Consulting Firm Bolsters Middle East Real Estate Oversight as Major Projects Enter Deliver

Alvarez & Marsal has expanded its Real Estate, Travel, Hospitality and Leisure practice across the Middle East, timing the move as major destination and mixed-use projects shift from planning into active delivery and operations.

The expansion reflects a deliberate strategic response to where the region’s real estate market now stands. Capital continues to flow into tourism, hospitality and development across the Middle East, and project sponsors and investors are increasingly focused on execution, capital efficiency and sustainable asset performance. That operational emphasis has created demand for advisors with hands-on experience across the full development lifecycle, from initial strategy and investment through to asset activation and performance optimization. A&M research conducted with Google forecasts international travel spending of approximately USD 6 trillion by 2050, with the Middle East and Africa positioned for strong volume-led growth.

A&M’s regional footprint spans more than two decades. The firm operates from regional headquarters in Riyadh and maintains offices across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and the wider region, combining established market knowledge with execution capabilities and conflict-free advisory services.

Yousef Wahbeh, Managing Director and Co-Head of RTHL for EMEA, leads the Middle East practice. He brings more than 25 years advising sovereign wealth funds, governments, developers and investors on major developments, transactions and investment programs across the region and internationally. “Clients across the region increasingly want seasoned industry practitioners turned advisors, with first-hand experience shaping, developing and delivering major projects,” Wahbeh said. “This combination of deep regional experience and A&M’s borderless global network gives clients access to the right expertise, lessons learned and leading practices from around the world, helping them unlock value and deliver at pace.”

The Middle East RTHL practice operates as part of A&M’s integrated EMEA platform, supporting clients across real estate, tourism and hospitality at the corporate, portfolio and asset levels. Its capabilities span corporate and portfolio strategy, market assessment and business planning, investment and M&A deal advisory, development and transformation, and portfolio performance and value realization. The team draws on A&M’s broader global RTHL capabilities alongside restructuring, technology, tax and debt advisory services, and interim management support.

Colie Spink, A&M’s Middle East Regional Leader, pointed to the firm’s operational foundation as the distinguishing factor. “Our Middle East business has been built around senior leaders who understand the realities of operating at scale,” Spink said. “Expanding our RTHL practice brings that experience together within one integrated platform, combining global capability with local delivery.”

The expanded team comprises five senior practitioners. Maya Whiteley specializes in moving assets from strategic concept into development and destination activation, with work spanning landmark projects across Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Saqib Saeed joined from Dubai Holding, where he served as Managing Director across Dubai Holding Investments and Head of Commercial and Strategy at Dubai Holding Land Estates. At Dubai Holding, Saeed led the direct real estate and hospitality investment platform, covering M&A, joint ventures, portfolio management, capital formation and strategic activation of the group’s land bank regionally and globally. He also served as director or chairman on multiple boards and sat on the DH Investment Committee and DH Land Estates Management Committee.

Dalia Alderzi brings real estate, tourism and destination development experience across Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A former Big Four Partner and Meraas executive, she offers end-to-end expertise across the destination lifecycle, from strategy and planning through investment, joint ventures and implementation. At Meraas, she contributed to the development of major destinations and worked across strategic investments, joint ventures and partnerships.

Rohit Dhawan draws on senior advisory and hospitality industry experience, advising sovereign wealth funds, governments and leading developers across the Middle East and Africa on corporate and portfolio strategy, investment planning and business planning. A former Big Four Partner who previously held hospitality operations and revenue management roles, Dhawan brings both strategic and operational perspectives to major organizations, destinations and investment programs.

Fabian Modena rounds out the team. A hospitality, real estate and investment practitioner with over a decade advising governments, sovereign wealth funds and large-scale projects across the GCC, his experience spans destination development, capital allocation and transformation delivery across hospitality, urban real estate and emerging sectors including health and wellness. Before his advisory career at a Big Four firm, Modena built operational experience through frontline roles with The Ritz-Carlton and leading Swiss hotels.

Together, the five practitioners bring complementary experience as investors, developers, operators and advisors, with direct involvement in some of the region’s most significant real estate, tourism and hospitality investments. Whether that combination proves sufficient as the Middle East’s most ambitious projects move from groundbreaking into the harder work of sustained operational performance remains the question the market will answer. Additional details on the expansion are available at https://intlbm.com/2026/09/01/alvarez-marsal-expands-middle-east-real-estate-practice/.