PROFILE
THE GROUNDBREAKER
PIONEER hospitality
IN
RESOURCEFUL MARAM KOKANDI READIES A JEDDAH RADISSON - AND MAKES HISTORY AS THE FIRST SAUDI FEMALE GENERAL MANAGER .
Contributed BY JUDITH CROWN
Maram Kokandi was relaxing with a friend on a Thursday evening last year when she received the job offer that would change her life : to be general manager of a new Park Inn by Radisson in Jeddah , Saudi Arabia . The appointment made her the first Saudi woman to become a general manager in the hospitality industry .
" That was a big moment for me ," Kokandi recalls . She was amazed by the number of congratulatory messages she received online when Radisson parent Rezidor Hotel Group announced her appointment . " The news picked up traction on social media ."
Kokandi ' s appointment complemented the Saudi government ' s Vision 2030 program launched in 2016 to diversify the kingdom ' s economy and open opportunities for women , Rezidor said in the announcement .
Saudi labor laws historically barred the mixing of men and women in the workplace but restrictions gradually have been eased . Kokandi benefited from a Rezidor leadership program to develop
32 hotelsmag . com April 2018