Travel News

Hossam El Shaer’s career is rooted in a family travel business founded in 1971. That heritage gave him an early view of tourism from the distribution side: how visitors choose destinations, what tour operators need and how external shocks affect demand. When he established SUNRISE Resorts and Cruises in 2002, he brought that market knowledge into hotel ownership and operations. By 2026, SUNRISE operated across 15 destinations in Egypt, Greece, Tanzania and Morocco. Its portfolio comprised 41 hotels and resorts with more than 13,000 rooms, as well as seven Nile cruise vessels. The scale reflects a strategy of controlling more of the visitor journey and using distribution intelligence to shape the product.

Saudi hospitality is not only being built through new projects. It is also being consolidated into larger national platforms capable of owning, developing and operating assets at scale. Sultan bin Badr Al Otaibi stands at the centre of that process as chief executive of TAIBA. Al Otaibi began his career in finance before moving through hotel development, operations and partnerships. He became a vice president in 2014 and chief executive of Dur Hospitality in 2019. Following the combination of Dur and Taiba Investments, he took the leadership of the enlarged company in 2024.

Phillipa Harrison became chief executive of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority in September 2025, moving from a national tourism organisation to one of the world’s most closely watched emerging destinations. Her appointment placed an experienced international marketer in charge just as the emirate entered a major hotel and attraction cycle. Harrison spent eight years at Tourism Australia and served as managing director from 2019. Her tenure included bushfires, border closures and the long rebuilding of international aviation after the pandemic. She also brought earlier commercial and marketing experience from the travel sector, giving her an understanding of both destination promotion and the businesses expected to convert demand.

Jordan possesses one of tourism’s most recognisable icons in Petra, yet recognition does not insulate a destination from regional perception. Ramzi Maaytah became director general of the Jordan Tourism Board in December 2025 at a time when events beyond the country’s borders were influencing bookings, air capacity and insurance decisions. Maaytah brought experience in international tourism, destination development and advisory work. Trained as an economist, with education connected to Arizona State University, he has worked across tourism strategy, investment and consulting. His background includes private-sector advisory work through Levant Consulting, giving him a view of the commercial barriers that can prevent a promising destination plan from becoming bookable product.

Tunisia’s tourism recovery has brought back volume. Under Mohamed Mehdi Haloui, the next task is to improve the quality, spread and economic value of that demand. He became director general of the Tunisian National Tourist Office in April 2025, moving into the top role after serving as the organisation’s investment director and working directly on tourism development projects. As investment director, he encountered the central weakness in Tunisia’s recovery proposition: demand can return faster than ageing assets can be renewed. Financing hotel renovations is difficult when rates are low, seasons are short and operators carry legacy debt. Haloui’s experience evaluating projects gives him a realistic view of what marketing can and cannot fix. Stronger demand must create enough pricing power to support refurbishment and a better product.

There are airline leaders, airport leaders and destination leaders. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has spent much of his career operating across all three categories at once. As chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group, chairman of Dubai Airports and chairman of flydubai, he sits at the junction where Dubai’s aviation capacity, network reach and visitor economy meet. That position was not created overnight. Sheikh Ahmed began his aviation career in 1985, the year Emirates launched. The assignment was audacious: build an international airline for a city that wanted to become a global trading and tourism hub, but did not yet possess the scale, connectivity or visitor infrastructure associated with one. Emirates grew by making Dubai the connecting point, using widebody aircraft, long-haul routes and a service proposition that promoted the city every time the airline entered a new market.

When Hamad Al Khater became group chief executive of Qatar Airways in December 2025, he inherited one of the world’s most internationally recognised airline brands. He also inherited an unusually interconnected business: a global carrier, Hamad International Airport, cargo, ground handling, catering, retail and tourism interests all organised around Doha’s role as a transfer hub. Al Khater arrived with direct experience of that operating system. Before taking the group role, he was chief operating officer of Hamad International Airport, where he worked on capacity, service quality and the complex coordination required at a fast-growing global gateway. Earlier in his career he held senior roles at QatarEnergy, giving him experience in a major national enterprise outside aviation. That combination of infrastructure discipline and state-enterprise management helps explain his selection.
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