Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) has appointed Alka Winter as vice president, Destination Marketing & Communications. Iyad Rasbey has taken on the role of executive director, Destination Tourism Development.
Winter will be responsible for spearheading the authority’s multi-faceted communications strategy at a time when effective multi-channel messaging and storytelling is critical, highlights RAKTDA.
Rasbey was RAKTDA’s director of MICE and has more than two decades of tourism industry experience.
Following the successful execution of RAKTDA’s highly successful ‘Shortcation’ campaign this summer, which generated more than 15,000 room nights from UAE staycationers, the creative agency behind the initiative, Sputnik Floyd, has been appointed the authority’s dedicated integrated agency.
The Berlin-based integrated communications specialist will use its brand development, campaign concepts and digital messaging expertise to further enhance the destination’s appeal and visibility.
“Following a period of unprecedented disruption to the travel and tourism sector, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) has emerged stronger than ever as a destination with world-class safety protocols in place and a strategic development plan for sustainable tourism growth,” says Raki Phillips, CEO, RAKTDA.
A seasoned communications professional with a travel and tourism background and more than 18 years of strategic planning and delivery in senior roles spanning the Middle East and North America, Winter joins RAKTDA from French hotel giant Accor, where she was vice president of Global Communications for the Middle East and Africa.
Rasbey joined RAKTDA in 2018, and is a tourism sector expert who has worked for major global tour operators including TRAVCO, Alpha Tours and Kuoni and consulted for numerous tourism boards and committees for more than two decades.
