WATG Expands its Advisory Team with New Global Leadership

Capital is still moving across hospitality development, albeit more carefully than ever before. Clients are placing greater weight on strategic advice that truly helps them navigate the complexities of the hospitality development process.

“Owners and investors expect evidence that a project works on paper before significant time and money go into the design effort. That puts market analysis, strategic development advice, financial feasibility and operational thinking at the start of the process, tested against design from the first conversation.” – Rob Sykes, Principal and Global Director, Advisory Services.

WATG has advised clients across the Middle East, North America, Asia Pacific and Europe for decades. What has changed is the scale and complexity of the work, with more stakeholders involved and higher expectations around performance and guest experience over the life of an asset.

“Clients want advisors who know their market first-hand. Having Advisory leaders in each region puts us in the same time zone as our clients, and often in the same room. The fusion of local knowledge and global insights is a real differentiator.” – Rob

Investment in tourism, hospitality and destination development across the Middle East is substantial, and many projects form part of wider destination strategies. Hotels are planned alongside residential, cultural, entertainment, retail and public realm components, and the commercial case must work across all of them.

WATG’s Tourism Master Plan at Giza Pyramids shows the scale involved. The Egyptian government appointed WATG’s Advisory and Master Planning studios in 2025 to plan approximately 8,000 acres around the UNESCO World Heritage Site, including the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the Great Sphinx.

The Advisory team worked with Egypt’s tourism authorities on projected visitor numbers, infrastructure needs and future demand. That analysis shaped a framework to guide tourism development over the next 15 years in support of Egypt’s Vision 2040.

Guy Cooke has now relocated from Singapore to Abu Dhabi to grow WATG’s presence in the Middle East, after close to a decade in WATG’s Singapore studio and earlier work in London. His work covers market analysis, development strategy and financial feasibility for hotels, resorts, branded residential, and mixed-use destinations.

“Having worked on projects in the Middle East for many years, it is exciting to be here, on the ground, where I can help to grow WATG’s footprint and be best placed support our regional Client base. Beyond design, our strategic development advice and hospitality specialism, across new build and renovation projects, is increasingly resonating.” –  Guy Cooke, Associate Principal, Advisory Services, Middle East & APAC

WATG Advisory has appointed Cara Ding as Senior Consultant in its Singapore office. Cara brings over 12 years of specialized experience in hospitality development and advisory across the Asia Pacific. She joins WATG following strategic roles with Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Alila Hotels & Resorts, and Banyan Tree, driving positioning strategy, investment cases, and development planning.

Cara’s extensive background on the operator side shapes her approach to commercial strategy and development planning. “At Hyatt and Alila, I saw what happens to a hotel after opening day. Positioning that reads flawlessly in an investment memo can struggle once guests and staff arrive. I bring that operator’s lens into our feasibility work, so the strategy holds up for the owner, the investor and the team running the property.” –  Cara Ding, Senior Consultant, Advisory Services

This grounded, business-driven perspective is critical in a region as varied as Asia Pacific.  Spanning gateway cities, emerging tourism markets and mature resort destinations often a few hours’ flight apart, the region demands highly adaptable investment structures and operating models. Consumer behavior and capital strategies differ significantly from one country to the next.

“A resort concept that performs in Bali needs significant rethinking for Phuket. Our job is to read each market accurately and shape a development strategy that answers distinct local demand while capitalizing on broader commercial trends.” – Cara

Cam Thi Bui has joined WATG’s EMEA Advisory team in London as an Analyst and to support F&B consultancy.  Before WATG, Cam Thi was a business analyst at AWARE Hospitality, completed a business analyst internship at McKinsey & Company, and worked on market research and feasibility for a luxury wellness expansion in Switzerland with m3 Groupe. She studied International Hospitality Management at EHL in Switzerland and holds an MSc in Wealth Management from Queen Mary University of London.

As a hospitality design firm with more than 700 built projects in 170 countries, WATG has extensive tenure and experience and our Advisory services sit at the heart of many of these projects, with vast experience to be able to truly test how a place will be designed, operated and experienced.

A typical engagement moves through market analysis, positioning, development strategy and financial feasibility, and ends in a clear brief for design. Where WATG’s architects, landscape architects and Wimberly Interiors are involved, that strategy carries directly into the physical response.

The Red Sea Project in Saudi Arabia is one example. WATG’s Advisory team worked alongside the firm’s master planners, architects and landscape architects on a 28,000-square-kilometer master plan under Saudi Vision 2030, covering more than 90 islands and 10,000 planned hotel keys and residential units.

“The most valuable work on any hospitality asset often happens before design starts. Our role is to understand what a site or property has, what the market expects, and where capital will make the greatest difference to guest experience and returns. Expanding the Advisory team means we can bring that clarity to more owners, earlier, and give every design decision that follows a stronger strategic foundation.” – Rob