Affiliates Network

We can draw upon experienced professionals to provide complementary expertise across many disciplines.

Henry H.
Harteveldt

President of Atmosphere Research Group
 

Read More
Founded by Henry in September 2011, after a nearly 12-year career at Forrester Research, Atmosphere is an independent, objective, and unbiased travel industry strategic market research firm.

Atmosphere conducts both consumer and industry research globally in topics such as digital and distribution, core and ancillary product retailing, loyalty, customer experience, travel industry technology, and consumer travel behaviors and attitudes.

The firm’s clients include airlines, lodging providers, distribution companies, technology firms, VCs, and others.

Before he was an analyst, Henry spent more than 15 years in marketing, advertising, brand, PR, network planning, product, and distribution roles at leading travel firms, including Continental Airlines, Fairmont Hotel Management Company, and GetThere.

A native New Yorker, Henry is a graduate of the Tulane University School of Business in New Orleans, LA and now lives in San Francisco, CA.

atmosphereresearch.com

Robert
Cole

CEO
RockCheetah
 

Read More

Robert Cole is CEO of RockCheetah, a hotel marketing strategy and travel technology consulting practice that diligently attempts to prove that marketing, travel technology, quality service and profitability can peacefully coexist.

RockCheetah’s clients have included leading travel-related organizations including Marriott International, Choice Hotels, National Geographic, Amadeus IT Group and Cvent.  Additionally, he advises leading private equity, venture capital and institutional investment analysts in the areas of hospitality, technology and travel distribution.

Robert also serves as Phocuswright’s Senior Research Analyst for Lodging and Leisure Travel.

Prior to founding RockCheetah, Robert’s hospitality industry experience included heading corporate marketing planning for Four Seasons Hotels, leading Sabre’s hotel line of business, launching dynamic packaging pioneer Neat Group, and overseeing destination product development and contracting for Mark Travel’s fourteen vacation brands.

Robert has been involved in numerous travel industry initiatives, serving as co-chair of the Hospitality ID working group and as an executive advisor for HTNG; on the HSMAI Marketing Advisory Board; as a founding member of the OpenTravel Alliance interoperability committee, and on the HEDNA Board of Directors.

rockcheetah.com

Norm Rose

Norm
Rose

President at Travel Tech Consulting Inc
 

Read More

Norm is a 38-year travel industry veteran with extensive experience in all sectors of the industry. Norm is the founder and serves as president of Travel Tech Consulting, a professional services firm whose focus is on how emerging technologies impact the global travel industry.

Norm has an extensive background in assisting the travel startup community as an evaluator, helping polish fast pitches, and serving as an advisor or board member. Norm’s startup work includes being a founding and active member of the Phocuswright Innovation Platform team, a mentor and advisor for the Plug and Play Tech Center, acting as Chief Judge at the Business Travel News Innovate Conference and as an advisor to Portugal Ventures.

Norm serves as an advisor or board member for the following travel startups:

  • Bellhop (board member)
  • Kim Kim (advisor)
  • Prontopia (advisor)
  • 30 Seconds to Fly (advisor)
  • Winding Tree (member of executive council).

Norm has completed numerous projects with Venture Capitalists and Private Equity companies on a global basis on identifying opportunities for investment, acquisition and due diligence on business and technology strategies.

Norm is a recognized industry expert on emerging technology and trends such as mobile, social media, artificial intelligence and blockchain.

www.traveltechnology.com

Kate McWilliams

Kate
McWilliams

MD (Latam) of UK-based travel PR & Marketing consultancy Lotus
 

Read More
Kate has wide-ranging experience working on PR & marketing campaigns across the travel sphere having represented national and regional tourism boards, tour operators, airlines, accommodation providers and travel associations. Her experience ranges from full-service commercial representation to PR, events, corporate communication and social media strategy.
 
Kate has led a number of award-winning travel PR campaigns and in 2020 was awarded Best PR Professional at the UK Travel Media Awards. 
 
