Klara Zakis Klara Zakis

Klara Zakis, PR manager, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Middle East

About Klara
Klara’s passion for public Relations has been long standing, she recalls getting a library book out about advertising and PR when she was 12 years old, a strange choice for a young girl but something stuck.
Klara started her career in public relations in 2007 after graduating with a journalism and public relations degree – she finished top of her class in PR and was headhunted straight from university. She took up a junior executive position in a PR agency in London, a year later she was transferred to Dubai. In 2009, Klara joined Action PR and became an account manger on the tourism and events team. During her time at the agency she worked on various accounts including Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Royal Caribbean Cruises and most crucially the Rezidor Hotel Group.
When Rezidor’s regional PR manager left the position to work for Carlson Rezidor in the UK, Klara was put forward as first choice to fill the position. Klara jumped at the chance, as her involvement and love for the hospitality and tourism sector had grown over her time at Action. Klara has now been with Carlson Rezidor for nearly two years. She looks after 31 hotels throughout the Middle East and North Africa and three brands, Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson and Hotel Missoni.

Above and beyond the call of duty…
In 2011 and 2012 Klara has been personally responsible for the annual charity campaign The Box Appeal. When Klara first joined the company The Box Appeal was a small charity campaign that asked people in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to fill boxes with essential everyday items for labourers. Klara took it upon herself to make the campaign bigger and even more successful so even more people in need would be helped. All nine hotels in the UAE took part, plus both Radisson Blu and Park Inn hotels in Oman, Cairo and Bahrain. Overall 13 hotels took part.

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When Klara first arrived at Rezidor there was an internal newsletter in place that was sent out quarterly to all staff in the region. It detailed three main areas, responsible business, news and events and appointments. Primarily it is a human resources tool used to communicate with staff across the region. Klara attended a HR meeting in early 2012, many of the HR staff said that they did not feel that the newsletter covered enough HR issues and left many staff feeling alienated, they also wanted a tool to motivate staff. Klara took it upon herself to redesign the newsletter, coming up with ideas to engage and entertain staff. To help the HR department she added a new feature idea called the Yes I Can Star. Each quarter Klara ask the hotels to nominate someone who has gone above and beyond in their role of duty. She then interviews this person, with a mixture of work and personal questions - a behind-the-scenes look at the staff that make this company a success.

Testimonials:
‘Klara has an incredibly strong eye for news – for example, she secured quirky, memorable coverage for Hotel Missoni during Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2012 by flying in the kilt-wearing, dreadlocked doorman from Hotel Missoni Edinburgh and creating social media and lifestyle visibility among a very crowded landscape. Klara has rock-solid media relations skills, having successfully launched a number of properties for Carlson Rezidor both regionally and internationally, and hosted range of press trips and media visits to garner significant coverage for both new and existing properties. Having taken on the lion’s share of responsibility for The Box Appeal, a CSR initiative across the Middle East to provide basic necessities to thousands of labourers and others in need, Klara single-handedly developed and executed a media campaign which resulted in significant visibility and more importantly, thousands of boxes donated through word of mouth and favorable, widespread media coverage,” Eileen Wallis (and team), managing director at The Portsmouth Group

“Klara is constantly supporting each and every standalone hotel in the region, it doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, what kind of information you want, or what help you need, she is always there. Over the last few years I have worked with her across three different Radisson properties, including pre-opening, re-branding, four-, five-star hotels and a resort, and every time she was involved personally on the PR plans of those properties. Each and every plan for the hotels’ is individualised and full of passion. I believe that the big success of last year’s Responsible Business project; The Box Appeal would not have been so successful without her efforts – a region collecting 10,000 boxes, to be given and distributed for the labour camps in the Middle East is an incredible achievement. What I really like about her is she’s always on top of the current trends, leading the way rather than being stuck in the past like so many local PRs. Lastly, Klara believes each and every magazine and journalist should feel exclusive and that’s why her approach to PR is always personalised and tailor-made, to the magazine, the journalist and the project. It is always a pleasure to work with her,” Pinar Kirlar, PR manager Radisson Royal Hotel

“I have never met someone as passionate about their job as Klara is for her role. She is extremely genuine in her approach, especially when it comes to media relations. She is greatly appreciated by all the journalists and that’s not just because of her professionalism and creativity, it is mostly because of her genuine and personalised approach she has for each and every single one of them. Klara is also very proactive and is always ahead of the game in this extremely competitive market. She initiates very creative angles to PR stories for the group as well as for our hotels and that always adds an interesting twist to a PR story or feature. Klara is also a great colleague to work with, always helpful and a great sense of humour,” Stephanie Aboujaoude, regional marketing manger, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group
 

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