Ramada Downtown Dubai, a leading hotel in the UAE emirate, has appointed Farrah Ismail as its new director of sales and marketing.

A Malaysian national and a graduate of SHATEC International Hotel & Tourism School of Singapore, Ismail boasts 25 years of hospitality experience in Asia and Middle East region. She started as a sales executive at Holiday Inn and was promoted to assistant sales manager following the property’s rebranding to Crowne Plaza in Malaysia. She then joined Hotel Istana by Meritus Hotel & Resorts in Kuala Lumpur as part of its pre-opening team and progressed into heading sales, conference catering and revenue management. She later moved to Bahrain and worked as director of revenue and reservations at Ritz Carlton Hotel and Spa in Manama. Ismail set off her career in the UAE by joining Dusit Thani Dubai as director of sales and marketing (DOSM) and held a similar role at Millennium & Copthorne in Dubai. She was then appointed as complex DOSM for Novotel, Ibis and Adagio in Fujairah. Prior to joining Ramada Downtown Dubai, she was the DOSM of Melia Dubai.

In her new role, Ismail is tasked with developing and executing new sales schemes aimed at yielding higher profit for the property. She will head both sales and marketing teams in the implementation of new and existing campaigns to boost occupancy and revenue, amid the highly competitive market. She is also responsible for strengthening the hotel’s existing partnerships and keeping an eye on new and emerging markets. - TradeArabia News Service