Kate speaks fluent Spanish and is a trustee and volunteer of the LATA Foundation (lata.org).
 

Katherine
Doggrell

Co-founder of NewDog PR
 

Read More
Katherine has written for publications as diverse as the Financial Times, the Guardian, Q, Mojo and Business 2.0 and is the author of Checking Out: What the Rise of the Sharing Economy Means for the Future of the Hotel Industry, published by Bloomsbury.
 
Debbie Flynn

Debbie
Flynn

Managing Partner and Global Travel Practice Leader, Finn Partners
 

Read More

Debbie was the founder of The Brighter Group in 1995 and built it up to be one of the leading UK tourism  specialist marketing and communications consultancies. 

Based in London, Debbie is each year named by the PR Week Power Book  as one of the top 10 travel comms influencers in the UK and advises a number of organisations pro bono including Just A Drop, Tourism Cares and the Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council. 

Debbie is a judge on the Peace Through Tourism Awards , sits on the advisory board of the Travel Media Awards, the World Tourism Association for Culture and Heritage and is part of the Founding Circle for the World Experience Organisation (WXO).

www.finnpartners.com

 

Helen Marano

Helen
 Marano

Founder and President of Marano Perspectives Limited
 

Read More
Based in the UK, Helen capitalizes on her extensive global network of government and industry colleagues of all management levels and is well recognized as a professional Travel & Tourism expert and advocate. Her capacities include being a strategic thinker and planner and consensus builder from a destination management perspective, engaging multiple stakeholders.  She reigns from both a private sector global membership organisation (World Travel and Tourism Council – WTTC) as well from a top government level leadership position.  

Helen offers a strong political acumen from over a decade of leading the National Travel & Tourism Office for the United States, ensuring an integral relationship with all segments of the industry and interagency as well as intergovernmental collaborations. 

Currently Helen serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees for The Travel Foundation, is an Advisory Board member of the Blacks in Travel and Tourism Collaborative, Secretary of the Board for ArtWorks for Freedom, and is on the Advisory Board for the University of Surrey School of Hospitality and Management. Her technical proficiency is in market research, with expertise in building, directing and presenting comprehensive statistical systems for economic impact measures and market trend interpretations for policy deliberations and positions.  

Her entrepreneurial style was honed by establishing new departments and functions within organisations and overseeing large initiatives. Her approach to any endeavour is through teamwork and coalition building for maximum impacts and success.
 
David Mears

David
 Mears

Founder and Senior Partner of Creative + Communications Agency, DMA Partners
 

Read More

David Mears is Founder and Senior Partner of Creative + Communications Agency, DMA Partners.

He has over 25 years’ experience working with blue-chip multi-national clients, creating stand out creative communication, defining and directing strategic communication projects and consulting with the ‘C’ suite.

At the heart of the approach is careful listening, sensing where a client wants to go and then turbo-charging communication projects to get there. David is definitely anti-waffle and pro-results.

Particular specialist sectors are; telecommunications, technology, consultancy and professional services, finance and travel. Big name clients have included, Deloitte, Smiths Group, Google, Sixt, Vodafone & Amadeus IT Group amongst many others.

Away from his professional life David has written for the theatre and has set as a distant long term objective a Major winning debut on the PGA Tour.

www.dma-partners.com

 

Yolanda Perdomo

Yolanda
 Perdomo

Global Tourism Strategist
 

Read More

Yolanda Perdomo has over 20 years of professional experience in the tourism and institutional relations sector. She is an expert in sustainable destination management, product development, tourism marketing, and public-private collaboration. 

Yolanda has experience in both the public and private sectors. She has worked in senior positions at the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the Canary Islands Tourism Ministry,  and as an international advisor and consultant to the industry, in 30 countries, four continents, working with stakeholders at all levels (UN agencies, government bodies, private sector, SMEs, NGOs, communities, and academics). Yolanda graduated in International Economics from the American University of Paris, studied Tourism at ULPGC, and has also completed a Master’s Degree in International Marketing from Universidad Camilo José Cela, and a Senior Executive Program for the Travel and Tourism Industry from IESE. 

