Shift in how shisha is perceived and enjoyed globally — Arabian Post

Arjavi Indraneesh

Whereas demand for shisha smoking is steadily going up, air high quality rules, fireplace security issues and the operational burden of managing charcoal-based methods have traditionally introduced challenges to hospitality venues. Ronan Barry, Chief Authorized and Company Affairs at AIR, the worldwide chief in hookah and pioneer in superior inhalation applied sciences, spoke to the Arabian Publish on the rising shisha tendencies and the corporate’s future plans. AIR is getting ready for a list of its shares on Nasdaq.

Q: Your newest analysis exhibits a worldwide surge in shisha demand. What’s driving this development?
A: Our analysis exhibits that 90% of hospitality venue house owners throughout 4 key markets – the UAE, US, Germany, and Spain – count on shisha demand to extend over the following two years. It’s our view that that development is being fueled by a shift in how shisha is perceived and loved globally.

Shisha is a ritual that has been loved for hundreds of years, deeply rooted in custom, group, and social connection. Whereas that cultural significance stays, each shopper expectations and know-how are evolving. At the moment’s customers are more and more searching for extra premium, health-conscious and design-led experiences, and venues are responding by providing cleaner, extra fashionable codecs, like charcoal-free units, that proceed the historic custom and ritual whereas assembly the calls for of a extra health-conscious technology.

Q: What challenges are hospitality venues going through as they attempt to meet this demand?
A: Air high quality rules, fireplace security issues and the operational burden of managing charcoal-based methods have traditionally introduced challenges to venues. In actual fact, 89% of the companies we surveyed mentioned regulatory compliance is a major problem when providing shisha. That’s why improvements like OOKA – our charcoal-free, electronically heated shisha system – are so transformative. Not solely does it take away the complexities of charcoal, however it additionally considerably reduces dangerous emissions, making a cleaner, extra sustainable expertise for each customers and employees.

One in 4 (25%) venue house owners advised us that they see charcoal-free know-how as a sensible resolution to assist meet these regulatory necessities, which means units like OOKA are an actual alternative for forward-thinking operators to innovate and drive buyer loyalty.

Q: Are you able to speak extra about how OOKA addresses these well being and security issues?
A:  AIR commissioned and printed the world’s first peer-reviewed emissions research on a charcoal-free shisha system – and the outcomes have been a game-changer for the class.

Our analysis discovered that emissions from OOKA confirmed near-zero detection of lots of the most dangerous by-products of combustion, together with carbon monoxide, benzene, toluene, and benzo[a]pyrene, that are sometimes present in each cigarettes and charcoal-heated waterpipes.

It additionally revealed that ranges of key aldehydes, resembling acrolein, acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, have been lowered significantly, with acrolein lowered by 96%. Whenever you consider how shisha is consumed in actual life – typically simply a few times every week – toxicant publicity from OOKA is estimated to be as much as 100 occasions decrease than cigarette smoking.[1]

That’s an enormous step ahead in hurt discount, and it has real-world implications for customers and the hospitality business. It means venues can now provide a premium shisha expertise that not solely appeals to immediately’s well being and environmentally aware prospects, but additionally helps higher indoor air high quality and removes the dangers related to charcoal. It opens the door for extra companies – particularly people who have been beforehand delay by the dangers of charcoal – so as to add shisha to their menus with confidence.

Q: How has OOKA been obtained by the hospitality business up to now?
A: The response has been overwhelmingly optimistic – notably right here in Dubai. OOKA Professional, our mannequin tailor-made for hospitality venues, was developed with suggestions from our companions and is already being utilized in main hospitality locations, resembling Playa Seaside Membership Dubai. Venue house owners recognize the cleaner operation, the design customization choices and the truth that it helps as much as eight periods on a single cost. Many venues have reported that bringing OOKA to their prospects has opened new income streams and improved the client expertise considerably.

Q: Do you see OOKA influencing future regulatory approaches to shisha?
A: We consider so. The science is now catching up with the innovation. Our emissions research supplies credible, unbiased proof that charcoal-free units like OOKA provide a reduced-risk various. That’s necessary not only for regulators and policymakers, but additionally for hospitality companies. If regulation begins to acknowledge cleaner applied sciences like ours, it provides venues an actual alternative to develop their choices and entice a broader buyer base – together with those that could have beforehand averted shisha resulting from well being or security issues.

We’re prepared and prepared to have interaction with regulators to champion the evolution of the class in policymaking. Our objective is to help the hospitality business in providing cleaner merchandise, whereas giving customers the liberty to take pleasure in shisha with better confidence.

Q: What’s subsequent for AIR and the way forward for shisha?
A: At AIR, we’re coming into the following chapter with actual momentum. In November 2025, we introduced our intention to checklist on Nasdaq and are presently progressing with the transaction, which is anticipated to be accomplished within the first half of 2026. Most not too long ago, we filed Kind F-4 which is a crucial milestone in taking one other step nearer to turning into a public firm. Not solely this, however enterprise stays on a development trajectory, as proven by the outcomes for the yr ending 31 December 2025, which revealed thatAIR’s income elevated by roughly 6% to $400 million, up from $377 million the earlier yr. Revenue for the yr additionally rose to $47 million from $34 million in 2024, placing us in a powerful place forward of the itemizing.

As our international presence as an organization grows, we stay dedicated to main the way in which in clear, tech-driven social inhalation. As shopper expectations shift and rules tighten, the business should proceed to evolve. That’s why we’re persevering with to put money into R&D, develop our partnerships with hospitality venues everywhere in the globe and champion a future for shisha that’s smarter and cleaner.

That is an extremely thrilling time for the class. The core ritual of shisha, one thing that’s been loved for hundreds of years, stays as necessary as ever. However how individuals take pleasure in it’s altering. AIR is proud to be on the forefront of that transformation, and we’re simply getting began –  we will’t wait to form what comes subsequent.

[1] Assumes two waterpipe periods per week versus 20 cigarettes per day, based mostly on consumption information from the German Federal Institute for Danger Evaluation (BfR).

Additionally printed on Medium.