Michelle Lee, Qatar Airways

Vice President Marketing

Michelle Lee has spent much of her life in Australia and New Zealand and a majority of her career in travel marketing.  However, two years ago she relocated to Doha—a new world capital known for its modern skyscrapers, luxury shopping malls, international sports tournaments, and world-class museums—to take on the role of Vice President of Marketing for state-owned Qatar Airways, one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines.

In a very short time, Qatar Airways has also become one of the world's leading airlines, and is part of an elite group of airlines that has been awarded a 5 star rating by Skytrax.  It is the second largest carrier in the Gulf region and flies to over 140 destinations across Africa, Central Asia, Europe, Far East, South Asia, Middle East, North America, South America and Oceania from its Doha base using a fleet of more than 100 aircraft.  The carrier has been a member of the Oneworld alliance since October 2013, the first Gulf carrier to sign with one of the three airline alliances.

Given the dramatic expansion of Qatar Airways, Michelle Lee’s role is to lead its brand transformation through innovative projects and integrated marketing campaigns. The airline is also the first commercial shirt partner for FC Barcelona/ Futbol Club Barcelona, and the company’s latest ad features Barcelona team members Gerard Pique, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Neymar as they do a little vacation travel in the off season to the accompaniment of the Beach Boys classic hit, “I Get Around.”

Ms. Lee joined the airline after serving most recently as the Director of Brands & Marketing for the Hotels and Resorts division of Amalgamated Holdings in Sydney.  She worked at Virgin Australia for four year as the General Manager of the Group’s Marketing and Brand where she helped in the rebranding of Virgin Blue to Virgin Australia, the re-launch of Velocity (Virgin Australia's frequent flyer program), and the launch of V Australia (a new international airline within the group).

During this time, she was also responsible for developing marketing programs that were successful in winning creative and marketing effectiveness awards at Cannes, while V Australia was awarded as one of the Top 5 Global Airlines within 18 months of launch.

Earlier roles included marketing and branding positions at Air New Zealand, as well as marketing manager positions at Telecom New Zealand and PepsiCo New Zealand.