She speaks English, French, Italian, and Spanish. Yolanda has designed and implemented the UNWTO’s prototype methodology for sustainable product development on specialized segments, such as gastronomy tourism, shopping, urban tourism, and seasonality. 

She has led more than 50 projects and global operations related to destination marketing, product development, branding, communications, air connectivity, sustainability, and governance in tourism. She has also been involved in extensive research and publications activity and has been a keynote speaker and panelist at multiple national and international conferences.

Luis Montané

Luis
 Montané

Founder and Partner
 Glight Marketing Lab
 

Read More

Luis has dedicated his career to the world of marketing and graphic design, and after 16 years working for Hotelbeds Group, he has created Glight Marketing Lab, a digital marketing agency specialized in small and medium-sized companies.

www.glight.es

 

Christopher
 Bjørk

Communications Consultant
 

Read More

For more than a decade, Christopher was a correspondent with The Wall Street Journal in Spain. He later founded a boutique PR agency where he has advised multinational clients on complex financial issues, litigation support, crisis management and positioning strategy.

A Norwegian who has lived in Madrid for more than two decades, Chris also has significant experience working with technology start-ups and other firms in the digital ecosystem, with broad connections among reporters covering the industry.

Jon
French

Director and co-founder,
Swift Travel Consultancy
 

Read More

Jon is a board-level executive / MD with an extraordinary depth of knowledge in both B2C and B2B travel businesses. His range of achievements are as diverse as leading teams of up to 200 people, and generating start-up projects (easyJet holidays, and online travel agency OctopusTravel Spain) and launching Dynamic Packaging and other new product development (for ebookers/Orbitz). Jon’s knowledge of technology in travel is impressive, and he has worked on multiple optimisation projects and is experienced in the challenges of technology project work from concept to delivery. Prior to Swift and his other engagements, Jon led the Strategic Partnerships team at Hotelbeds, developing its airline proposition and led its ground-breaking partnership with easyJet holidays.

Jon’s B2C credentials also include covering senior/board roles at LateRooms and ebookers/Orbitz, and taking on the Managing Director’s role at the online travel agency Octopus Travel Spain, an early adopter of online travel back in 2004. Jon started his career in contracting transportation, Tours, and Activities in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, and built his early reputation buying in the Destination Services division of Gulliver’s Travel Associates.

Jon has lived & worked abroad, including Australia and Spain – he is also fluent in Spanish. He now lives on the Kent coast with his family and is a lover of travelling & (relatively) healthy living.

swifttravelconsultancy.com

 

Charo
Hierro

Freelance Consultant
 

Read More

Charo has over 15 years of communications experience in the Spanish travel & tourism sector, including as a journalist on both Preferente and Hosteltur, and until recently was the Communications Adviser for the Spanish Secretary of State for Tourism. She is available for speech writing, opinion pieces, media training workshops and strategic advice.

Linkedin Profile

 

Claudia Ronchi

Claudia
 Ronchi

Freelance Consultant
 

Read More

Claudia is based in her native Italy and has extensive experience handling Italian tourism media, including as part of the press office team for BTO – Buy Tourism Online, Florence from 2012 to 2020.

For more than twenty years she has been working on communications, events organization, press office and PR projects, working for well-known local Italian and international enterprises such as Sun Microsystems, Vitaminic, 
Buongiorno, Kiver and Yahoo!

Since 2011 she has been offering her professional experience – including her personal organizational and creative talents, as well as her pragmatic and dynamic approach – as a freelancer to companies and clients looking for complete and integrated communication services, tailor-made to their specific needs.

www.crcommunications.it

Giles Kenningham

Giles
 Kenningham

Founder
Trafalgar Strategy
 

Read More

Giles Kenningham MBE is a former Head of Press at Number 10 Downing Street and spokesman to the Prime Minister. He was the Director of Communications for the Conservative Party’s general election win in 2015 leading a team of 40 people. Prior to this he was a special adviser/ press secretary to the Secretary of State for Communities, Local Government and Housing.

