Rihab Abouzaki
Expert in GCC–US Advertising for Tourism, Luxury Travel & Real Estate Brands
About Rihab Abouzaki
Over the next two decades, she moved through FMCG, manufacturing, and luxury goods across the Gulf. In the UAE, she helped introduce Dettol’s first consumer antibacterial wipes, taking them from medical settings into everyday households. At Marico, she managed regional brand strategy for Parachute, strengthening its presence with Arabic consumers. She later led a full-scale China–Dubai manufacturing operation producing metal gifts, special-edition products, and B2B jewelry and accessory lines for Middle Eastern clients.
Now based in Portland, Oregon, Rihab is the Advertising Manager and Creative Director at This N That Communications, a media and advertising company producing campaigns for clients across the GCC. Her work focuses on helping tourism boards, luxury travel brands, and real estate developers in the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia reach US and other Western audiences, a task that, in practice, is far more complex than placing English-language ads from abroad.
Rihab is candid about how GCC governments are investing billions in tourism and real estate, how proxy layers and platform filters distort “reach” metrics, and why US-based buyers or travelers often never see Gulf-funded campaigns at all. With bilingual teams, US-based media operations, and lived experience across both regions, she brings a grounded perspective on what it actually takes for GCC capital, culture, and campaigns to land with Western audiences.
Latest episodes
Key topics
Living between cultures is a business advantage when used intentionally
Having lived and worked across the Middle East and the US, Rihab describes how not feeling fully Arab, American, or European ultimately became an asset. It allows her to translate expectations, tone, and cultural nuance between regions - from how a message lands in a conservative market to what will resonate with a Western buyer. She shares practical examples of how leaders can build teams and campaigns that use multicultural experience as a real operational advantage, not a buzzword.
Why GCC tourism boards struggle to reach real US travelers
Massive investments in infrastructure and global events don’t automatically translate into visibility with American travelers. Campaigns run from outside the US often circulate inside regional echo chambers because of internet security layers, proxies, and cultural blind spots. Even when dashboards show strong “reach,” the intended US audiences - honeymooners, destination-wedding planners, luxury travelers - often never see the content. From her base inside the US, with an Arabic-speaking team that understands both systems, Rihab explains how to route tourism campaigns through platforms, partners, and formats that actually reach decision-stage American consumers.
Global targeting tools are useless if you ignore security proxies
Many GCC brands still run US-targeted campaigns from outside the US and rely on dashboard numbers that don’t reflect real exposure. In markets with layered internet security, national proxies, and restricted pathways, “30,000 Saudis reached” does not mean those Saudis actually saw the ad. Rihab unpacks what those numbers really represent - and why having in-country US media partners is often the deciding factor between wasted budgets and actual penetration into Western markets.
View all topics →
Latest episodes
Key topics
Living between cultures is a business advantage when used intentionally
Having lived and worked across the Middle East and the US, Rihab describes how not feeling fully Arab, American, or European ultimately became an asset. It allows her to translate expectations, tone, and cultural nuance between regions - from how a message lands in a conservative market to what will resonate with a Western buyer. She shares practical examples of how leaders can build teams and campaigns that use multicultural experience as a real operational advantage, not a buzzword.
Why GCC tourism boards struggle to reach real US travelers
Massive investments in infrastructure and global events don’t automatically translate into visibility with American travelers. Campaigns run from outside the US often circulate inside regional echo chambers because of internet security layers, proxies, and cultural blind spots. Even when dashboards show strong “reach,” the intended US audiences - honeymooners, destination-wedding planners, luxury travelers - often never see the content. From her base inside the US, with an Arabic-speaking team that understands both systems, Rihab explains how to route tourism campaigns through platforms, partners, and formats that actually reach decision-stage American consumers.
Global targeting tools are useless if you ignore security proxies
Many GCC brands still run US-targeted campaigns from outside the US and rely on dashboard numbers that don’t reflect real exposure. In markets with layered internet security, national proxies, and restricted pathways, “30,000 Saudis reached” does not mean those Saudis actually saw the ad. Rihab unpacks what those numbers really represent - and why having in-country US media partners is often the deciding factor between wasted budgets and actual penetration into Western markets.
View all topics →