Speakers

Saadia is a native from Peshawar in Pakistan, who's lived both in the UK and Pakistan. From a young age, Saadia and her family would travel to the Northern areas of Pakistan with the extended family to escape the heat. Whilst there they would often chat amongst themselves, talking about Pakistan being a hidden gem, which no one knew about and what great potential existed for tourism in Pakistan, it just needed to be marketed. 

In her MBA graduation speech to fellow students, she said that at some point in her life, she’d like to be able to do something to give something back to Pakistan & create a platform to empower women. So in 2018 using all the marketing experience she had gathered working on global brands & luxury retailers like Harrods & Fortnum & Masons, she set up Xperience Pakistan to spearhead the marketing of Pakistan, creating holiday experiences that were socially responsible & culturally uplifting, enabling the overseas market to truly enjoy a local experience benefitting the local communities, men and women. She wanted to showcase the plethora of experiences one could enjoy from culture, food to the great archaeological sites.

Her passion is to enable her guests from overseas to interact with the local people to experience their warmth and hospitality and her ambition is for everyone who visits Pakistan to come back as brand ambassadors of Pakistan.

Saadia has chosen to share the recipe of Peshawari Chicken Karahi because it is one of her favourites and a speciality dish from her hometown. This is one of the many dishes one can enjoy on the Food Discover Tour her company offers, she believes food is a great way to bring people together to help encourage dialogue between communities and to help remove ignorance & misconceptions.

If you have been inspired and want to learn more, you can visit her at Stand AP31.