He started his career as a journalist in national radio reporting on business and consumer issues for a variety of stations including Classic and Magic FM. He is a former ITV News producer having worked for 3 years on their three main flagship programmes.

Few people entering the sector have his level of experience and insight of dealing with every crisis imaginable. From political scandals to sex scandals, to privacy issues, he has dealt day in day out for 6 years with the issues that have led the TV news bulletins and dominated the newspaper front pages.

Giles regularly appears as a political and media commentator on BBC, Sky &CNN. He also writes for a variety of national publications including the Times and Spectator.

trafalgar-strategy.co.uk

Scott Crouch

Scott
 Crouch

Director & Co-Founder
BPRC Public Relations GmbH
 

Read More
Scott Crouch is an expert in communications with over 20 years of experience in tourism PR and marketing.

A graduate of the London School of Economics, Scott has dual British and German nationality. He began his communications career at “Design Hotels“, handling both national and international public and media relations, before joining a major German agency, where he successfully generated and managed campaigns for renowned brands such as Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts.

In 2008, Scott co-founded the boutique agency “BPRC Public Relations” where he and his team provide PR, marketing and business development services within the German-speaking markets of Europe (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Clients include national tourist boards, tour operators, airlines, hotels and hotel groups, as well as MICE, logistics and travel tech companies.

www.pr-bprc.com
Eddie Ross

Eddie
Ross

Owner & Founder
EPR Business International Coaching & Consulting,

Read More

Eddie Ross is a certified executive leadership coach based in Dallas, Texas.

He has had a career spanning a number of industries (advertising, travel technology, legal services, change management) and has extensive international strategy, marketing and communication experience. He works with business leaders to optimize leadership skills, engagement, productivity and profitability via an action-oriented approach.

A published business author, Eddie has an MSc Masters degree in Consulting & Coaching for Change from Oxford University, UK & HEC Paris, France and a BSc undergraduate degree in Systems Management from City University, London, and was trained by the Coach Training Institute and FocalPoint Business Coaching .

Clients of EPR Business include Randstad HR Services, Monster.com (Online recruitment), Brunswick Group (Global PR agency), Alliott Group (Global Legal & Accounting Group), Coldwell Banker (Real Estate), MD Communications (London-based Legal PR agency), 9Yards Capital Investment Company, RocketGenius software, SM Commerce eCommerce agency, TAP Inc. (advisory board chair of start-up freelancer platform).

Linkedin Profile

 

Howard Salinger

Howard
Salinger

Managing Director
Travel Connection Group

Read More

Howard Salinger is the Managing Director of Travel Connection Group, which he formed in 2017. Formerly the Regional Director UK of TravMedia, he wanted to offer a service connecting travel companies of any size with travel media, either through events or simple PR activity for smaller companies on a limited budget.

Utilizing the relationships he’s built up over 18 years working with travel media, he’s able to get straight through to the people who can help to promote your brand.

When the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in March 2020, TCG moved all of its operations into managing virtual events. This began with the launch of Social with Media, a regular media event with top journalists on a panel. The company then started to manage virtual media events for travel brands, including the German National Tourist Office, Caribbean Tourism Organization, Israel Tourist Office, Destination Canada, the Visit USA Association and Silver Travel Advisor, amongst others.

In 2021 they started managing virtual agent roadshows for companies such as Gold Medal and Kerzner International.

In the space of 12 months TCG soon became a leader in the world of managing virtual travel events and were rewarded with the Best Travel Networking Company award in the 2020 SME London Awards.

They are available to assist with any virtual events, and would love to show you how you can pay less to run an event, and get a bigger audience!

travelconnectiongroup.com

Simon Lehmann

Simon
Lehmann

CEO / Co-Founder
AJL Atelier

Read More

Simon is one of the world’s foremost experts on short-term rental and vacation rental. He leads AJL Atelier, a specialized vacation rental, and business consultancy while also advising multiple companies as Board Member and Executive Chairman.

