HSMAI MEA in conversation with Ahmed Fasad, Commercial Director – Middle East & Africa, Blastness

Looking ahead to 2027, what do you see as the biggest commercial opportunity and the most underestimated risk for hotels in the Middle East? How should these influence commercial planning today?

I believe that in 2027, hotels in the Middle East should prioritise simplifying their commercial technology ecosystems and adopting more agile, integrated strategies that enable them to turn vast amounts of data into actionable commercial decisions.

Hotels are already investing significant time and resources in technology, which is undoubtedly a positive step. However, many of these solutions still operate in silos, forcing commercial teams to spend valuable time collecting, consolidating and analysing fragmented data rather than focusing on higher-value activities such as performance optimisation and strategic decision-making.

The challenge is no longer access to data, but the ability to transform it into meaningful insights and timely decisions that drive sustainable growth.

This becomes even more critical as demand patterns grow increasingly unpredictable. Hotels cannot afford to assume that strong destination performance alone will compensate for a fragmented commercial strategy. A strong, data-driven approach to decision making and the ability to respond quickly to market changes will be essential to staying competitive.

To do that, it will be crucial to prioritise solutions that not only integrate data and systems, but also connect commercial teams, enabling revenue management, marketing and distribution to work towards shared objectives and make faster, more informed decisions.

 What separates a commercially resilient hotel from one that simply performs well when demand is strong? Where should hotels in the region focus to build that resilience?

In my opinion, the key difference is that a resilient hotel takes a proactive rather than reactive approach. Instead of simply waiting for market demand to recover following periods of uncertainty or slowdown, it actively focuses on the factors within its control to protect performance and strengthen its competitive position.

While hotels cannot control external market conditions, they can influence the type of demand they attract, how effectively they convert it into bookings, and the value they generate from each guest. This means focusing on building guest loyalty, encouraging longer stays, diversifying source markets and customer segments, and prioritising profitability over occupancy alone.

Periods of softer demand should also be seen as an opportunity to strengthen operations. Investing in staff development, improving service standards and addressing operational inefficiencies during quieter periods can create a significant competitive advantage when demand picks up again.

Ultimately, resilience comes from combining commercial discipline with an exceptional guest experience. Hotels that truly understand their customers, manage their distribution strategically and continuously invest in their people and processes will not only be better equipped to navigate uncertainty, but also better positioned to capture opportunities and outperform the market when demand recovers.

Agility depends on acting on the right information quickly. Which signals should commercial teams prioritise to recognise changing demand, and where does historical data fall short?

Historical data remains essential, as it helps hotels understand past performance and identify trends. However, while historical data tells us what has happened, it cannot always tell us what will happen next, particularly during periods of uncertainty when market conditions and demand patterns can change rapidly.

In this environment, commercial teams need to complement historical analysis with a stronger focus on forward-looking indicators, such as booking pace, booking windows, current pickup, cancellation patterns, competitor positioning, event-driven demand and performance across different source markets and customer segments.

The key is to combine historical performance with real-time booking behaviour and external market intelligence. This provides a more comprehensive and dynamic view of demand, allowing hotels to identify emerging trends, anticipate market shifts and respond proactively rather than reactively.

Ultimately, it’s worth remembering that data alone does not create a competitive advantage; the ability to turn insights into timely commercial decisions does. Whether that means adjusting pricing strategies, optimising distribution channels or adapting marketing activities, hotels that can translate intelligence into action quickly and effectively will be better positioned to navigate uncertainty and maximise commercial performance.

Where is AI delivering meaningful commercial results for hotels today, and where is the industry still overestimating its capabilities? 

AI is already delivering tangible commercial value across several areas of hotel operations, particularly when it supports better decision-making, improves efficiency and removes friction from the booking process.

At Blastness, we are already leveraging AI in different areas, from revenue management, where it helps analyse demand patterns and support more informed pricing decisions, to digital advertising. Our BMS (Bid Management System), for example, uses AI-powered algorithms to optimise bidding across search and metasearch campaigns in real time, helping hotels capture demand more effectively and generate direct bookings. AI can also improve conversion by supporting guest interactions and simplifying the booking journey.

However, we believe the real potential of AI goes beyond optimising individual activities. It lies in its ability to connect data, systems and decisions across the entire guest journey.

Today, hotels rely on multiple technologies that often operate independently, each with only a partial view of the customer and the hotel's commercial objectives.

To overcome this, we are working towards an integrated AI layer that connects the different hotel systems, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of guest behaviour, demand and commercial performance. Our goal is to move beyond isolated AI applications towards a more connected and intelligent commercial ecosystem, where every decision is informed by the bigger picture: the true competitive advantage of AI will not come from having more tools, but from making them work together to deliver more consistent decisions, stronger commercial performance and a better guest experience.

 As travellers increasingly use AI assistants to research and compare hotels, how should hotels rethink their visibility and direct booking strategies? 

Hotels need to consider not only how visible their property is online, but also how clearly it can be understood and represented within AI-powered conversations. A traveller might describe a combination of needs, such as connecting rooms, a particular location, accessibility requirements or specific experiences. Hotels must ensure that this information is accurate, consistent and easily accessible across their website and digital channels.

