Soneva Appoints Aisha Ali As New Director of Sales For Maldives DMCs And The GCC Market

Soneva, the award-winning luxury resort operator, recently announced the appointment of Aisha Ali as Director of Sales – Maldives DMCs and GCC Market. Aisha will be based in Malé, Maldives.

Aisha’s career in the hospitality industry began in 2006 when she was hired in a reservations position for Soneva Gili (now Gili Lankanfushi). In 2009 she joined the Six Senses Resorts & Spas team as a Sales & Marketing Executive, working on sales for Soneva Fushi, Soneva Gili, and Six Senses Laamu until June 2012 when Six Senses was sold. Aisha continued working in the roles of Sales & Marketing Executive and Sales Manager for Soneva Resorts until 2016.

Aisha went on to work for Anantara as the Assistant Director of Sales for Anantara Kihava in the Maldives. There she spent the next two years developing the resort in the Middle Eastern, Chinese and Indian markets, whilst also supporting three other Anantara resorts.

In 2017, she left the resort life and moved back to Malé to spend more time with her daughter. Later, Aisha joined a new B2C travel company called Premier Destination, where she was responsible for launching the brand and establishing it as a high-end, luxury B2C travel company in the Maldives. She also led the overall operation of the company for over three years.

Nationally, only 4% of the workforce in resorts in the Maldives is female, compared to women constituting 45% of the workforce in industries such as education, healthcare and the civil service. The ‘Women in Soneva’ initiative is a recruitment drive aimed at achieving a more balanced representation of female Hosts at Soneva in the Maldives and Thailand. Currently at Soneva Fushi female Hosts make up 14.3% of the workforce, while the target is 30%; Soneva Jani is at 18.26%, with a target of 30%; and Soneva Kiri is at 38%, with a target of 45%.

For Soneva to meet its target of being the best employer of women in the Maldives, the resorts have been implementing the following measures:

1. Aim to improve conditions in the workplace for women and beat the trend of low ratios of female employees in Maldivian resorts.

2. Make Soneva Jani and Soneva Fushi feel as secure and safe as possible for women Hosts.

3. Offering secure women-only accommodation, sitting room and washing areas

4. Ensuring appropriate structures and processes to deal with issues surrounding sexually inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment.

5. Offer Gender Awareness training for all Hosts to understand the responsibility they have to their fellow men and women, and act accordingly.

6. Ensuring at least one women’s activity a month in the Host Activity Calendar.

7. Providing a wide selection of women’s products at resort canteens.

Feature image by Soneva

Although we do not expect heroic stories to come out of a vacation at a Maldives resort, recent incidents have shown that anything can happen. Yes, even when you’re on vacation. The heroic stories of two couples, Mr. Jordan Daniel Van Dyk and Ms. Denielle De Bruyn have started circulating across the Maldives. The couple came to the Maldives for their honeymoon at the beautiful Dusit Thani Maldives. However, it appears that the honeymooners are leaving the Maldives with more than just honeymoon memories.

According to the Baa Atoll Police Station, on the 28th of April, the couple witnessed a staff member falling from a water villa deck into the ocean while on duty. If you’re ever stayed at a Maldives resort, you can understand the fear of falling from the deck into the ocean. Although the water below is beautiful, when caught off guard, the ocean can be a scary place. It appeared that the staff member was in a state of distress and was struggling in the water. In these situations, people do one of two things. Wait for someone else to take action as they stand by, or immediately jump in to avoid a sad situation.

Despite the challenging circumstances, Mr. Van Dyk and Ms. De Bruyn acted swiftly and courageously, coming to the aid of the drowning staff member. There is no doubt that this swift response by the couple was heroic, averting what could have been a tragic event at Dusit Thani Maldives.

Dusit Thani Maldives has acknowledged the bravery and swift action of the honeymooning couple, awarding them for their bravery in saving the staff member of the resort.

Soneva Appoints Aisha Ali As New Director of Sales For Maldives DMCs And The GCC Market

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