Riad Abdallah, Manager - Holidayme.com.sa - Online Product & Digital Marketing Arabic, Strategic Partnerships

Riad Abdallah

Manager - Holidayme.com.sa - Online Product & Digital Marketing Arabic, Strategic Partnerships

Holidayme.com.sa

Location
United Arab Emirates - Dubai
Education
Diploma, Tourism Management
Experience
25 years, 11 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :25 years, 11 Months

Manager - Holidayme.com.sa - Online Product & Digital Marketing Arabic, Strategic Partnerships at Holidayme.com.sa
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • My current job since February 2015

Manager - Holidayme.com.sa - Online Product, Digital Marketing, Strategic Partnerships, Arabic localisation:

Provide thought leadership to C-level managers, including supplier implementation and e-commerce best practices.

Leverage quantitive and qualitative data to understand, prioritise and engage with the target market.

Coordinate and integrate multiple functions to multiple lines of business, Content with the Online

Product development to IT to Marketing.

Manage Arabic teams across Content, Social Media, SEO, Design.

Hire across business lines.

Director at TravelerVIP.com by RihlaPrime FZ-LLC
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • February 2014 to February 2015

Report to the CEO and the board of investors the overall results of the company and budgeting on quarterly basis.

Responsible for up to $20, 000 Marketing spend budget per month, heading a team of 3 technical web developers, 3 marketing assistants & content managers.

Set up the monthly and quarterly Marketing KPIs, Targets, Budgets and Implement the Strategies agreed upon, in-house.

Set up the Product and Technical IT Projects on Weekly, Monthly and Quarterly basis - Develop the Products in liaison with Sales and Customer feedback.

Direct management of Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, Google Analytics, Mailchimp and Kissmetrics

Daily management through & with the team, of the Communication on Social Media channels and Newsletters.

Contracting PR companies for Brand awareness, and Publishers for offline ads.

Create Business Development opportunities with 3rd party companies to strengthen the Products Sales and spread awareness with the Brand name of TravelerVIP.com (for example: key partnership alliances with banks, charities, and government or semi-governemental entities)

Managing the day-to-day operations and “red-tape”

Achievements:
121% increase in sales YOY

Bring down the Cost of Acquisition by 70% while doubling the qualified leads

Setting up the process of campaign measurement and its reporting on a tight budget.

Senior Account Manager at Cobone FZ-LLC managing Triperna.com
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • April 2011 to February 2014

Planning the strategy and launching the Destinations travel vertical for the largest group-buying website in the MENA region

Managing a small team of sales executives and admin executives to meet pipeline objectives and targets.

Plan and manage growth, innovation in liaison with the IT and Marketing departments.

Sourcing hotel and travel packages

Achievements:
Over 50, 000 room-nights sold in a year
Up to $1.3 million in sales in a month

Account Manager Middle East Hotels at BOOKING.COM
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • February 2008 to November 2010

Responsibilities:

Strategic planning

Manage key account partners

Responsible for area coverage & development

Relationship management, and expanding the networks as well as marketing the brand name of BOOKING.COM to hotels

Negotiating deals & contracts

Negotiate and maintain allotment

Maintaining and preparing of quantity and quality reports

Accompany and train hotels with implementation of system

Roll out XML projects

Training of hotels on internet strategies & revenue management

Organize and coordinate Tourist Trade Fair visits

Fulfilling the role of intermediary for Customer/Hotel service complaints

Liaise with the website Projects development, Marketing and website Content departments.

Competitor analysis and market feedback

Train new joiners

Achievement:

Achieving 350% growth YOY and beyond targets results,

Expanding the “shelf inventory” 2 to 3 times beyond competition’s reach, Managing for maximum website conversion and Customer’s satisfaction, Training new joiners and Gaining trust & respect of the local team, Supporting key business departments (Content, Marketing, Project, IT and Customer Service departments).

Freelance consultant & NGO co-founder at Consulting for Middle Eastern DMCs & European Tour Operators
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • April 2007 to February 2008
Manager of Inbound dept, Client Accounts, Production, Pricing & Operations at TLB Destinations
  • Other
  • January 1998 to April 2007

Responsibilities:

Directing the business actions, reporting to the Owner/GM, managing a team of 4 to 35 associates depending on seasonality

Launching of new destinations/ products, Pricing and Operational Implementation

Contracting with Tour Operators clients and Suppliers (hotels, transport companies, and government related)

Preparing & Pitching quotations B2B

Preparing the marketing plan in coordination with the owner/GM
Tour Leader in the early years.

Starting as a Tour leader for 3 years accompanying small groups of 4 to 25 pax from Europe mainly, on tours of 7 to 15 days across the Middle East was an invaluable experience. Developing TLB’s business through contracting with suppliers and other third parties was a success on both the financial and relationship levels.

Education

Diploma, Tourism Management
  • at IUKB Tourism Management Program executive MBA
  • August 2007
High school or equivalent, Baccalaureat
  • at Maristes Champville
  • July 1992

Specialties & Skills

Digital Marketing
Business Development
Project Management
Forecasting and Budgeting
Content partnerships
Strategy planning, execution & reporting
Google AdWords
Product management
Sourcing, Contracting & Account Management
Google Analytics
Hotel Revenue & Channels Management, XML roll-outs
Team Manager & Leadership
Facebook Ads
Salesforce
Cashflow
Newsletter content, planning & customer segmentation
KissMetrics
UI & UX
Shortstack (Facebook app)
Mailchimp
Magento user / content admin

Languages

Arabic
Expert
English
Expert
French
Expert
Dutch
Beginner

Training and Certifications

Executive MBA Tourism Management (IUKB/AUST Univ. - Unfinished) (Certificate)

Hobbies

  • Books & Magazines
    From business books to french literature, a good part of our disposable income goes on Books & Magazines, print and digital.
  • Photography
    Semi-pro in dark room manual photo development
  • Guitars
    Formed a band back in the days and played live for 3 years