Financial
The Evolution of Hospitality Finance
From Bookkeeping to Strategic Leadership; Exploring how the role of the CFO in hospitality has shifted from traditional financial management to becoming a strategic partner in brand growth, sustainability, and innovation.
By Hiral Patel, CFO & Operations Director, Chalet Berezka
The Evolution of Hospitality Finance: From Bookkeeping to Strategic Leadership
Over the past few decades, the hospitality industry has experienced significant transformation, fundamentally altering how businesses operate and respond to shifting market dynamics. Central to this evolution is the role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), which has transitioned from that of a traditional financial steward focused on bookkeeping and regulatory compliance to a strategic partner instrumental in driving brand growth, sustainability, and innovation. This evolution is characterized by the increasing integration of technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and data-driven methodologies, which have not only reshaped financial management but also the broader landscape of hospitality.
The Traditional CFO: Focused but Reactive
Historically, CFOs primarily functioned as custodians of financial records, ensuring meticulous documentation and the preparation of comprehensive financial statements for stakeholders—practices that afforded limited insights into forthcoming operational strategies. Their predominant attention was directed toward the analysis of historical financial data, with an overarching goal of cost control and the preservation of profitability. These responsibilities, though essential, often restricted their capacity to engage proactively with dynamic business environments.
Furthermore, significant portions of their time were consumed by the necessity to ensure compliance with stringent financial regulations and reporting standards, diverting focus from strategic initiatives. Consequently, while traditional CFOs played a key role in safeguarding financial integrity, their influence was predominantly characterized by a reactive stance, with limited involvement in shaping forward-looking strategies that could drive long-term growth and innovation.
The Shifting Landscape of Hospitality
As the hospitality industry confronted intensified competition, rapid technological advancements, and changing consumer preferences, the need for a more integrated and proactive financial strategy became increasingly apparent. This evolution brought forth various challenges and opportunities that required a fundamental reassessment of the CFO’s role.
The emergence of alternative lodging options like Airbnb and the rise of boutique hotels demonstrated that reliance on traditional financial metrics was insufficient for strategic decision-making. Modern travelers now value personalized experiences and sustainability, prompting hospitality brands to pivot quickly to remain relevant and appeal to a more conscientious clientele. Moreover, the growing availability of AI tools, machine learning, and advanced data analytics has introduced powerful new frameworks capable of transforming how decisions are made across an organization.
With guests and stakeholders alike demanding greater transparency and accountability, especially around sustainability and social responsibility, hospitality companies are being compelled to revise their business practices not only from a financial perspective but also from an environmental and ethical one.
The Emergence of the Strategic CFO
In response to this evolving landscape, the role of the CFO has undergone a profound transformation. Today’s CFO is no longer simply a monitor of financial health—they are a critical player in shaping corporate strategy and long-term vision. Leveraging financial insights and market data, CFOs influence decision-making across brand development, investment prioritization, operational optimization, and geographic expansion.
This strategic shift necessitates a comprehensive understanding of both internal financial dynamics and external market trends. With the support of data analytics, CFOs can now anticipate market movements and evaluate competitive landscapes more effectively than ever. These capabilities inform decisions around resource allocation and capital investment, directly contributing to sustainable growth.
Furthermore, CFOs are increasingly working cross-functionally, aligning closely with departments such as marketing, operations, and HR. This collaborative approach ensures that financial decisions are synchronized with operational realities and business goals. It fosters a more holistic perspective on company performance—one that considers both balance sheets and customer satisfaction metrics.
AI and Data Analytics: Tools of Transformation
A major force driving this transformation is the integration of artificial intelligence and data analytics into the financial domain. These technologies allow CFOs to move beyond traditional analysis and embrace predictive models, scenario planning, and real-time decision support.
By applying machine learning to historical performance data, CFOs can more accurately forecast revenue, predict consumer behavior, and fine-tune pricing strategies based on seasonality and competitor dynamics. For example, predictive models can analyze booking trends and optimize revenue management strategies, helping maximize RevPAR without over-relying on discounting.
AI also enhances operational efficiency through automation. Tasks such as data entry, compliance checks, and invoice processing are increasingly being handled by intelligent systems, reducing human error and freeing up finance teams to focus on strategic initiatives. Additionally, AI-driven platforms provide interactive dashboards and real-time visualizations of key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling CFOs to communicate financial narratives more clearly to stakeholders.
Embedding Sustainability into Financial Strategy
As sustainability becomes a pillar of modern business, CFOs are assuming a leading role in integrating environmental and social responsibility into financial frameworks. This includes developing metrics that quantify the financial impact of sustainability programs—from investments in energy-efficient systems and waste reduction to sustainable sourcing and ethical labor practices.
CFOs are tasked with evaluating the return on these investments, not only in terms of direct cost savings but also in how they affect brand equity, stakeholder trust, and regulatory compliance. For instance, investing in smart energy systems might yield long-term financial savings, but also enhances the company’s reputation among environmentally conscious consumers.
