“It’s so interesting what they’re bringing to life.”

Newly-appointed Global Director of Sales & Marketing Kholoud Abulkheir talks about the future of travel, what it was like to be a woman leading a team in IATA’s toughest region – and why she was excited to join Journey Mentor.

Kholoud (pronounced ‘Holood’) comes across as a woman who brings passion and determination to everything she does – from professional life, to the dream house in Amman she designed herself.

As new Global Director of Sales and Marketing, she’s working closely with Journey Mentor’s commercial team to grow and accelerate the company’s sales and presence in the industry – backed by twenty years’ successful experience in aviation. 

Shifting demand, legacy tech and world crises have led to unprecedented challenges for the travel sector. Journey Mentor’s paradigm-shifting systems are designed to address many of the problems.

“We’re providing solutions the travel industry truly needs,” she says. 

A Jordanian woman, born in Damascus, Kholoud studied General Commerce & Accounting at Beirut Arab University, graduating in 1999. 

In 2005, she transitioned to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) after gaining experience in various sectors.

As IATA’s Regional Aviation Solutions Sales Manager, Kholoud facilitated sales to stakeholders across the Middle East. Notably, at that time, she operated as the sole aviation solutions manager based in Amman. Reflecting on this period, she was proud to have contributed to the substantial growth of sales, almost twenty-fold. “Helped by my very supportive boss in Amsterdam at that time and other colleagues, we made it happen, basically.”  

Between 2009 and 2010, Kholoud was head-hunted by the Airport International Group (AIG) CEO to work on the Queen Alia International Airport expansion plan. She says she was eager to play a pivotal role in the economically crucial airport’s development project over a span of two years. 

Again, it was a pioneering role. Responsible for business, air service route development, marketing and communication, she says, “We embarked on a learning journey from the ground up, given that AIG lacked both a marketing and development department at the time.” 

Kholoud returned to IATA in 2010 at the more senior level of Regional Head of Marketing & Sales, leading a team covering over 70 countries in the Middle East and Africa.

 “Not only was it the smallest team of all the regions, it was the most challenging region. Also, I was the only woman,” she says.

Senior and managerial jobs in tourism and aviation are notably male-dominated, according to World Tourism Organisation and IATA figures. Only six per cent of airlines have a female CEO. 

So, was Kholoud’s post a daunting one? She despatches this notion pretty quickly.

“It was not easy but not that difficult,” she smiles. 

The comments she occasionally encountered, she says, tended to be based, “not so much on gender as a lack of education, or prejudice maybe, about my culture. ‘Why don’t you cover your hair?’ – ‘I could ask the same question back!’. ‘I hear you like camels’ – ‘I’ve never been near a camel my entire life and don’t plan to’”– for example.

At IATA, Kholoud’s responsibilities included passengers, cargo, airports and airlines and high-level stakeholders. She was tasked with improving the organisation’s financial results and making it more profitable through new/innovative business opportunities and promoting its image, products and services.

By the time she left for a career break, before joining Journey Mentor this year, she had exceeded forty-fold her 2005 target. “Am I allowed to boast about this? I am so proud of it, so I’ll do it anyway.”

The career break was one of the rare things (it seems) that did not go to plan. The Covid-19 pandemic struck. “Instead of enjoying life, we were locked down like everybody else,” she says. 

However, she was able to re-ignite a teenage passion for architecture. For almost five years now she has been project managing the building of a house in Amman she designed entirely herself – with the support and encouragement of her husband. The house is scheduled for completion this April.

“If I handle a project, I see it through to the end. I’m currently giving everybody a hard time right down to the three-millimetre difference in the height on the stairs,” she laughs.

She is looking forward to indulging her love of swimming in the new pool, once the house is finished. She is also eagerly designing her home office for those customer Zoom calls. “As close to the pool as possible”, she says. 

Other interests include music and movies, but she says (winning a silent round of applause from this writer) “I don’t like the gym”. 

It goes without saying she also travels a lot. Kholoud has visited 92 cities in the last 17 years, Geneva, Vancouver, Vienna and Montreal being among the favourites.

“I love nature, so a lake or forest will trigger me to go,” she says. “I hate ‘artificial’ cities.” 

21^st century challenges

Journey Mentor is all about travel, particularly, disruptive travel technology. The aim is improved experiences for travellers, while solving contemporary industry problems. 

Not surprising, then, Kholoud is excited by the challenge. 

Why Journey Mentor particularly?

“The solutions are really beautiful – I wonder how come nobody thought of it before.”

Travel is very sensitive to change, she says – citing examples like the volcanic ash in 2010 resulting from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland that shut down European airspace, the 9/11 attacks and, most recently, the pandemic.

“The travel industry needs to recover.” Leisure travel is key, she says. 

 “After the pandemic people still seek to reconnect with friends and family and enjoy the freedom after the terrible experiences. On the other hand, business travel, once a major source of revenue for airlines, may never fully recover because of the way people work now. 

“Airlines have to adapt services, prices and routes. Leisure travel is more price-sensitive but more flexible over things like schedules – this could be a good point for recovery.” 

In addition, the pandemic accelerated adoption of digitalisation and personalisation. “This can enable everything… online booking, checking, boarding, covid passports, biometric checks…”

New challenges have arisen from this, of course, like safety and management of sensitive data. 

“Yes,” she says, “but you must remember digitalisation is not new for other industries. Look at Amazon. Here, the value and opportunity are vast. A huge source of revenue.” 

Will humans eventually be replaced by technology? “I don’t see that happening yet. Airlines laid off staff and then invited them back because they could not do without them. Maybe one day it will reach 50:50 but not for all services. 

“I don’t want a robot serving me on the airplane.”

simple & sweet

The big challenge is to make 21^st century travel more sustainable, resilient and agile. 

“When I had the chance to join Journey Mentor, I said ‘yes please’. I want to contribute to the company’s growth. It’s so interesting what they’re bringing to life.” 

The solutions will make the industry faster, more affordable, more efficient and offer better choices to travellers, she believes.

“At first, I thought they were too good to be true and asked a lot of questions. Could it really be that simple? The truth of the matter is, it’s very simple and sweet.”

References:

1. chart-of-the-week (iata.org)
2. Women managers in tourism: Associations for building a sustainable world – ScienceDirect
3. Iceland Volcano Ash Grounds European Air Travel – CBS News