Our employees are our greatest asset, and we work hard to maximize their value by aligning their expectations with company initiatives, values and strategies. We provide and sustain an infrastructure that effectively recruits, selects, develops, and retains the very best employees. We believe in a true ‘Team Work’ philosophy that is inspired through effective organizational skills, proactive efforts, and maintaining a balance between professionalism and the ability to have fun!
Our total staff strength is over 400 employees, comprising 21 different nationalities, and including many of the region’s top travel experts. They are all highly experienced in the travel industry with extensive local knowledge of the markets we operate in.
The Alshamel Management Team
Our management team signifies stability and industry experience.
Headed by Mr. Khaled Abdulrahman Shaheen Al-Ghanim, our Chairman & Managing Director, every member of the senior management team has had a wide exposure to the industry not only as travel managers but also as airline executives.
Mr. Houssam Baker – Executive Vice President
Houssam joined Alshamel in 2010 bringing with him more than 18 years of experience in the areas of strategic marketing, planning, sales strategy, general management, and operations. In his current capacity, he is responsible for managing and implementing key strategic initiatives at the Head Quarters level and across the region, to enhance business performance, drive growth, and improve our offerings for our various customers. Throughout his career, he has led major strategic marketing developments, sales operations and business development initiatives for big multinational and regional companies. He also set up and managed regional network structures across the Middle East for leading companies like Unilever, HSBC, RJ Reynolds, Tameer and Al Oula International. Along with that, he has been responsible for introducing and managing many strategic plans with key objectives improving efficiency and effectiveness of the organization, as well as implementing solid systems and set up that can handle heavy sales operations, and accommodate for wide mixes of integrated marketing disciplines.
Houssam portfolio of achievements includes successful launching and management of many brands and projects in the market, which led to increased sales and market share. He has also developed successful sales strategies across various distribution channels and worked extensively on building various best practices. He is an MBA graduate from HEC, and after his graduation he pursued his post graduate studies at McGill University, from which he was awarded his post graduate certification. His undergraduate bachelor was in Economics from the American University of Beirut.
Mr. Mazen Hamad – Senior Vice President, Retail & Leisure
Mazen Hamad Taha is an industry veteran with over 25 years experience in the travel industry. He joined Alshamel International in 1999. His travel trade expertise and keen understanding of the Middle East markets was instrumental to Alshamel’s significant growth in both the Kuwait and regional markets.
The Executive Vice President of Retail & Leisure, Mazen manages and sets business strategies for his team of 26 specialists, focusing on servicing high-end VIP clients and senior corporate executives. His organization tailors unique leisure experiences for the discerning traveler. Growth plans include expanding these unique services into the Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and Abu Dhabi (UAE) markets. Key to the success of the organization is the special relationships earned over many years of successful partnerships, with key luxury and specially selected preferred suppliers.
Prior to joining Alshamel Mazen was the Deputy GM of Barakat Travel, a company that today continues to grow and prosper.
Ms. Rosanna Croft – Vice President, Military & Government
As Vice President of M&G, Rosanna Croft leads the Military & Government Division with 30 years of travel experience. Prior to joining Alshamel, Rosanna was the Projects and Operations Support Manager at CWGT/SatoTravel based in Europe where her region included Europe the Middle East and Africa. In her tenure Rosanna utilized process and procedures skills (including an in-depth knowledge of military SOPs and Federal Travel Regulations) to standardize operations and streamline processes across countries and languages. Rosanna implemented Electronic Government Travel Systems to facilitate Defense Travel Systems integration with Commercial Travel Management and provided training and support.
Rosanna has led a career in transportation with both the U.S. Department of Defense and the commercial travel industry. She has received numerous accolades from branches of the military and former employers throughout her career.
Mr. Samir Alamari – Vice President, IT
Samir joined Alshamel in February 2009 to lead design, operation and support of the Technology Team with a special focus on re-organizing the technology infrastructure, communications and back office systems across the region. In addition, he is responsible for all the applications we use and supports our businesses, focusing on the redesign of workflows and processes.
Samir has had extensive IT experience and has held senior positions at the Gulf University for Science and Technology, Humansoft Holdings, The Kuwaiti Danish Dairy Company and ACC Computer Division. His technical expertise covers both Oracle and Microsoft based products including Oracle E-business Suite, PeopleSoft and SAP. Samir is an Honors graduate of the Lebanese American University in Beirut.