Moreover, transparency in sustainability reporting has become a critical expectation. CFOs play a vital role in crafting reports that convey both progress and accountability, cultivating confidence among investors, guests, and the broader public. Their ability to connect sustainability goals with financial outcomes helps shape corporate strategies that are both responsible and resilient.
Enhancing Customer Experience through Financial Insight
The CFO’s role has also extended into the domain of guest experience. Through data analysis, CFOs can contribute to personalized engagement strategies, identifying what drives satisfaction and loyalty. Booking patterns, seasonal preferences, and guest feedback can all be mined for insights that inform strategic planning.
For example, by analyzing demand surges, CFOs can advise on optimal staffing levels or service availability to ensure both cost-efficiency and high service standards. Real-time feedback analysis allows CFOs to spot trends in satisfaction and recommend changes that impact both operational effectiveness and revenue growth.
This guest-centric financial leadership is particularly valuable in a highly competitive market where brand reputation and experience differentiation drive repeat business.
Leading Through Change: Challenges and Responsibilities
Despite the opportunities presented by AI and data-driven strategies, several challenges remain. Chief among them is the need for cultural and skillset transformation. Many finance teams are not yet fully equipped to implement or interpret AI-powered tools, making workforce upskilling a top priority. CFOs must champion learning, adaptability, and innovation within their departments.
Cybersecurity and data privacy are also growing concerns. As data analytics becomes more integral to operations, CFOs must work closely with IT to establish governance frameworks that ensure compliance with regulations and protect sensitive information.
Finally, implementing AI tools often demands a shift in organizational mindset—from instinct-driven to data-informed. CFOs must lead this shift by promoting a data-centric culture that values cross-departmental collaboration and strategic experimentation.
The Future CFO: Adaptable, Insightful, and Purpose-Driven
Looking ahead, the role of the CFO in hospitality will continue to expand. As the industry evolves, future CFOs will be expected to act as catalysts for brand innovation, drivers of sustainability, and architects of organizational resilience. Their ability to navigate uncertainty—be it economic volatility, geopolitical disruptions, or shifting consumer behavior—will be critical.
CFOs who embrace AI, champion sustainability, and foster collaboration will be best positioned to guide their organizations through complexity and position them for lasting success.
Conclusion: From Numbers to Narrative
The transformation of the CFO’s role in hospitality—from traditional financial management to strategic leadership—marks a turning point in how organizations approach growth, innovation, and responsibility. Today’s CFOs are not just stewards of financial health; they are storytellers of value, architects of strategy, and leaders of change.
By harnessing data, embracing sustainability, and shaping holistic financial frameworks, CFOs are helping build a hospitality industry that is not only profitable, but purpose-driven and future-ready.
Financial
MultiBank Group and Khabib Nurmagomedov Launch an Exclusive Worldwide Multi-Billion-Dollar Joint Venture to Build the World’s First Regulated Tokenized Sports Ecosystem
Multibank Group, the financial derivatives institution, has entered into an exclusive worldwide multi-billion-dollar joint venture with global sports icon and undefeated UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0) to create a first-of-its-kind regulated ecosystem connecting global finance, sports and technology.
The partnership will culminate in the creation of a multi-billion-dollar joint venture, MultiBank Khabib LLC, uniting two global powerhouses: MultiBank Group, a leader in regulated financial excellence, and Khabib Nurmagomedov, undefeated in the octagon and whose influence extends far beyond sport. The company will operate from MultiBank Group’s headquarters in Dubai, building a worldwide network of high-end sports ventures and real-world digital assets. This structure fulfills the vision of MultiBank Group Founder and Chairman, Naser Taher, for an exclusive global joint venture, granting MultiBank exclusive rights to develop and promote projects under the Khabib Nurmagomedov brand name, including the development of 30 state of the art Khabib gyms, Gameplan and Eagle FC brands.
The entire venture is backed by MultiBank Group’s regulated digital ecosystem and powered by its cornerstone $MBG Token being the driving force behind its expanding portfolio of real-world-asset (RWA) technologies and initiatives.
Naser Taher, Founder and Chairman of MultiBank Group, stated: “From the UAE, we are shaping a new blueprint for the business of sport through the regulated tokenization of real-world sports assets (RWSA). Together with Khabib Nurmagomedov, and powered by our ecosystem token, $MBG, we are uniting finance and athletics into a single transparent, technology-driven ecosystem — one built on trust, innovation, and the strength of the MultiBank framework. This initiative proudly aligns with the UAE’s vision of becoming a global hub for digital asset innovation and world-class sports.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov added: “This partnership with MultiBank Group is built on shared values of strength, respect, and discipline. Together with Multibank, we are building real global opportunities that go beyond sport, empowering athletes, and fans through a regulated and innovative digital ecosystem. This is only the beginning.”
Financial
Edenred UAE strengthens market leadership with financially inclusive payroll solutions, C3Pay serving 2.5 million users
Edenred, a leading digital platform for services and specific purpose payments and the undisputed market leader in salary processing and financial inclusion for the underbanked in the UAE, continues to reinforce its leading position in payroll card solutions, value-added financial services, and compliance-first innovation under the leadership of newly appointed Managing Director Claudio Di Zanni.