Strong SEO foundations remain essential, but hotels now need to take a step further by integrating GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) into their digital strategy. While traditional SEO focuses on improving rankings in search results, GEO helps AI platforms better understand and represent a property in response to travellers' specific needs. This requires more than keywords: clear and structured content, relevant FAQs, consistent information across digital touchpoints and a strong online reputation all contribute to how effectively a hotel can be interpreted and recommended by AI systems.

However, visibility alone is not enough. The real commercial opportunity lies in connecting AI-driven discovery with direct bookings. Being recommended by an AI platform does not necessarily mean that travellers can access the hotel's direct offer, including real-time rates and availability.

This is precisely the rationale behind our partnership with DirectBooker, which connects hotel inventory with AI platforms and directs travellers to the hotel's official website, helping hotels turn this emerging source of demand into direct booking opportunities.

 A direct booking is not automatically the most profitable booking. How should hotels assess the true cost and value of each channel, and strike the right balance between reach, profitability and repeat business?

The winning strategy in today's evolving landscape is not about maximizing direct bookings at any cost, but about maximizing total profitability over time.

Hotels should evaluate each distribution channel by looking beyond commissions and considering the full cost of acquisition, including marketing investments, technology, transaction costs, and operational expenses. At the same time, they need to assess the value each channel brings in terms of visibility, incremental demand, occupancy, and opportunities to build lasting guest relationships.

This is where Dual Revenue Management makes the difference. Rather than applying the same pricing strategy across all channels, hotels can dynamically manage direct and indirect rates independently, optimizing the price differential according to demand, market conditions, and profitability objectives. In this way, Blastness RMS enables hotels to balance two key goals: maximizing overall revenue while increasing the share of profitable direct bookings.

Ultimately, the objective is not to eliminate intermediaries, but to use each channel strategically: leveraging OTAs for visibility and incremental demand while strengthening direct relationships to drive loyalty and repeat business.

 Technology can connect data, but it cannot automatically align people. What needs to change in how revenue, sales and marketing teams work together to turn better insights into faster decisions and measurable results?

Revenue, sales and marketing ultimately work towards the same commercial objectives, yet they can still operate with different priorities, data and KPIs. This creates silos, slows down decisions and makes it harder to understand the overall impact of commercial activity.

Hotels need to move towards a shared view of performance, common objectives and more regular collaboration between these teams. Revenue should inform marketing investment and sales priorities; marketing performance should contribute to a better understanding of demand; and sales opportunities should be assessed not only on the revenue they generate, but also on their overall profitability and impact on the business.

Technology can help by bringing data together and making it accessible across functions. But it must be supported by clear processes, shared KPIs and accountability for turning data into action.

This is precisely why, at Blastness, we go beyond technology. Alongside our advanced solutions, we provide a dedicated team of revenue management experts who work closely with hotels, offering strategic guidance, tailored consultancy and ongoing support to help them improve performance and achieve sustainable growth.

Successful commercial integration depends on combining the right technology, the right expertise and a culture of collaboration, where teams work together towards shared objectives rather than compete internally.

This year's conference theme for the annual Commercial Strategy Conference MEA is “Resilience. Agility. Results.” If you could challenge Middle East hotel leaders to rethink one established commercial practice before 2027, what would it be, and what should they do differently?

I would challenge hotels to stop assuming that strong destination demand will automatically translate into strong performance for every individual property.

Destinations such as Dubai benefit from significant investment and sustained efforts to attract international visitors. However, the overall success of a destination does not remove the need for each hotel to differentiate itself, identify the right customers and execute its own commercial strategy effectively.

Hotels should continuously explore new source markets, customer segments and demand opportunities rather than relying too heavily on established patterns or the strength of the destination alone. They should also challenge their existing pricing, distribution and marketing strategies, using timely information to anticipate changes rather than simply react to them.

In a competitive and increasingly unpredictable market, standing still is itself a risk. The hotels that perform sustainably will be those that remain curious, challenge their assumptions and adapt before changing market conditions force them to.

Alos, I would challenge hotels to stop measuring commercial success primarily through occupancy, revenue growth and direct booking share in isolation.

These metrics matter, but none tells the whole story. A hotel can fill its rooms, increase its direct bookings and still leave profitability on the table if it is spending too much to acquire demand, pricing incorrectly or failing to coordinate its commercial activities.

 What are you most looking forward to at this year’s commercial strategy conference MEA?

I look forward to exchanging practical ideas with hospitality leaders on how the industry can turn data, technology and market uncertainty into better commercial decisions.

The Middle East is a dynamic and highly competitive hospitality market, and I am particularly interested in discussing how hotels can become more agile, improve collaboration between commercial teams and focus more consistently on sustainable growth.

At Blastness, we believe that connecting commercial technology, data and expertise is essential to helping hotels achieve those objectives. Our approach brings together an integrated commercial platform and in-house revenue expertise, with a focus on measurable performance and a clear understanding of the value delivered to each hotel.

I am looking forward both to sharing our perspective and to learning from the experiences of other industry leaders. Ultimately, the most valuable conversations are those that move beyond discussing technology and focus on what value to bring to hotels to drive business growth, reduce distribution cost, improve business mix, optimise revenue and enhance the overall commercial performance that delivers sustainable growth.