PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Ecosystem Development Lead

Convention and Exhibition Bureau Department,

Department of Culture and Tourism

2023 - Present

· Lead relationships with MICE industry stakeholders to ensure that manpower are trained, competent and globally competitive in-line with the defined strategies and lead identifying and developing relevant initiatives or incentive programs to support this requirement.

· Ensure the database of UAE/Abu Dhabi MICE stakeholders is updated in coordination with DCT Stakeholder management and Tourism Sector Management Office and in-line with the defined strategies.

· Ensure effective liaison with Marketing and IT teams, ensuring Abu Dhabi Conventions & Exhibitions Bureau website is updated with relevant information to support bureau’s business development efforts.

· Lead managing and implementing all Abu Dhabi Conventions & Exhibitions Bureau MICE sector’s initiatives and policy development for the betterment of the bureau’s work and Abu Dhabi’s MICE sector in conjunction with Abu Dhabi Conventions & Exhibitions Bureau sections.

· Continuously lead the management of MOUs with local champions on committing to support business events; as well as partnerships with global MICE associations in conjunction with DCT Stakeholder management.

· Liaise with local leading entities that support in MICE events in-line with the defined strategy of Abu Dhabi Conventions & Exhibitions Bureau.

· Enhance relationships with Abu Dhabi MICE stakeholders by organizing knowledge workshops and informing them on latest development in the city (e.g. offerings, guidelines).

· Provide strategic expertise and consultation to government and private MICE stakeholders on the development of MICE offerings in the city (e.g. MICE sector’s trends and insights in product development) in close collaboration with Sector Management Office.

Administrative Assistant

Convention and Exhibition Bureau Department,

Department of Culture and Tourism

2018 - 2023

· Provide administrative support to the Convention Bureau department director;

· Create monthly performance reports for Strategy, Events Committee, Finance, and other Adhoc requests.

· Create monthly cashflow/budget utilization reports and coordinate with finance to monitor payments to ensure suppliers are paid timely;

· Produce statistical reports to the department director and the MICE managers;

· Assist management with creating a standard operating procedure (SOPs);

· Organizing meetings and arranging logistics with internal team members and external stakeholders.
Providing real-time scheduling support by booking appointments and preventing conflicts;

· Being well-organized by handling office tasks, generating presentations, organizing files and folders, setting up the conference room for meetings, checking office stocks and ordering supplies;

· Preparing agendas and schedule for meetings;

· Generating reports, transcribing minutes of meetings and creating and consolidating presentations.

· Being a point of contact for a range of staff and external stakeholders;

· Updating contact details of external stakeholders and coordinating with them on behalf of the department, if requested;

· Monitoring and recording the attendance and leave schedule of the staff in the department to ensure smooth continuity of business operations;

· Assisting the Department Director in managing his calendar and schedule;

· Being the focal point in the department to receive all information, queries and direct them to the relevant personnel in the department;

· Attending meetings with the Director and higher management and maintaining strict confidentiality of information and data discussed;

· Performing the duties and fulfilling the roles and responsibilities as a Quality Management System Document Controller in the department;

· Maintaining and recording all petty cash activities and ensure 100% accuracy in the settlements of payments;

· Supporting the staff by providing administrative support and problem-solving skills;

· Forwarding important notices and information from HR to the departments;

· Maintaining polite and professional communication via phone and e-mail.

Technical Support

Senior Advisor - Chairman’s Office

Department of Culture and Tourism

2013 - 2017

· Prepared monthly reports using analytical tools such as tourism research, analytics, and management tools such as OAG, Oxford Economic Decision Metrix, Hotel performance report, etc.;

· Prepared Air Traffic report using OAG tool to analysis seat capacity from key market and overseas markets;

· Created hotel establishment rooms current and upcoming pipeline analysis reports;

· Created and updated statistics to the dashboard using Power BI, SAP Lumira;

· Assisted with designing a Marketing frameworks and other statistical user interfaces using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator;

· Collaborated with stakeholders and overseas offices for collecting information/ reports for the Senior Advisor;

· Assisted with designing Annual Seasonality calendar for tourism sector based on 11 Key overseas markets.

· Compilation suport to Tourism Sector Departmental and Overseas office Business plan/ Budget;

· Preparation of reports, Charts and presentations and maintain upto date records for DCTA;

· Technical support to EDTA with Tourism Satellite account TSA) related work and other secondary research providers;

· Provided support to Senior Advisor on various tourism and commerce related projects and issues;

Senior Technical Support

Al Rawi Electronic, United Arab Emirates

2010 - 2013

· Researching, testing on pilot PCs and providing solutions for critical issues and maintaining issue logs for future;

· Maintained periodic backups for all databases residing on the server;

· Backed-Up support for installation Activities Configuration Problems, Installation Problems, Post-Installation and Re-Configuration);

· Monitored traffic and provided daily, monthly internet statistical reports to management;

· Software Implementation, Deployment, Release & Build Management, Migration to new software versions;

· Technical support for windows 7, windows 8.1, windows 10 and Mac laptops;

· Designed and implemented company wireless network with various vender products such as Avaya, Cisco and other vender products and ensure high availability and security;

· Developed antivirus solution and protected network from vulnerability attacks and maintained virus free environment;

· Performed content filtering based on company requirement using firewall devices and various applications;

· Recommendation for purchasing new computers, laptops, heavy duty printers, Microsoft licenses, purchasing Antivirus firewalls;

· Following change process hardening all devices and maintaining ISO standards;

ACADEMIC:

Currently Reading Master of Business Administration - MBA General Studies

Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), Sri Lanka

2024 - 2026

Master of Business Administration in Global Business Administration Financial Services

University of Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

2023 - 2024

BA Hons) in Business Management in International Business Management

Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom

2019 - 2021

Higher National Diploma in Business Management

Pearson College London, United Kingdom

2019

National Diploma in Information and Communication Technology

National Vocational Training Authority, Sri Lanka

2006

REFERENCE