Sabre names new VP Ops & MD for EMEA expansion

Sabre Corporation has announced the appointments of two key leaders as part of its expansion strategy for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regions. Abdul-Razzaq Iyer has been appointed as Vice President of Operations and Strategy, and Ramzi Al-Qassab has been appointed as the new Managing Director for the Middle East region.

The appointments are effective immediately, accelerating the company’s growth and presence in the region.

In his new role, Abdul-Razzaq brings over 36 years of experience across marketing, IT consulting, travel and tourism, and banking sectors. He has been associated with Sabre Corp since 2011 and has held several leadership roles over the last 12 years. In his previous roles, Abdul-Razzaq served Abacus International as the Director, Sabre Holdings as the Principal Business Consultant, BNP as the Expatriate Project Director, Ernst & Young as the Senior Consultant, and MediaKube as the Marketing Manager.

On the other hand, Al-Qassab brings over 23 years of experience and has served Sabre Corp for more than 15 years in key roles. He recently held the position of Senior Director of the Middle East. Prior to that, he served the company for over six years as the Commercial Director for KSA, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Yemen. In other roles, he worked with Gulf Air as the Area Manager and Gulf Hotels Group as the Senior Sales and Marketing Manager.

Welcoming the newly appointed leaders to the executive board, Sean McDonald, MD, and VP of Sabre in EMEA said, “As we navigate through the dynamic landscape of the EMEA markets, these leadership appointments are crucial for our focused efforts towards growth, investment, and success. With Sabre’s strategic imperatives and focus on empowering our partners for growth through innovative technology, alongside our investments and leadership team, we are firmly positioned for accelerated growth across the EMEA markets. I am confident that Abdul-Razzaq Iyer and Ramzi Al-Qassab will lead with a customer-centric approach, delivering bespoke solutions that not only enable our customers to thrive but also establish Sabre as the preferred technology partner in the region.”

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Commenting on his new role, Abdul-Razzaq said, “This comprehensive role is designed to support our expansion plans and leverage next-generation technology across the travel ecosystem. We are confident that this leadership enhancement will catalyse our growth and innovation efforts, aligning with our commitment to excellence and strategic development.”

Al-Qassab added, “With our commitment and new expansion plans, it is an exciting time to be at Sabre, especially in this region. I am looking forward to continuing to work with our highly specialised, customer-driven teams, driving innovative technology, and delivering impactful travel solutions. Our focus on enhancing the personalised customer experience will help enable the transformation of travel across the Middle East, unlocking new avenues for growth in this marketplace.”