The professional we introduce you emigrated from Lebanon to Paris, where he began his career in architecture, and then travelled to Saudi Arabia. There he started working for Al Hokair Group, where he went from project manager to general manager of leisure, hospitality and entertainment. He was one of the people responsible for the first theme park in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. He then joined Al Othaim as general manager of the leisure and tourism division.
Amusement Logic: You studied Architecture in Lebanon and began your career as a Project Manager for Studios J.J. Ory & Partners, in Paris, where you worked for 5 years. Can you explain how did you come to work in Paris and the highlights of this period?
Jean Habre: The insecurity and the Civil War in Lebanon at that time pushed me, like most of the young generation who did not accept what was happening in the country, to look for a better future. Being francophone, the preferred destination was France. I landed at the J.J. Ory & Partners studios in Paris, one of the largest consulting firms at the time, where I worked mainly on the renovation of properties and buildings classified in the Paris of “intramuros”. There I learned many technical and administrative procedures in that field.
A.L.: From J.J. Ory & Partners you went to Al Hokair Group. How did that happen?
J.H.: I had a brother working in Saudi Arabia who advised me to go and look for an opportunity in this emerging country, where a lot was happening at the time. It was the “Saudi dream”…. So I visited and met the principals of the Al Hokair Group. This family business was in the midst of expansion and needed expertise like mine. Thus began my success story.
A.L.: In Al Hokair you spent 23 years, starting as a Project Director, reaching the position of General Manager. That’s a long experience, but how did you evolve in the company?
J.H.: At that time, the group had no department to manage its different lines of development. As I was an architect, it was natural for me to start working in this area. But in order to understand the real needs and optimize the designs required in the company’s leisure and hospitality sector core businesses, I first had to understand what their operation was like. When the family business organization started preparing to go public and launch its IPO (Initial Public Offering) in the local stock market, it was imperative to improve corporate governance and segregate ownership from management. So the Board of Directors offered me to manage their entertainment division. I accepted the challenge for almost 8 years and the results were up to their expectations.
A.L.: As a General Manager, from the start you were in charge of development and operations of the Amusement Sector of the group in Saudi Arabia, UAE and India. What projects would you highlight from that period and why?
J.H.: The name Al Hokair has been directly linked to leisure projects in Saudi Arabia for more than six decades. At the beginning of the 21st century, the trend was to develop Family Entertainment Centres (FECs) in new mixed-use projects. One of the first challenges was to move from operating parks outdoors, to temperature controlled indoors. We entered into several agreements with the main malls’ landlord to establish our operations there, and the model proved to be the biggest traffic generator. We then created Al Hokair Land, opened in 2002, Riyadh’s first theme park, which brought together in a single space places from all over the world.
Then, exporting our know-how became second nature, and in 2007 we started to develop our projects in the UAE, where we reached 10 centres, most of them with the same Indian developer. When this developer created the first mall in his hometown, he called us to partner with him.
A.L.: Your work proved very successful, in the first decade of the 2000s, when the sector was growing in the area by 15% annually. What’s the secret for this success?
J.H.: There are several factors. The business-friendly environment, with a lot of support for investors, brand owners and developers, is one of them. Then, a stable economic scenario in which the leisure and entertainment sectors suffered very few risk factors for their business. Also the need for this type of activities, of which there was hardly any good quality offer. At the same time, the extensive knowledge and relationship with the main local and international consultants and suppliers in the sector was a great asset for us. And if we consider more quantifiable data, macroeconomic indicators show a great potential, such as, for example, that there is a very young and large population, or that the average income of families is good and their purchasing power for leisure activities is high.
A.L.: Lately you gained more responsibility in the development of leisure, tourism and hospitality projects. How did this stage develop?
J.H.: Through experience in the development of “multi-venues” concepts, from the study, execution and operation of locations, theme parks, FEC projects, hotels and resorts at various scales, to residential and mixed-use developments. I worked with international hotel chain management, as owner’s representative and project manager for the first Holiday Inn Hotel in Riyadh and many others. I was also responsible for the conversion of some of the company’s resorts into health care and healing centres with wellness and spa offerings. And I also developed a deep expertise in Intellectual Property (IP) based and licensed FECs such as Pac Man in Japan, Minopolis Edutainment in Austria, Turner Cartoon Network in UK, Sky Zone Trampoline, Mattel’s Barbie, Hot Wheels, Mega Blocks or Fisher Price in the US.
A.L.: Finally, you moved to the position of Principal Chief Executive Officer in Abdullah Al Othaim Leisure and Tourism. How did you come to reach such an important responsibility?
J.H.: Holding a prominent position in a well-established entertainment company in the region, such as Al Hokair Group, with a proven track record and good experience in terms of leadership, technicality and C-level management, makes you get a lot of offers. I accepted the challenge to take Othaim Leisure to the next level.
A.L.: What’s the profile of Abdullah Al Othaim Leisure and Tourism Company?
J.H.: It is the youngest, most aggressive and profitable among the four major companies in the Middle East and North Africa region, offering top-quality, state-of-the-art leisure projects. It is part of Othaim Holding, which owns Othaim Markets, which is listed on the Saudi stock exchange. The leisure division is also preparing to go IPO soon. And cinemas in Saudi Arabia were the latest addition to its business portfolio.
A.L.: What challenges did you find in this new position?
J.H.: Mainly, COVID-19 and maintaining the P&L in the positive side. And then, competition with governments and landowners entering into the operation of leisure projects.
A.L.: How do you see the development of the leisure and tourism sector in the KSA and of the Vision 2030 program?
J.H.: The strong presence of government and semi-government entities and their support and investment in leisure development with considerable budgets will increase the level of deliveries and challenge private sector developers. With the high saturation of local brands and venues, strong international IP-based brands will be necessary.
Thus, local authorities will make it the backbone of their economies to create a leisure and entertainment hub with young and modern tourist destinations. This task will be much more achievable and realistic with the rapid development of infrastructures with state-of-the-art facilities.
