Abu Dhabi tourism department registers Hill & Knowlton affiliate for U.S. travel campaign

By Owen Castellane

WASHINGTON — Abu Dhabi’s tourism authority has hired the Gulf affiliate of the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton to run a U.S. travel-trade campaign that includes a paid content partnership with the travel publisher AFAR Media, according to a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing received by the Justice Department on Thursday.

Gulf Hill & Knowlton WLL, a branch based on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, registered as agent No. 7784 for the United Arab Emirates’ Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi. The filing describes the firm as an indirect subsidiary of WPP plc and lists Chief Financial Officer Roopesh Prashar as the responsible officer, according to the registration statement.

The contract is dated Oct. 19, 2026, and carries a budget of 120,000 UAE dirhams, according to the statement of work attached to the contract exhibit. That is about $32,700 at the dirham’s fixed rate of 3.6725 per dollar, as listed by the Central Bank of the UAE.

The firm said it will “provide communications services to support Foreign Principal’s tourism campaign in the United States,” including management of “a content partnership between AFAR Media and Foreign Principal,” the exhibit says. In the section asking it to describe any political activities as FARA defines them, the firm repeated that description.

The statement of work, titled “DCT B2B USA Content Partnership,” lists U.S. travel agents as the target audience. Its stated objectives include strengthening awareness of Abu Dhabi among U.S. travel trade audiences and “increasing destination consideration, visitation and length of stay,” according to the document.

The program elements listed are a two-week landing page takeover with an estimated 323,000 impressions, one custom article, two newsletter sponsorships sent to more than 9,000 luxury travel advisers, two dedicated emails to 2,500 advisers and Facebook amplification, the document says. It also says DCT Abu Dhabi works with Burson on its international travel-trade communications. WPP combined Hill & Knowlton and BCW to form Burson in 2024, according to a WPP announcement.

Account director Jessica Macdonald, who lives in Abu Dhabi, is listed as the person doing the work. The firm reported receiving no money from the tourism department as of registration, according to the filing. The official the firm said it deals with at the department is Fatima Toufiq Karmostaji, acting regional PR and marketing section head in its international operations department, according to the exhibit.

FARA requires certain agents of foreign principals who engage in political activities or other specified activities to publicly disclose their relationship with the foreign principal and their activities, according to the Justice Department.

The Washington Inquisitor is seeking comment from the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, Burson and WPP. They did not immediately respond. The Inquisitor did not find a published press address for AFAR Media.