In 1984, at a time when South Africa was beginning to feel the consequences of international isolation and sanctions, and when the tourism and hospitality industries faced bankruptcy and failure, Protea Hotels was launched – without a cent of capital and with just four hotels. Under the leadership of Arthur Gillis, the Protea Hotels Group grew from the initial four hotels to over 130 hotels operating in seven African countries, and is today the largest and leading hotel operating company in Africa.
Arthur is currently the CEO of Platinum Hospitality Holdings, a leading hotel asset management company with approximately 15 hotels in South Africa.
He has been extremely active in all facets of the hospitality industry and has received many industry awards. He was recognised by a highly esteemed business community, having received the ABSA Jewish Achiever of the Year Award for non-list companies in 2008.
Where do you think your ‘MAGIC’ comes from? | Insatiable curiosity.
What do you think is often the difference between people who are good at what they do and people who are great at what they do? | Persistence and getting up again when knocked down.
What are the principles and values that you believe are important to live by? | Respect for human dignity.
What is your biggest weakness? | A belief that everyone around me is honest.
What are the most important lessons you have learnt so far, in your career or life journey? This could be anything from very simple small lessons to much larger bigger lessons. | To remove myself from toxic relationships as soon as possible.
What is the best advice you have ever received? | Narrow your business focus and pursue it relentlessly.
Who inspires you and who are your role-models? | My wife Lauren who sees only good in people and works tirelessly for those who don’t have opportunities.
Alex Seropian made his name as one of the founders of Bungie, the developers of Halo (the most successful box games of all time with $4 billion in revenue and more than 50 million games sold). Alex recently founded Industrial Toys a company focused on revolutionizing mobile games for core gamers and who are very […]
MICHAELA STRACHAN is one of UK TV’s best loved and most well-known wildlife presenters. She has been presenting since 1986 on a variety of programmes from The Wide Awake Club to The Hitman And Her, The Really Wild Show to Michaela’s Wild Challenge, Elephant Diaries to Countryfile to Springwatch and many, many more. She started […]
Fred Roed is the Founder and CEO of Heavy Chef Pty Ltd, which is a community platform for entrepreneurs. The name ‘Heavy Chef’ comes from the saying never trust a skinny chef and aims to celebrate the ‘people that eat their own food’. Heavy Chef is a learning platform for entrepreneurs, offering regular learning experiences […]
Jon Boynton-Lee has it all! He is a South African actor, model, television personality and director who shot to fame in 2012 when he entered the Top Billing Dream presenter search and emerged the winner. This was followed up in 2014 when he was named as South Africa’s sexiest man by Cosmopolitan magazine as well […]
Josh was born in England and moved to South Africa when he was just two years old. After graduating from the University of Stellenbosch in 2004 Josh tried to set up his own business in Pretoria. He was driven by entrepreneurial spirit, but sitting with an enormous student loan, with no contacts and no network […]
Linda Tucker has a vast spanse of experience which has subsequently resulted in her diverse views. Linda hailed from the realms of international marketing and fashion through a threatening life experience with a pack of lions to her devotion to the conservation of The White Lion. After being rescued by a Tsonga medicine woman from […]
People: Profit: Planet: The purpose-driven ‘holy grail’ of sustainable enterprise moving forward and the beacon to which Saloni Doshi, social entrepreneur now goes about daily life as owner of EcoEnclose, based in Colorado, USA. Saloni and her team at EcoEnclose help thousands of small and medium sized businesses around the world ship their products in […]
Schuyler Vorster, founder and director of the IC | IC, says that the global increase in the demand for shared office spaces has much to do with the coworking business model which is based on the importance of community, innovation, and providing ways for businesses to run leaner. What is Schuyler Vorster, LIFE-MISSION in one […]
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