Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais has broken many glass ceilings as a business leader in the United Arab Emirates. And now, the 38 year old hopes to break one more.
Al Nowais, a leader in global tourism and hospitality, is being considered for secretary-general of U.N. Tourism for the 2026 to 2029 term. If chosen, she would become the first woman to lead the agency, which promotes responsible, sustainable and accessible tourism across the globe.
There are five other candidates vying for the position — from Greece, Tunisia, Ghana, Mexico and Georgia. At the end of May, U.N. Tourism General Assemblymembers will hold a vote in Segovia, Spain to decide who will lead the agency.
In her current role as corporate vice president of owner relationship management at the Abu Dhabi-based Rotana Hotel Management Corporation, Al Nowais helps oversee 114 hotels in 49 cities across 23 countries around the world.
Know Your Value recently chatted with Al Nowais about her new potential role, gender equity, her career journey and more.
Below is the conversation, which has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Know Your Value: You are the first Emirati woman to be nominated for the U.N. Tourism secretary-general position, and if elected, you would become the first woman ever to hold this role. What would the honor mean to you?
Al Nowais: It means a lot. It means responsibility. It means pride. It’s something that I was not expecting at all. I’ve been in the private sector since the beginning of my career, and I never expected myself to lead a role in the public sector, and particularly at a global role.
But, I’m the type of person that doesn’t like to give up, and I like to take challenges. I like to prove things to myself — that anything is achievable. There’s a lot of things I managed to accomplish throughout my professional journey, and if implemented on a wider scale, I can really make a difference and make a change.
Know Your Value: Do you think having a woman in this role would bring any extra added benefit?
Al Nowais: I believe dedication, commitment and hard work will always pay off, whether you’re a man or a woman … But people usually tend to have this unconscious bias without them realizing, that they are in favor of men more than women.
…Tourism is a people-oriented type of business. And most of the GMs and the people are men. And women represent only 28 percent, but I see the change. And especially in this part of the world, particularly in the UAE. Women are taking leadership roles, not because they’re women … but because they deserve to be there.
…Also, studies from McKinsey show that organizations with proper gender equality perform better than those without.
Know Your Value: Tell us about your upbringing and how you got into the tourism industry. As you mentioned, it’s a male dominated industry. How did you break through?
Al Nowais: My father [Nasser Al Nowais] is my number one supporter. My father founded the company in 1992 .
He has always brought us up in a way that, you know, in this part of the world, generally, a lot of men and women don’t really mix socially. But he always introduced us to people, and because he was a government official at a point of time, he had to network a lot. So, he brought us up in a very multicultural way. He [taught us that we]respect cultures, we respect people. He always taught us to treat people as human beings and that we have to stick to our roots and stay humble.
Know Your Value: You have shattered many glass ceilings. What’s your advice to women who are trying to shatter their own?
Al Nowais: Persistence is key. Women have to believe in themselves, and they have to really do everything they can to make anything impossible, possible.
…Also, you can’t be so hard on yourself. You have to recognize the good things you’ve accomplished. Sometimes we tend not to recognize what we do, because we are too hard on ourselves.
It’s important to believe in what you do, and love what you do and give us your best shot
