Hoda Alzubaidi joins Travel Weekly’s growing team in the newly created role of Director of Commercial.

Hot on the heels of our new editor, Dan Lake, Hoda joins Christina Peterson in Travel Weekly’s commercial unit, to support the market’s growing appetite to see the world again.

Nancy Hromin speaks to Hoda about her move in to this new role:

“Travel is incredibly important to me personally as it gave my family and I an opportunity at a better life (Hoda’s family came to Australia as refugees).

“We travelled a fair bit to be able to finally settle in Australia and I truly believe this experience has made me a better person for many reasons.

“I’ve always seen travel as an opportunity to bridge gaps in cultural and religious differences, It’s a unique and an exciting opportunity to be able to see life through another lens and to truly immerse yourself in local traditions and customs. Travelling is the best way to help drive understanding and education.”

What are you most looking forward to introducing to Travel Weekly as part of our offering?

“I like to work with our partners with an open mind, to really understand their products, offering and purpose. Most importantly, how we can help them- whether that’s working collaboratively on a creative campaign, an unforgettable event or simply spread the word to the travel trade.

“To me, it’s more than just placing an ad or two. It’s about how we can help their business grow. So I’m really excited about – utilising everything that we have here at Travel Weekly and The Misfits, to bring to life something that’s unique and tailored to their products.”

When you’re not working at Travel Weekly, what do you like doing?

“I love baking! I love eating just as much as I love baking! Food for me is really important because it ties in really nicely with the experience of travel.

“People travel to have unique and memorable experiences and food is definitely a part of that journey. Trying local cuisine, just for a moment allows you to feel as though you are part of a community and culture. It’s amazing what food can do.

“And, so for me, I love to bake and to try out different recipes from around the world because that is another way to open up your eyes to this amazing world we live in”

What about your favourite destination?

This is such a hard question. I don’t usually like to travel to the same place twice.

Because I feel as though whenever I get an opportunity to travel, I want to experience something new.

“So, where would I go back? Time and time again? I would probably say Vietnam.

“Vietnam is one of my favourite places because it’s this perfect combination of incredibly delicious food and rich history.

“Culture, beauty, the incredible landscape that just takes your breath away”

What makes a good holiday for you?

“I feel as though that whenever you take a holiday, you need to come back with a new skill or a new thought, or a new level of understanding for something that you didn’t know before.

“Whether that’s a new thought, a different perspective on a certain topic or just a new found friend. I just really appreciate the power of travel.

“It’s what you can absorb while travelling, but more importantly, what you give back to the communities that you visit. A great trip is one that teaches you something you didn’t know before”

From your perspective, what do you think is the biggest issue that facing the travel industry today?

“Managing expectations from both a retail and trade perspective”.

“Travel has changed in many ways, and we have to keep up. From a retail perspective, availability is a core issue that will hopefully get better with time.

“From a trade perspective it’s important that we keep the industry involved, educated and informed with all the updates in this everchanging industry”.

What are you most hopeful about with the future of travel?

“I am extremely proud to be working in the travel industry and I’m hopeful that people can travel more. The more people we can get exploring this incredibly beautiful world we live in the better.”