre Mendès France – in France.
Reengineering mindsets and creating an impact on Humanity is his passion and personal mission.
His favorite quote: ‘’We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?’’ – Steve Jobs
Hamza Farooqui is a prominent South African-based entrepreneur with a special interest in real estate, technology, hospitality, leisure, and global financial services. He is the founder and CEO of the Johannesburg-headquartered boutique family investment office Millat Investments which he started in 2016.
He started his entrepreneurial journey in his early teens when he conceptualised and developed icricketer.com providing millions of fans around the world with live online cricket scoring and radio/audio updates. The business achieved global success and recognition.
Later he co-founded South Africa’s first Islamic satellite radio station, CII. CII went on to become a significant player in the Islamic media, Islamic retail, and Islamic financial services front. He helped launch a variety of multi-billion Rand pioneering Islamic financial services products with Old Mutual and Albaraka Bank.
Continuing with the entrepreneurial journey, he subsequently joined and became the managing director for satellite radio company WorldSpace in Africa. During this time, he was part of the team which supported the company’s capital raising process which led to the successful IPO of the company on NASDAQ. This provided him with significant experience in working with large capital providers such as global private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds and family offices.
He was also the driving force behind the first ever dry hotel built in Cape Town initially being branded by Hilton Worldwide. Farooqui is driven by an abiding passion for and firm belief in South Africa. He is an active and successful player in the tourism sector where, in partnership with the global Hyatt Hotels brand, opened four hotels in the country during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hamza’s most recent brain child saw Millat Investment becoming the first hotel group to open Dark Kitchen food brands in South Africa with Uber Eats coming in board as an exclusive partner for ordering and delivering.
He strongly subscribes to the concepts of community and family and values the importance of a service ethos in everything that he does.
Farooqui travels the world widely, has extensive business interests in the GCC and the sub-continent, and through an extensive network has high-level access to global companies and their leaders. He also draws inspiration from the cultural diversity in these regions and his parental roots of Pakistan and uses every speaking opportunity and engagement to extol the potential of South Africa as an investment destination.
Farooqui fervently believes that South Africa’s future economic success will be built through the power of entrepreneurship. The secret he says, is to remain laser-focussed on the job and to work in sectors that constantly move your spirit.
Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) since Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) since June 2019, brings a wealth of industry experience to aid the continued growth of Ras Al Khaimah as one of the fastest growing destinations in the world and will spearhead RAKTDA’s drive to attract 3 million visitors by 2025, while developing the Emirate’s tourism infrastructure, creating sustainable investment opportunities and enhancing the quality of life for Ras Al Khaimah’s residents.
Phillips is an award-winning hospitality veteran and serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience working with some of the world’s most renowned brands including Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Universal Studios Orlando. He was recognized & published by Hotelier Middle East as “Top 20 Most Powerful Arab Hoteliers”.
Phillips, an American national and a fluent Arabic speaker, has a great understanding of the region having worked in the Middle East since 2005 and specifically in the UAE since 2007.
Phillips joins RAKTDA, the authority tasked with establishing Ras Al Khaimah as a world-class destination for leisure and business travel, from the Dubai based International Hospitality Consulting Group INHOCO, where he was Senior Partner and Senior Vice President of Development. In this role he developed hotel project pipelines exceeding $5 billion in assets and negotiated multimillion-dollar hotel deals for global luxury brands in 12 countries and 26 markets.
As well as launching and developing hotels globally, Phillips is one of the Co-Founders of Earth Hotels a sustainable, tech-forward and design centric hotel concept.
Phillips is also an expert in the food & beverage sector and was behind several successful concepts including Hard Rock Live Orlando and Noire the Middle East’s first Dinner in the Dark restaurant. He is also the Co-Founder and former CEO of SugarMoo Desserts, Dubai’s first online dessert delivery bakery that has expanded from a home grown UAE concept to a popular regional brand in multiple countries including KSA & Oman.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and an MBA in Organizational Management.
Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili is Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) since 1 January 2018 after being elected by the 22nd Session of UNWTO General Assembly. He was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Kingdom of Spain, the Principality of Andorra, the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria and the Kingdom of Morocco and Permanent Representative of Georgia to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) up to December 2017.
Between 2009 and 2010, he was Minister of Economic Development of Georgia. As a Minister of Economic Development of Georgia, Mr Pololikashvili was responsible for overseeing the country’s long-term fiscal growth strategies, advancing foreign trade and investment policy initiatives as well as for promoting the development of the tourism, infrastructure and transportation sectors.
He was instrumental in launching an innovative policy for the development of tourism in Georgia, prioritizing the sphere on both the government and private sector agendas. During Mr Pololikashvili’s tenure as Minister of Economic Development, through key policy reforms, marketing activities, improvement of infrastructure and visa liberalization initiatives, Georgia nearly doubled the number of international tourist arrivals, from 1.5 million (2009) to exceeding the 2.8 million mark by 2011.
Those reforms paved the way for sustainable tourism practices in Georgia and poverty alleviation initiatives, placing Georgia among the top tourism destinations in the region. Minister Pololikashvili successfully led the economic liberalization processes, introducing supportive policies for SMEs, and incentive programmes to attract foreign investment for the development of hard and soft infrastructure.
International delegates interested in participating in the summit, please get in touch with the ITIC team.