Top 100 Travel and Tourism Leaders 2025
Despite ongoing challenges in the Middle East, the region remains a hotspot and a key global tourism hub, driven by diverse attractions across the GCC and a robust pipeline of ongoing developments.
This year’s list presents an updated view of the Middle East’s travel and tourism ecosystem, highlighting 101 influential leaders driving the region’s largest hospitality projects, destinations, hotel chains, airports, airlines, and travel services across both the public and private sectors.
Industry highlights include Miral’s development of the region’s first Disney theme park and resort in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi—the seventh of its kind globally. The list also features companies focused on heritage preservation and eco-tourism, such as the Diriyah Company, Boutique Group, the Royal Commission for AlUla, and new entrant ENVI Lodges.
The top three rankings are held by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman & Chief Executive of Emirates Airline & Group; Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority; and Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, Group CEO of Qatar Airways.
The U.A.E. is the primary base for 49 leaders on the list, followed by Saudi Arabia with 24. Egypt is home to seven leaders, Oman to five, and both Jordan and Morocco to four each. Qatar and Bahrain have three each, while Kuwait and Tunisia are represented by one leader each—from Kuwait Airways and the Tunisian National Tourist Office (ONTT), respectively.