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We continuously feature industry remarkable personalities and exceptional organizations. The dedicated section covers aspiring entrepreneurs journey and interesting brand's profile internationally
The Most Influential Women Leaders In Tourism Industry 2019
"Winner, Malaysia Tourism Council Gold Award Inbound MICE, 2017-2019"
“Dear Zahira, you have bagged numerous awards and recognitions. On behalf of the audience, please introduce yourself.”
/First, I would like to Thank You “Affluent Luxe World” for giving me this opportunity to be featured in your November Edition.
I was from Taiping Perak, grew up there and did my secondary in MGS Ipoh. After SPM, I continued my education in UiTM Arau Perlis. Interestingly after my Diploma, I told my father I will apply for Job and if a good Interesting Job comes first, I promise him that I will continue my Degree Part Time. I was lucky that a struck a Job with Cathay Pacific Airways. Back then, Airline was a very glamorous job regardless you are in which department. Training was always in Hong Kong, and it really groomed me. I kept my promise and I pursue my Bachelor’s in communication in UPM. It was hectic running in between flights and classes. I had supportive colleagues and classmates. It was fun.
SARS happened and many things changed, our roster was haywire. I had to choose between my job or education. But I think it happened to create a path for the journey where I am today. I left Cathay Pacific and I joined an organization that completely change my life journey, experience, and learning. It truly gave me a different perspective of Tourism Industry. I owe them and my bosses in Destinations of The World (DOTW). After a long stint, we started our own company, Universal Holidays Travel & Tourism in 2010. And here we are and went through all the dramas, weather all the challenges.
“Universal Holidays Travel & Tourism is one of the highly recognized travel partners globally. Kindly walk us through the journey since the early days prior establishing the company.”
/ We started the company with very low cash in Hand. We had some bad partnership in early 2010. It was nightmare. But again, I think whatever happened it happened for good, or else we will not be in the position we are in now.
I remembered; I picked up my phone and called a person in India who runs a very successful MICE company. I know him professionally and he was an extremely tough person to work with. I told him, I have started Universal Holidays and I need MICE business. He only asked me one question, do you have license? I said yes. The next moment he sends me a MICE request of 500 Pax to Kuala Lumpur. We closed the deal, and the journey took off. Trust and keeping good reputation among people are our key to success. We have always kept a long-term goal. No short cut in milking money from customers. Be straight forward as the journey is long and bumpy. You never know who you need along the way.
In 2014, a friend approached us to take up more business which is huge in volume and long term. He was not doing us a favor, but he saw the work we have done, and he knows what we can do more. We kept growing year to year, and we were very confident that we are on right path. 2020, Covid happened, and oh that brought us down to our knees. That’s life, it will hit you when you least expect.
“Post-pandemic effects; how did you deal with such challenging landscape when tourism sector is heavily affected?”
/When the government announced that borders will be shut on 18th March 2020, I literally cried while handing memo to the staff that office will be closed. When I went home on 17th March and I broke down, I cried all my heart to my mother. I wouldn’t know how I will go through this Covid downtime and if it’s not because of her. She was positive and keep pushing me. At times I got angry with her over positiveness, but I realize that being negative is not going to help either.
All the hard work and struggles, sleepless night that we put in for the last 10 years just gone down the drain. We must rebuild from ground zero! I lifted my spirit and re-started my journey, change my course, and re-connected with colleagues, friends, and acquaintance. People is the most important tool for our growth. Be kind, be nice and be professional in relationship. Again, you never know who will help you to lift. I was already in touch with an ex-colleague of mine from DOTW days. He had his successful journey and we met in person 2019 after almost 7 years despite we were in touch from time to time. We brainstorm and we agree to work together to re-structure Universal Holidays journey to be more Technology and relevant. We knew that the landscape of Tourism will change. Adaptability is the key to survive, there is no 2 ways about it.
U-Pass (www.u-pass.tours), a B2B Travel solution was born. It was a team effort, core team of Universal Holidays stood with me during this pandemic despite pay cut. We all put in efforts of contracting, engaging with customers and the most difficult part was Testing! Testing! Testing! But the good news is we managed to get customers on board, and some are public listed travel companies, and most importantly I got to know who my real partners (suppliers/customers) and friends (business circle) are, I am lucky that they are supportive, and we are now together in rebuilding the company. I think our persistence helped us. I don’t give up easily.
“For Universal Holidays Travel & Tourism, what are the key transformation and technology innovations?”
/Leveraging our experience. I have been in B2B space of Travel Industry for almost 18 Years. I have learned along the way, dealt with multiple agents from different countries. We are lucky that we had partners who were high in Technology. Every conversation, exposure is learning. I believe, if you claim you are smart and you know it all, you will fail. Technology 15 years ago and now is totally different but the basic of Translating Data & Processes is same. The technology method has changed, but the Contract Content & the result which is Confirmation of Booking is the same. There are some challenges that we identify is faced by buyers around the world, we are solving their problem by having a platform www.u-pass.tours for all services – Accommodations, Transfers, Tours, Attractions & Restaurant. We will remain as a B2B player…. Unless some other opportunity knocks our doors.
“Awards and recognition determine the company standing in the industry. Please share with us the main award titles and recognitions which Universal Holidays Travel & Tourism has won since then.”
/Awards are recognitions that keep our spirit high. It creates a value for the company. We won many Awards in achieving Top Sales – Ibis KLCC Top Agent, Shangri-la MICE, Star Point Top Agency, KL Tower Top Agent, Aquaria KLCC Top Agent to name few.
However, we won some notable Awards;
Malaysia Tourism Council Gold Award Inbound MICE for 3 consecutive years 2017, 2018 & 2019.
Universal Holidays was named "Malaysia Tourism Heroes in the 1st Edition Malaysia Productivity Corporation Coffee Table Book 2019.
On Personal basis, I was Awarded:-
* THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN LEADERS IN TOURISM INDUSTRY” oleh CMO ASIA,
* ASIA’S WOMEN LEADER AT WORLD WOMEN LEADERSHIP CONGRESS SINGAPORE.
“How do you define entrepreneurship and empowerment?”
/For me, entrepreneurship & empowerment co-relate and is a process and journey to our goal. We set a goal but not the journey. We need to be able to maneuver the process of getting there. Setting up a business plan is good, but don’t fix the process and be rigid to change. Looking at what your competitor is doing is good, but I think the focus should be on us, what can we do to sustain and be relevant.
Learning, keep learning. A junior in your office might have a solution that you have not taught off perhaps they see from a different point of view. Keep ego aside and move as a Team. The day you lose the teamwork, your entrepreneurial journey will end. Empower your team as there is nothing you can do alone. On self-empowerment, despite being the industry for 21 years, I am continuing my education remotely at Rome Business School – Masters in Tourism & Hospitality. I had an opportunity to do Masters in US in 2005, but probably faith had a different story for me. But now I decided to equip myself with a paper not only for the business, but a self-satisfaction. I have been speaking on different platforms on Tourism, perhaps this might help me in future. Talking about empowerment, we need more women in this Industry. This is an extremely challenging Industry, but women roles are kind of limited and not many at the top. I hope that the landscape of Tourism in Malaysia will change especially in adapting Technology.