As the first company authorised by the Central Bank of the UAE to process WPS salaries, Edenred UAE has long positioned financial inclusion as the foundation of its offer in UAE — ensuring that access to financial services isn’t an added benefit, but a guaranteed outcome of getting paid.
Trusted by both large enterprises and a growing base of SMEs, the backbone of the UAE economy, Edenred UAE now serves more than 15,000 corporate clients, 2.5 million cardholders, and partners with over 10 banks and 20 financial institutions. Demand has been strong in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, and facility management—where reliability and seamless execution are critical.
Edenred UAE salary cards, C3Pay, powered by RAKBANK and part of the Mastercard network, can be used globally. A key driver of Edenred’s adoption success is its unmatched expertise in on-site training at worker accommodations, which helps large enterprises efficiently onboard thousands of employees. This ensures that workers understand how to activate their cards, utilise app features, and engage with key financial tools.

Claudio Di Zanni, Managing Director, Edenred Middle East, said: “Edenred UAE has set the benchmark for payroll and financial access in the region with digital innovative solutions, great ambitions and internationally committed teams. Our ambition now is to extend that lead by deepening trust with our clients, scaling services that matter to end users, and ensuring full compliance in a fast-evolving regulatory landscape. With unmatched reach, an expanding client base, and a proven model for financial inclusion, we are ready to shape the next phase of the region’s salary card ecosystem — developing its full potential and contributing to giving workers who were previously excluded from the financial system a secure, transparent, and dignified way to manage their money.”
Edenred UAE remains the reference in payroll solutions, as it continues to scale high-impact services, deepen banking partnerships, and reinforce its role as the benchmark for secure, compliant, and ethical financial access in the UAE and beyond. With a sharpened focus on innovation and strengthened leadership, it is entering a new chapter of platform excellence as the backbone of financial access for the UAE’s workforce.
Financial
Dhruva urges UAE firms to focus on data sovereignty in e-Invoicing transition
The 2026 mandate is an opportunity for businesses to align compliance with stronger data governance standards
With the UAE’s mandatory eInvoicing framework set to launch in 2026, Dhruva urges taxpayers to move beyond data residency considerations and focus on the critical issue of data sovereignty when selecting accredited service providers (ASPs). When adopting any cloud solution, it’s crucial to take the UAE National Cloud Security Policy into consideration, which provides a comprehensive checklist for cloud customers. This policy details necessary arrangements with cloud service providers, outlines contract requirements and sets cloud security requirements and enforcement measures.Dhruva is a leading tax advisory firm specializing in VAT, corporate tax, transfer pricing, and international taxation in the Middle East.
The eInvoicing rollout, based on the OpenPeppol five-corner model, will route all business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) invoices through ASPs that validate, exchange, and report tax-relevant data directly to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA). This shift makes the question of where data lives and who ultimately controls it – a matter of legal, operational, and financial consequence.

Commenting on the development, Nimish Goel, Partner and Head of GCC, Dhruva Consultants, said: “Businesses cannot afford to mix data residency with sovereignty. Hosting tax data within UAE data centres is necessary, but it does not, by itself, guarantee compliance or protection. True sovereignty means that encryption keys, administrative controls, and audit logs remain fully under UAE jurisdiction and cannot be accessed by foreign authorities. For taxpayers, this distinction is not technical—it is a fundamental risk-management decision.”
Dhruva highlights that this distinction is becoming urgent for three reasons. First, the UAE has enacted a robust Federal Data Protection Law (PDPL) and sector-specific rules that demand explicit safeguards on cross-border data flows. Second, with eInvoicing deadlines approaching, taxpayers must evaluate how each provider’s hosting model aligns with UAE data hosting requirements, sovereignty and National Cloud Security Policy laws. Finally, the operational reality is that migrating data and applications between clouds is not seamless. Factors such as data gravity, proprietary platforms, and audit trail integrity make switching providers slow, risky, and expensive.
“E-invoicing will not only redefine how businesses transact with government authorities, but also how they safeguard their most sensitive tax and financial records,” Goel added. “Companies need to recognise that the choice of ASP is a long-term strategic decision. The location of the cloud operator, the jurisdiction under which they fall, and the location of their control plane and encryption keys all impact compliance and data security far more than the physical location of the server rack.”
Dhruva advises taxpayers to approach ASP selection with a structured due-diligence process aligned with the policy for cloud customers in the UAE. This policy covers key domains such as governance, data location and sovereignty, interoperability, security incident and access management, data confidentiality, architecture and infrastructure companies should ensure that all storage, backups, and logs are held within UAE borders, that operational control and key management remain in UAE jurisdiction, and that providers comply with the UAE’s Peppol interoperability standard. Audit logs should be immutable, recovery sites must be located in the country, and exit strategies need to be documented and tested, with transparency on egress costs.
“Taxpayers cannot treat this as a simple IT procurement,” Goel emphasized. “It is a compliance and sovereignty choice that will determine their risk exposure for years to come. The time to ask these questions is now—before companies find themselves locked into providers that may not meet their future regulatory and operational needs.”
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