dnata Travel Group has appointed Maura Geertsma as its new Divisional Vice President, Corporate Travel, a newly created role that reflects the company's ambitions to capture expanding demand for technology-driven travel management solutions across the Middle East. Based in Dubai, Geertsma will oversee dnata Travel Management, the company's corporate travel business, and supervise regional operations across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and Iraq. The appointment comes as dnata Travel Management has consolidated its position as the Middle East's leading corporate travel provider, recently winning three World Travel Awards in 2025.
Geertsma brings more than two decades of experience spanning travel, hospitality, and mobility sectors across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Her professional background includes senior leadership roles at BCD Travel, where she spent nearly 15 years in various capacities, including Senior Vice President of Sales for Asia Pacific and EMEA. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Global Head of Retention of Excellence at CWT and held positions at Partnership Travel Consulting and CIBT Global, where she was Senior Vice President for Client Relationship Management. Geertsma also maintains active involvement in the travel industry as Regional Director for Asia Pacific with the Global Business Travel Association. She holds an MBA with honors in Global Management from the University of Phoenix and a BBA in Leisure Management and Economics from Stenden University in the Netherlands.
dnata Travel Group, the travel division of dnata, operates as one of the world's largest air and travel services providers within the Emirates Group. The company traces its origins to 1959 as Dubai National Air Travel Agency and has expanded through strategic acquisitions to encompass over 15 international brands spanning corporate and leisure travel, destination management, airline representation, and ground handling. dnata Travel Management specifically serves corporate clients across the Middle East with end-to-end travel management programs powered by advanced technology and regional expertise. In 2022, the business secured a partnership with American Express Global Business Travel as the preferred Middle East partner for corporate travel solutions. The company maintains 202 locations across the GCC region and generated significant industry recognition, including recognition as the Middle East's Leading Corporate Travel Company at the 2025 World Travel Awards.
John Bevan, CEO of dnata Travel Group, commented that Geertsma's global perspective and people-first leadership will help scale technology-driven programs spanning online booking tools, virtual payments, and real-time visibility. Geertsma stated her focus would be keeping the traveler at the center, raising standards for premium and executive journeys, and delivering measurable value for clients. No search firm involvement was disclosed in the appointment.
The appointment signals dnata's strategic intent to strengthen its corporate travel operations during a period of post-pandemic recovery and digital transformation across the sector. Geertsma's track record building multinational sales teams and driving organizational transformation aligns with dnata Travel Group's publicly stated roadmap for growth, which CEO Bevan described as midway through completion. Her appointment to a newly created divisional role, combined with her extensive background managing global sales operations across three major regions, suggests the company is prioritizing market consolidation and margin improvement in the GCC's competitive corporate travel market, where technology integration and employee duty-of-care services have become central competitive differentiators.
