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.
Kristina Dryža is an international trend forecaster, writer and author of the allegorical novel, Grace and the Wind. Of Lithuanian origin she was raised in Adelaide, Australia and moved overseas in 1999. For the past 13 years Kristina has been based between London, New York, Tokyo and Hawaii while travelling the world gaining insight into […]
Alasdair Harris is a marine ecologist with an unhealthy obsession for corals and has spent the past decade developing conservation initiatives in the Indian Ocean. Alasdair is recipient of the IUCN World Conservation Union’s Young Conservationists Award, winner of the Conde Nast Environment Award, an Ashoka Fellow, and a passionate ambassador of Australia’s penguins. His […]
Mark is a South African writer and director. He graduated with Honours in Dramatic Art from the University of the Witwatersrand. After completing his studies, he taught himself screenwriting and film appreciation before traveling to Los Angeles, where he worked as a script reader for several production companies.Since then, Mark has worked as a freelance […]
Our dream when we started CA Connect was to be the first private SAICA[1]-accredited CTA[2] in South Africa that offered contact education to students who were not able to study on a full-time basis. We wanted to run a programme that was founded on inclusion, support and genuine care taking a fresh look at education, […]
Derek Sivers is best known for being the founder and former president of CD Baby, an online CD store for independent musicians. A professional musician (and circus clown) since 1987, Sivers started CD Baby by accident in 1997 when he was selling his own CD on his website, and friends asked if he could sell […]
Janet is co-founder and managing partner of Charlotte Rhys, South Africa’s leading luxurious bath, body and lifestyle range. Within 14 years the brand expanded from a single product to over 100 luxury products. Today they supply leading hotels across the world. My Definition Of Success | Success means achieving the goals you set, and it is inevitable […]
Ryan “Hedgie” Sandes is a South African trail runner, who In 2010 he became the first competitor to have won all four of the 4 Desserts races, each a 7-day, 250-kilometer self-supported footrace. Being rated as one of the greatest endurance athletes of all time, his most recent victory came in the 2014 North Face […]
When it comes to building a luxury beauty brand and a world-class range of products, I think Tammy Frazer got a genetic head-start on the rest of us. Her late Grandfather was the great Graham Wulff who founded and built up, with his partner, Oil of Olay, before selling it globally to Richardson Vicks (now […]
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