Page 71 - July 2022 ATM Special Issue 608

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Karim Makhlouf Yasser Mazouz

(Chief Commercial Officer Royal Jordanian): (Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City, Habtoor Palace
Dubai, LXR Hotels & Resorts and V Hotel Dubai,
Royal Jordanian set for strong growth Curio Collection by Hilton):
to develop Amman as the leading
Sustainability and green is one of the
gateway for the Levant goals of Hilton as a brand worldwide

arim Makhlouf, Chief Commercial
asserMazouz, Complex Director
KOfficer at Royal Jordanian, shed
Yof Sales & Marketing – Hilton
light in his interview with Al Bayan
Dubai Al Habtoor City, Habtoor
Magazine on the airline’s commercial
Palace Dubai, LXR Hotels & Resorts
plan to introduce new products and
and V Hotel Dubai, Curio Collection
incentive packages for key customer seg-
by Hilton, has always advised young
ments to strengthen Jordan’s home mar-
people looking to build careers in the
ket and enhance the airline’s key role as
industry to always go after their goals
the national carrier of Jordan. With 25
with integrity and mindful decision-
years’experience in the aviation industry,
making. “Know what is that you want
the German native with Tunisian roots
and want to achieve, all while being
gentleman started his career with the
ready for the challenges and the
Lufthansa Group and was a member of
the founding management team of opportunities in your foresight”,
Germanwings, a low-cost subsidiary of Lufthansa. He went on to work at as Chief Mazouz noted. He believes that while upkeep and enhancements should always be
Commercial Officer at both low-cost and legacy carriers, including Gulf Air, Malev and maintained with any property, it is also in the experiences created that keep up the
SkyEurope, before hatching big plans for Royal Jordanian, where he strives to doubling excitement for the guests. As one of their brand pillars, they are always looking for
the fleet and to have 68 destinations by 2027. Following is the Q & A. ways to amaze their guests and provide innovative experiences to enliven their brand
mystique. In a Q & A with Al Bayan Magazine during the Arabian Travel Market
• The travel and tourism sectors in the world are expecting a return to pre- held in Dubai, Mazouz evaluated the ATM show, expressed his point of view regard-
pandemic levels and to witness significant growth. What is your comment?
ing sustainability and green and gave us an idea about their summer packages.
- We are very glad to see that since March when the restrictions have be lifted,
the traffic is coming back significantly, in fact we achieved a record load factor of Following is an extract from the interview.
79 percent in March which is one of the best results ever in Royal Jordanian. This
is a good sign and my outlook for the rest of the year is quite positive as such. At “ We elevated the levels of experience
Royal Jordanian we are in a restructuring phase which is focused on two main that we are delivering ”
strategic pillars - one is to become the leading hub in the Levant and the second
is to focus on tourism into Jordan and to work much closer with tour operators. • How do you evaluate the Arabian Travel Market for this year?
We are working on new destinations in Europe such as Lyon & Milan. We are - In comparison with 2019 which is the pre-covid period, we see that
looking as well to add flights from and to Germany most probably Dusseldorf as everything returned back to normal, all the partners are back and the
a new destination, all in line with our tourism strategy. chain hotels are present at the show so we see that things are mov-
• Which nationalities are you focusing on? ing and there is demand for the coming period.
- Every region has its specialty. While from the Gulf and the Middle East, we have
a lot of medical tourism we do carry leisure and adventure tourists from Europe • Did you make any refurbishments during these passed two
and the US/Canada who come to Jordan to visit Petra, Aqaba and Wadi Rum. In years?
terms of religious Christian tourism, we have over 200 certified religious sites in - We just worked on our internal procedures, trained our staff, and
Jordan which very few people know - five sites are even certified by the Vatican. elevate in the levels of experience that we are delivering. We did not
Jortdan is really beautiful and diversified country and which will be able to attract close because it is a complex and we have some outlets all day
more tourism from all over the world with different segmentation.
around, we didn’t do any renovations but we rebranded few outlets.
• How many destinations are you traveling to right now?
- At the moment, 34 destinations and our plan within the next five years is to dou- • How do you keep pace with smart technological development
ble our fleet and to have 68 destinations by 2027 while growing the number of and what is its impact on the travel and tourism sectors?
yearly passengers from roughly 3 million in 2019 to 6.8 million per year by 2027.
- Everything now is passing through digital and even our partners
• What makes Royal Jordanian different from other airlines in and travel agencies are getting less than previous years, we are see-
the region?
- Royal Jordanian is one of the oldest airlines in the region, we are 58 years old ing more Online Travel Agents coming into the market.
and obviously we have a strong footprints in the region as such. We are now very
• Where are you from sustainability and green?
flexible with the offers especially for tour operators and individuals in line with our
aggressive growth strategy, offering the best value for money. We are developing - This one of the goals of Hilton as a brand worldwide, we are elimi-
Amman as the main gateway for the Lecant to ensure the best connectivity for the nating all the straws from the hotel, we are changing the cutleries
region from normal plastic to sustainable plastic which can be degraded
• What is the added value from your participation in the easily within time.
Arabian Travel Market? • Do you have any summer packages?
- It is the first time after Covid we see so many people at one place and it feels - Yes, we are combining with Waldorf Astoria which is part of Al
good again to see the industry recovering. It is a beautiful sign and this will give Habtoor Group. The guests who are staying with us can still enjoy
a big impact for the rest of the year and next year to continue the growth after two the beach and facilities of Waldorf Astoria in the Palm. Also, when
dramatical years. I enjoyed meeting a lot of colleagues and the key tour operators guests stay more than four nights, they will have 3 accesses to La
in the region. Perle which is a great show in Dubai in addition to our 24 outlets.

71 AL BA Y AN ECONOMIC MAG - ISSUE 608 - JULY 2022