United Arab Emirates
An engaging 41 years in Retail-Leisure-Corporate travel andAirlines finally Travel IT support, gave me an opportunity to wear different hats - frontline sales, Team head retail/coporate, Leisure travel manager, General manager, Revenue optimisaion manager, Head of Charters, Service Desk & Delivery Manager. Fortunate to associate with market leaders like BIT (Bahrain), Sri Lankan, TWA, Kouni, Emirates/dnata (done 20 years.. OMG..). The driving passion behind me in this field is nothing but travel - covered 87 countries - and still going steady, planned to hit 100 countries before I hit 60 but now Covid hit the plan slightly yet hopeful.. Now I am keen to put my hand into - travel documentary production and Naturopathy & Herbal medicines with a wellness resort So if you are interested to supprot me in - Travel Documentary (if you are in Hotel, Tourism promotion board, soft adventure fields) - Hospitality (aquired 2 acres river front land near Kochi airport - 15 mins drive - to develop a Boutique Wellnesss center) - Naturopathy/Herabal production (produce own brand of herbal food supplements)
Specialised in Luxury travel, Group travel and cruises
Currently heading Service Desk Team, based in Dubai and Clark (Philippines), managing a team of 28 supporting 42 Business Applications for UAE and UK.
Relationship management - key airline partners and negotiate/manage their incentive programmes which are of strategic importance to dnata Travel. Manage a dynamic pricing for entire dNTA network according to yield, commercial priority, incentive programs and GSA relationship with different airline partners, Identify key targets and strategies of priority carriers, and identify value-ads and tools required from them to aid dnata Travel achieve its sales and income targets. Constantly monitor dNATA’s market share, and strategise commercial policies accordingly, to secure optimum net revenue. Manage negotiations with the incentive carriers on achievable performance for future years. Maintain a constant proactive approach in airline relationships, and maintain an up to date view of contractual obligations and status. Maintain effective relationships with internal lines of business within dnata Travel, including the Agency Support Unit, Corporate, Retail, Non-Air, Northern Emirates, Abu Dhabi/Al Ain, Yield, pricing and other teams to drive delivery of sales targets. Work with the Non-Air unit and each of the airlines to identify areas for growth and accordingly create tactical promotions e.g. packages with hotels/commission levels on an airline’s holiday products / Inclusive Tours Fares etc. Identify new business opportunities with airlines to ensure long term revenue protection and growth. Monitor and keep abreast of all changing market situations, and continuously adapt the business strategy to meet the environmental conditions and challenges of the future. Implementation of marketing & distribution activities through liaison and negotiations between key airlines and internal product development
Manage service desk operations for dNATA Travel, supporting 32 business applications. Directly responsible for Service Incidents, System Bugs, Release Management and Product Advisories. Lead and guide a team of 5 Business Service Analysts- provide balanced resource management, secure necessary system trainings/skill development and give professional motivation. Handling Vendor Management, and Supplier Management through regular interactions. Improve delivery standard and resolution timelines through periodical service reviews and causal analysis. Customer Management – handling escalations, attend regular service review meetings, highlight key achievements and provide alternative solutions. Closely working with Delivery team on system development, project/enhancement releases with necessary resource support if required. Management - Weekly update on key achievements, risks and opportunities to MEI manager with suggestions to improve business support and processes. Manage SOP (for dTIT), create/manage knowledge base (for dTIT, business users and EGIT), Business Process Document, as well as other application related document using dedicated SharePoint site. Regularly verify SLA performance, Bug/enhancement roll-outs, and resolution quality
General Administration & Management of Agency Operation. Negotiate Corporate accounts, Incentive groups, and potential Leisure traffic. Direct negotiation on Tour products, Adhoc, and IT deals with airlines & suppliers. Leisure product planning, analyse buying trends, Product development, Distribution and promotion Contracts, Agreements, Budgets, Sales vs Retention variance analysis etc. Designed, developed and maintained data base, and effectively used for electronic product distribution & web broadcasting Done a project work on Leisure Product marketing and e-Travel implementation. Marketing Strategies and Media Promotions (including electronic broadcasting) Maintain good business contact with wide range of suppliers.
Heading Tours department with a team of 4 Tours Executives, handling outbound tours to 149 unique destinations in association with 8 carriers, including Summer charter operations to Varna (Bulgaria).