Phoenix Hospitality Group has appointed Manish Ahluwalia as its new Group Chief Executive Officer, with the former IHG Hotels & Resorts executive taking on the role as the UAE-born hospitality group prepares for its next phase of international growth.
Ahluwalia brings more than 25 years of hospitality experience across Australia, China, Mauritius, Angola and the UAE. During more than two decades with IHG, he held senior leadership positions spanning hotel operations, development, asset enhancement, pre-openings, repositioning, brand creation and complex hospitality projects.
His most recent role was as Chief Operating Officer of a 20-hotel master development on Dubai’s World Islands. The project covered six islands and involved the development process from master planning and concept development through design, construction, branding, operational readiness and commercial launch.
Ahluwalia’s remit at Phoenix will extend beyond individual hotel operations. He will oversee the group’s strategic and operational direction, strengthen its corporate and operating structure, improve the performance and positioning of its existing portfolio and develop a pipeline of opportunities across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and South West Asia. The group says this growth will be pursued through investment, leasing, franchising and strategic partnerships.
For Phoenix, the appointment comes as the company looks to build a more structured and scalable platform around its portfolio of hotels, restaurants, nightlife and lifestyle concepts.
“We aren’t just scaling across borders—from the Middle East to Africa, Europe and South West Asia—we are engineering the foundation to thrive in them,” Ahluwalia said. “By pairing disciplined corporate structure and robust operational pipelines with a culture that puts our people first, we are building a truly resilient global legacy.”
The immediate focus will be on strengthening Phoenix’s existing operations while building the pipeline for its international expansion.
The group has identified investment, leasing, franchising and strategic partnerships as the routes for that growth, with Ahluwalia working alongside the board, leadership teams and partners as the group develops its next portfolio of opportunities.