Crossing Borders

SIDDEEK AHMED, Chairman and Managing Director of travel management company ITL World, expanded the company into the Middle East nearly 20 years ago, having first set up in India. Lured by the rapidly evolving sector then, today he's seeing even more opportunity, both here and abroad.

- Muhammed Addam

Among the leaders of the region's biggest travel companies, entrepreneurs are fairly rare. Only 15 of the leaders on Forbes Middle East's top 100 travel and tourism leaders list in 2025 are the original founders of the company, and even fewer have made the Middle East their headquarters after first setting up elsewhere. Siddeek Ahmed, Chairman and Managing Director of ITL World, is one of those players. Having first established ITL World in India in 1980, Ahmed expanded into the GCC in 2006, and now has offices in India, the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Thailand, and Nepal.

Today, ITL World employs over 500 people and serves various clients, including American embassies, in the Middle East, while also providing its solutions to 13 companies under Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. "Regionally, we strengthen our footprint through strategic partnerships and expanded service offerings across the GCC," says Ahmed. The travel management firm's parent company, Eram Holdings, has a B+ global and BB+ Saudi national credit rating from S&P Global Ratings and operates in diverse sectors such as human capital management, travel management, power electronics manufacturing, industrial support services and trading, healthcare, and IT in the GCC, alongside automotive dealerships, research and development, real estate, and education in India.