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.
Beth founded her first company at age 22 and launched exclusive European fashion brands across the United States. It seemed like a dream job at first but Beth soon saw the human rights violations, environmental pollution and child labor prevalent in the industry. Determined to show that fashion could make a difference, Beth created her […]
Vera Songwe serves as The World Bank’s Country Director for Senegal, Cape Verde, Gambia, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau. She is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institute with the Global Economy and Development and Africa Growth Initiative. Dr. Songwe holds a Ph.D. in Mathematical Economics from the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics from […]
Ugwem Eneyo | The Legacy Project is Nigerian-American engineer, inventor and entrepreneur, currently serving as the co-founder and CEO of SHYFT Power Solutions (formerly known as Solstice Energy Solutions), a venture-backed, award-winning energy technology company. The company is a bi-product of her research as a former Stanford MS/PhD student in Civil & Environmental Engineering. Prior […]
Vusi is a professional speaker and businessman. He is not only rated as Africa’s No 1 public speaker, but also of the worlds greatest. Vusi is known as ‘The Rockstar of Public Speaking and has spoken in 4 of the 7 continents and to over 350 000 people each year. He was described by Nelson […]
Stefan Antoni is South Africa’s very own “Howard Roarke” – creatively brilliant, outlandishly bold and prolific. He is today, without doubt, one of the most formidable and most decorated architects that South Africa has produced in recent times. Together with his partners and colleagues at SAOTA, he has continued to stretch the boundaries of creative […]
Prof Jonathan Jansen is the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State. He is also the Honorary Professor of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand and Visiting Fellow at the National Research Foundation. Jansen also serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director for Advtech Limited and is the Chairman at the School […]
Alan Brand is a leading expert in the development and provision of innovative employee wellness strategies enabling business enterprises throughout South Africa to mitigate the threat of HIV and AIDS and other associated health and wellness risks. He has developed numerous outcomes based wellness training modules. His personal energy and unique and professional facilitation skills […]
Daniel Ting Chong is an illustrator, designer and artist based in Cape Town, South Africa. Daniel was born in 1987 in Cape Town. Studied graphic design at Vega. He is emerging as one of Cape Town’s top creative talents following a series of art exhibitions, talks, commissions from clients and design collaborations with leading international […]
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