Nima Qazi: Reinventing Hospitality Through Experiential Travel
In the latest episode of Cozy Corner with Hossein Nasiri, we journeyed through the captivating mind of Nima Qazi, an influential figure reshaping Iran’s travel and hospitality landscape. A visionary entrepreneur known for co-founding Alibaba, Iran’s leading online travel and ticketing platform, Qazi has now turned his attention toward the hotel industry. With the creation of the Donse Hotel Group, he introduces a new era of “lifestyle hotels”—spaces thoughtfully crafted to offer immersive local experiences rather than merely comfortable lodging.
But Qazi’s vision extends far beyond business as usual. At its heart, Donse (inspired by the phrase “White World,” symbolizing clarity, purity, and sustainable responsibility) seeks to shift tourism’s paradigm by crafting hotels where the experience itself reigns supreme. Throughout our extensive conversation, Qazi painted vivid pictures of what it means to not merely travel, but to truly engage with the cultures, environments, and communities we encounter.
A New Era of Travel
To truly understand Qazi’s philosophy, we began by contrasting the traditional hotel experience—one that historically isolates travelers from their destination—with his innovative approach. Traditional hotels, epitomized by Hilton’s old slogan “Wherever you go, it’s a little America,” prioritized familiarity. They created insulated environments for guests, disconnected from their surroundings.
Qazi believes the contemporary traveler seeks precisely the opposite. Today’s guests yearn for authentic, immersive encounters with local life. They seek places that facilitate connections—to culture, cuisine, and community. Donse hotels aim precisely at this intersection: balancing the comfort travelers expect with deeply personalized local experiences. Qazi beautifully described this balance as two elements “dancing” with each other, inseparable yet distinct.
Designing Authentic Experiences
The tangible manifestations of this philosophy are evident across Donse’s properties. In Bushehr, Donse Reyhan Hotel is located at the heart of the bustling local market. Rather than soundproofing the space, Qazi intentionally allowed the vibrant street sounds to permeate—immersing guests in the city’s lively spirit. However, feedback soon showed that the experience, while charming during the day, could become disruptive at night. Now, Donse is thoughtfully adjusting the architecture, installing selective noise control solutions to balance authenticity and comfort.
At Gilan’s Hotel Gilarias, the experience emphasizes nature and tranquility. Situated on a sprawling one-hectare plot between a forest and the Caspian coast, the property encourages guests to actively engage with their surroundings—whether picking blackberries, birdwatching, or simply wandering through nature. Similarly, Donse’s Isfahan location merges art with hospitality, embedding gallery spaces directly into the hotel environment, offering guests the chance to purchase art directly from local artists.
Through such hyper-localized designs, Qazi ensures each Donse hotel genuinely represents its environment, crafting distinctive guest experiences shaped by local culture and geography.
Startup Thinking in Hospitality
Qazi’s unique blend of experience design and business acumen stems from his startup roots. Drawing on insights from his Alibaba journey, Qazi champions a methodology rarely seen in the hospitality sector—agile, iterative development. Rather than meticulously planning every detail before launching, Donse hotels follow a “test-and-learn” approach, similar to tech startups. Initial concepts are quickly implemented, feedback rapidly gathered, and continuous improvements are made based on guest interactions and direct observations.
This approach initially appears counterintuitive in the highly traditional hotel industry. However, Qazi argues convincingly that innovation emerges precisely from doing things that initially “don’t scale.” Early imperfections, he notes, are essential stepping stones toward long-term excellence. He vividly recalled how Alibaba initially bypassed unavailable airline web services through innovative hacks—setting a foundational example of starting scrappy, iterating fast, and scaling thoughtfully.
Building Community Through Connection
Qazi places considerable emphasis on interaction—both guest-to-guest and guest-to-local. Donse’s hotels actively foster community by assigning dedicated staff members solely to guest experience management. These specialists facilitate spontaneous connections among guests based on shared interests, creating micro-communities within each location. Rather than leaving socialization entirely to chance, Donse thoughtfully encourages guests to engage meaningfully with each other and the local environment.
Moreover, community formation at Donse is seen as an organic byproduct of consistent, quality experiences. Qazi highlighted the value guests place on reliability and emotional resonance, driving repeat visits and naturally building a loyal community. This careful curation of interactions, combined with the thoughtful deployment of technology and data-driven personalization (such as tailored pillow choices), showcases Qazi’s commitment to embedding UX principles from digital startups into the physical world.
Ethical Tourism: Sustainability and Preservation
A recurring theme throughout our conversation was Qazi’s acute awareness of tourism’s potential impacts on local communities and environments. He recognizes that any economic activity inevitably changes a region—but stresses that direction matters deeply. For Qazi, tourism’s responsibility is preserving local authenticity, encouraging sustainable development, and benefiting the community without compromising cultural integrity.
For instance, Donse exclusively employs local staff to preserve authentic regional interactions and accents. Environmental and cultural sustainability guides all decisions—from food sourcing to architectural design. Qazi insists that responsible tourism, executed correctly, naturally promotes biodiversity, water conservation, and cultural preservation.
Navigating the Complexities of Scale
Scaling this highly contextualized model presents significant challenges. Donse intends to expand dramatically—aiming for 50 locations by 2027—yet Qazi acknowledges the inherent complexity of scaling diversity. To manage this, Donse combines operational standardization (such as consistent quality controls and service protocols) with considerable local autonomy in experiential design. Staff share insights across locations, creating a repository of knowledge that informs best practices while allowing each property unique character.
Additionally, Qazi envisions gamification as a future pathway to enhance guest engagement and loyalty across multiple properties. Imagine travelers earning points through unique, location-based experiences, encouraging exploration and repeated visits across the Donse network. This blending of physical journeys with digital engagement represents a promising innovation Qazi plans to develop further.
The Future of Donse and Beyond
Looking ahead, Qazi sees boundless possibilities. Once reaching sufficient scale, Donse could leverage its established brand and community to offer new services, license experiential templates, and even engage in merchandising. Drawing parallels to global hotel chains that successfully merchandise signature products, Qazi recognizes similar opportunities within Donse’s context.
Ultimately, Qazi views his work as far more than business—it’s about crafting meaningful human experiences. Through travel, he seeks to build genuine connections, empower local communities, and drive positive cultural and environmental change. Donse, therefore, is not merely a hospitality brand but a thoughtful steward of meaningful encounters.
As Donse expands, it will be fascinating to observe how Qazi’s visionary principles evolve, shaping both the future of hospitality and our understanding of travel itself. In a rapidly changing world, Nima Qazi offers a compelling blueprint for sustainable, impactful, and deeply human-centered tourism—an invitation for us all to explore travel as a profound journey of connection, authenticity, and discovery.
