Video: Emirati business tycoon Nasser Al Nowais talks about the success of 'Arab hospitality'

Founder of the first Rotana hotel in Abu Dhabi recalls early life in the UAE and reflects on how generosity shaped the hotel industry.

Known as one of the UAE’s leading figures in the hotel industry, Nasser Al Nowais has been at the forefront of bringing Abu Dhabi and the UAE to the world for over three decades.

It is almost 30 years since the pioneering Emirati launched the first Rotana hotel in Abu Dhabi, a destination which remains a historical part of the emirate’s history and development into tourism.

An economist by education and a graduate of New York University, Al Nowais has been at the helm of the emirate’s growth, with roles including founding the Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company, which he chaired for 14 years, now the largest hotel and industrial catering company in the region.

During his illustrious career he has been the Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Fund where he administered numerous tourist, industrial and agricultural investments as well as infrastructure projects in the Middle-East and Africa, in addition to his holding the position of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance and Industry.

While many people today see the UAE as a futuristic, forward-thinking country, a beacon to not only the Arab World but on the global stage, Al Nowais is of the generation born in the palm-frond homes of a bygone era, born at home when there were no schools or hospitals.

“When I went to Dubai, Al Ain or Fujairah, we went through the desert as there were no roads at that time,” he said. It is a massive transition, marked by sharp contrasts. “You know at one point, life was so difficult,” he told Khaleej Times. “The food which we can eat today is different than the food we could eat in the past which was literally fish and rice.”

It was the age of the Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, who Al Nowais says taught him so much.

“I learned how to be a simple man, how to be humble. I learned how to treat people as a human being, whether they have different nationalities, or a different religion.”

The turning point in his life came when he became the first Emirati to study in New York, given a scholarship to travel to New York University. He says the move was “a big shock”, like moving from a village to a big city. But it was what he would bring back that was the most transformative.

“One of the most important things was learning to treat everyone equally. At that time in Abu Dhabi, we depended on a lot of expatriates so you have to treat them very well. If you want them to produce and if you want them to be happy, you have to treat them as a human being and as part of success, you have to be working as a team.”