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Our Team
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Haitham Mattar
Chief Executive Officer
With over 25 years of experience in global destination/hospitality management and marketing, Mattar was appointed in May 2015 to drive the economic growth of Ras Al Khaimah by positioning the Emirate as a world-class destination for business and leisure tourism. Under his leadership, Ras Al Khaimah is achieving continued growth in visitor numbers and netting a growing share of the global outbound tourism market.
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Rizwan Chowdhury
Chief Financial Officer
Rizwan joined the Authority in 2013 and has been instrumental in the development of Internal Controls, Governance Policies and Financial Compliance. In this time, he has successfully helped to transition the organisation into an efficient and effective entity. Rizwan brings over 25 years’ experience in Corporate Financial Management, having worked in the Global Finance Division at Marriott World Headquarters USA.
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Daniel Taylor
Vice President
Marketing, PR & Events
Dan is responsible for marketing, PR and events together with promoting the destination brand overseas and regionally. With 20 years of various client side, consultancy and agency roles under his belt, Dan brings a wide range of brand and communications experience to our team. He has been in the Middle East for over 12 years having worked for du, Dubai Holding and MCN Group. Prior to this Dan worked at a Global level with APRAIS and McCann Worldgroup.
Shaji Thomas
Vice President
Destination Tourism Development
Shaji Thomas brings experience from hotel and destination sales and marketing roles with global hotel groups, including Hyatt and InterContinental Hotels Group to his position as Director of Destination Tourism Development for Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority.
Erik Johansson
Director Strategy & Investor Relations
Erik Johansson brings over 15 years of experience in global investment and tourism promotion across 30 countries, to his role as Director of Strategy, Product Development and Investor Relations for Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. His remit is to promote sustained growth of tourism infrastructure to accommodate Ras Al Khaimah TDA’s ambitious target of attracting 1 million visitors by the end of 2018.
Mohamed Loojab
Director Tourism Licensing and Quality Assurance
Mohammed joined RAKTDA in 2011 with an experience of nine years in all types of licenses, permits and classification and has been a key figure in this vital area. He was responsible for the most important major changes related to the department of Tourism Licensing and Classification in addition to developing the licensing and Classification system as well. As part of his responsibilities, he also oversees all aspects of the essential area of Quality Assurance.
Farah Al Yasi
Director of Community Engagement & Outreach
Farah started her journey at Ras al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority in 2013 as Head of Events. Bringing more than 15 years of experience, Farah was responsible for bringing and executing a wide range of successful events that helped raise the profile of the destination. In 2017 Farah was appointed Director of Community Engagement and Outreach at the Authority, and she is responsible for joint projects with local authorities, entities and communities in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.
Neda Carrillo
Director of Corporate Communications & Public Relations
Working with industry and media partners in source markets across five continents, Neda elevates international awareness of RAK's tourism and investment proposition to key stakeholders worldwide.With over 15 years of communications experience in travel and tourism organisations across the UK, Spain and UAE, including senior roles with Emirates Airline, Opodo and Amadeus, Neda's insights have become a vital resource to the Authority.
