SVEN P. GADE – Director and Head of Consulting

Sven is a German national and heads up the PKF-TCH advisory team with an extensive background in hospitality, tourism and real estate development. Holding a Degree in International Hospitality Management from the University of Surrey, UK and a German Diploma in Hotel Management, Sven combines 15 years of industry experience in hotel management with blue chip companies and 17 years of advisory background into very senior advisory capability.  He has worked in over 40 countries and speaks 6 languages to varying degrees.  In 2008, Sven was elected Fellow of the UK based internationally acknowledged Institute of Hospitality for his achievements.

Having gained extensive experience in advising all segments of the real estate, tourism, transport, travel, hospitality and retail industries, Sven has opened five companies and built 4 advisory practices including the real estate, tourism & leisure practices in Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, his own companies and Middle East Strategy Advisers before PKF-TCH.

His areas of strength are:

• Strategic, development and organisational activities
• Market positioning and development
• Business planning and valuation
• Transactions and financial structuring
• Financial models, feasibility work, operational aspects

Sven was heavily involved in the development of leading edge mixed use real estate complexes, in particular hotel resorts, seafront projects and tourism destinations. His work involved raising and structuring finance, M&A advice and industry specific advice.  He advised real estate companies in Kuwait, KSA, UAE, Jordan, Bahrain and Oman on the positioning and operation of mixed use developments covering the residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, leisure, transportation and event venue segments.

Sven has led major tourism & leisure strategy and large scale development projects for international as well as regional companies and government organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the European Commission, the European Union, Tourism Council of the South Pacific, Ministry of Tourism (Oman), Emirate of Ajman and private sector companies such as Majjid Al Futtaim (Dubai), Al Ghurair (Dubai), Royal Group (Abu Dhabi), Al Othaiba (Abu Dhabi), Munshaat (Kuwait), UREC (Kuwait), SEDCO (Jeddah), SREDCO (Jeddah), Ominvest (Oman), FAHRCO (Egypt), Tashgeel (UAE), Bank Muscat (Oman) and a range of high profile private investors. He advised companies such as Ritz Carlton, Six Continents, ITT Sheraton, Hyatt, Four Seasons and Dolce International in business development and operational improvements.

As project director Sven participated in major transactions and development projections, led the development of the tourism master plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including the development of 16 project modules with a team of 50 experts, and coordinated a four year tourism development project for the Tourism Council of the South Pacific.  He also led the revision and implementation of the hotel classification system for the Sultanate of Oman.

Sven provided expert advice for the development of numerous integrated mixed use projects such as “Blue City”, “The Wave” and “Yenkit” in the Sultanate of Oman including leading negotiations with private equity investment, public sector and debt finance partners.  He was further recently involved in milestone projects on the Palm Jumeirah, KAUST in Saudi Arabia, Emirates City in Ajman and in Sheikh Zayed City in Cairo.

He led the concept development, structuring of business plan and market study for extensive resort and spa projects in Oman, KSA, UAE, Egypt, Qatar and Kuwait and structured a portfolio of multi use development projects in Dubai.  He led the bid process for a multi use project in Teheran and recently advanced projects in Montenegro, Kazakhstan the Seychelles and Morocco.  In corporate strategy he advised clients on forming and positioning new companies such as several large real estate development companies, several new hotel management and brand companies and the definition and treatment of land and real estate portfolios.

Sven leads and quality assures all advisory projects handled by PKF-TCH to ensure clients and projects benefit from his extensive expertise and background.  Responsible for the continued building, training and development of the advisory team in PKF-TCH companies, he develops the quality standards, services and methodologies the company offers to clients and markets and is instrumental in pursuing the growth and expansion strategies of the firm.  Under his guidance, PKF-TCH tripled size in Dubai and formed offices in Cairo, Muscat and Jeddah.