TIME Hotels has announced a strategic focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced digital transformation as a key pillar of its growth strategy for 2026, supporting operational scalability, enhancing guest experiences, and advancing its ambitious international expansion pipeline.
With the company continuing to expand across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, which includes an existing property portfolio of 17 hotels, and a further 5,000 keys and 12 properties in the pipeline, the group is investing in AI-powered and data-driven technologies to ensure consistent service delivery across markets and brands.
Over the next five years, the group is prioritising end-to-end digitalisation across the entire guest journey, creating a seamless, connected experience from booking through to departure. This includes expanding mobile-first, AI-powered, and self-service capabilities to meet evolving guest expectations, alongside continued investment in direct booking platforms through enhanced user experience and smarter conversion tools.
In addition, TIME Hotels is strengthening cybersecurity and data governance frameworks to safeguard information and maintain trust, while implementing IoT-driven solutions that improve operational efficiency, optimise energy management, and support long-term sustainability goals.
Within this framework, AI and data analytics will play a practical, operations-led role across the TIME Hotels portfolio, delivering tangible value in several key areas, including real-time guest personalisation, improved service consistency across multiple hotels, stronger revenue and distribution decisions, and more effective operational planning.
Automated pre-arrival communications, in-stay notifications, and post-stay feedback management will help to create a smoother, more responsive guest journey, while allowing on-property teams to focus on guest interactions and personalised care.
Mohamed Awadalla, CEO of TIME Hotels
Mohamed Awadalla, CEO of TIME Hotels, said: “As a midscale hospitality group operating in multiple markets, the company views AI as a tool to support stronger decision-making, improve consistency, and deepen guest engagement, rather than as a replacement for human service.
“Collectively, these technologies act as enablers, enhancing operational performance, sharpening commercial strategy, and ensuring that the guest experience remains intuitive, personalised, and consistently aligned with the values that define TIME Hotels. As we move into 2026, AI and data analytics will play an increasingly important role in helping us grow smarter and operate more efficiently across multiple markets.
The company continues to leverage technology as a driver of its operating model, integrating property management systems, CRM, loyalty platforms, reservations, and guest-facing touchpoints. These initiatives, including partnerships with Shiji Group and Amadeus, have been combined to accelerate growth while underscoring the company’s human-first focus.
The partnership with Shiji has seen the introduction of a unified cloud-based property management system, significantly strengthening operational control and improving service accuracy across the organisation. The platform has enabled faster, more efficient check-in and check-out processes, centralised guest profiles to support more personalised service, and streamlined back-office functions to reduce operational complexity.
TIME Hotels has further strengthened its digital ecosystem by implementing Amadeus GMS as its CRM and loyalty solution, enhancing guest lifecycle management through personalisation and automated, data-driven engagement across all touchpoints. This is complemented by an upgraded booking engine and website, designed to deliver an easy-to-use, mobile-optimised direct booking experience.
“By strengthening data integrity and enhancing our forecasting, analytics, and reporting capabilities, we have improved decision-making at both the property and group level. This integration underpins our long-term strategy to build scalable, standardised, and truly guest-centric operations, ensuring we can continue to grow across multiple markets without compromising the quality, consistency, or personal nature of the experience we deliver,” added Awadalla.
TIME Hotels currently operates 17 hotels throughout the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, with over 3,000 keys, with new properties across Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Morocco, and the Indian Ocean in the pipeline.
The expansion into these countries is supported by the strategic rollout of the group’s expanding portfolio of brands. These include VIVI by TIME, a bold lifestyle brand; HALO by TIME, a premium upscale offering; and Rotella, TIME Hotels’ luxury concept designed to provide exclusivity, sophistication, and culturally enriched hospitality. The company is also repositioning its residential offerings across three distinct tiers, TIME Residences Classic, Executive, and Premium, to serve both long- and short-stay guests.