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.
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 […]
Eileen McDargh Legacy Project is founder and CEO of the consulting firm, The Resilient Spirit. She teaches organizations like Cisco, Novartis, Oracle, and Procter & Gamble ways of building resilient leadership teams and workplaces. Eileen McDargh Legacy Project Novartis’s Dr. Rob Kowlaski, Senior VP and Global Head of Drug Regulatory Affairs and U.S. Head of […]
Mavericks is a surfing location in Northern California where storm-waves can top out at over 60 feet with many actually being recorded on the Richter Scale!! It is also the home of the Mavericks Big Wave International Surf Contest for a select few of the world’s best big wave surfers. Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker has won […]
Lance Brown author of “The Driver of Change” is a living testament to his “Creating Opportunities” philosophy and presentations. Growing up in Mitchells Plain, a Cape Town suburb where dreams rarely stretch beyond one’s street corner, Lance dared to reach for the stars. From a small seed of a basic job as a delivery driver […]
Anja Ringgren Lovén is the moving spirit behind DINNødhjæp. She decided to resign as a store manager in 2011 to travel to Africa, where she worked for three months as an observer and relief worker for DanChurchAid (Folkekirkens Nødhjælp). During her stay she experienced poverty and hunger so extreme that she in no way was […]
Ryan Carson is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Treehouse, a online interactive education platform that teaches students how to make websites or mobile applications. The company is revolutionizing the tech-education space as it continues to grow with over 70 000 active students . The Essence of Tree-house | It’s an online technology school. So […]
Garth Walker is the founder of design studio, Mr Walker. His interests lie in developing and encouraging a design language “rooted in the African experience” and it is this that he is best known for. Since 1995 and some 24 issues later, Walker has published Africa’s only experimental graphics magazine, i-jusi. He has been widely […]
Dr. Reza Aslan is an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, and the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Reza Aslan | The Legacy Project He is the founder of Aslan Media, a social media network for news and entertainment about the Middle […]
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