A sought-after speaker, panelist, and moderator, Simon loves to broach high-level and technical topics alike, from the future trends of short-term rental to the specifics of online distribution in the top 5 OTAs. Previously, Simon was the Co-Founder & Chairman of Vacasa Europe, former President of PhocusWright, and ex-Board member of HomeAway, to name but a few. He’s also an accomplished operator, having led Interhome as CEO, Hotelplan Group Deputy CEO, and Swissport as EVP.

www.ajlatelier.com

Linkedin Profile

Henry H. Harteveldt

President of Atmosphere Research Group

www.atmosphereresearch.com

Founded by Henry in September 2011, after a nearly 12-year career at Forrester Research, Atmosphere is an independent, objective, and unbiased travel industry strategic market research firm.

Atmosphere conducts both consumer and industry research globally in topics such as digital and distribution, core and ancillary product retailing, loyalty, customer experience, travel industry technology, and consumer travel behaviors and attitudes.

The firm’s clients include airlines, lodging providers, distribution companies, technology firms, VCs, and others.

Before he was an analyst, Henry spent more than 15 years in marketing, advertising, brand, PR, network planning, product, and distribution roles at leading travel firms, including Continental Airlines, Fairmont Hotel Management Company, and GetThere.

A native New Yorker, Henry is a graduate of the Tulane University School of Business in New Orleans, LA and now lives in San Francisco, CA.

Robert Cole

CEO, Rock Cheetah

rockcheetah.com

Robert Cole is CEO of RockCheetah, a hotel marketing strategy and travel technology consulting practice that diligently attempts to prove that marketing, travel technology, quality service and profitability can peacefully coexist.

RockCheetah’s clients have included leading travel-related organizations including Marriott International, Choice Hotels, National Geographic, Amadeus IT Group and Cvent.  Additionally, he advises leading private equity, venture capital and institutional investment analysts in the areas of hospitality, technology and travel distribution.

Robert also serves as Phocuswright’s Senior Research Analyst for Lodging and Leisure Travel.

Prior to founding RockCheetah, Robert’s hospitality industry experience included heading corporate marketing planning for Four Seasons Hotels, leading Sabre’s hotel line of business, launching dynamic packaging pioneer Neat Group, and overseeing destination product development and contracting for Mark Travel’s fourteen vacation brands.

Robert has been involved in numerous travel industry initiatives, serving as co-chair of the Hospitality ID working group and as an executive advisor for HTNG; on the HSMAI Marketing Advisory Board; as a founding member of the OpenTravel Alliance interoperability committee, and on the HEDNA Board of Directors.

Norm Rose

President at Travel Tech Consulting Inc.

www.traveltechnology.com

Norm is a 38-year travel industry veteran with extensive experience in all sectors of the industry. Norm is the founder and serves as president of Travel Tech Consulting, a professional services firm whose focus is on how emerging technologies impact the global travel industry.

Norm has an extensive background in assisting the travel startup community as an evaluator, helping polish fast pitches, and serving as an advisor or board member. Norm’s startup work includes being a founding and active member of the Phocuswright Innovation Platform team, a mentor and advisor for the Plug and Play Tech Center, acting as Chief Judge at the Business Travel News Innovate Conference and as an advisor to Portugal Ventures.

Norm serves as an advisor or board member for the following travel startups:

  • Bellhop (board member)
  • Kim Kim (advisor)
  • Prontopia (advisor)
  • 30 Seconds to Fly (advisor)
  • Winding Tree (member of executive council).

He has completed numerous projects with Venture Capitalists and Private Equity companies on a global basis on identifying opportunities for investment, acquisition and due diligence on business and technology strategies.

Norm is a recognized industry expert on emerging technology and trends such as mobile, social media, artificial intelligence and blockchain.

Kate McWilliams

MD (LATAM) of UK-based travel PR
& Marketing consultancy LOTUS

www.wearelotus.co.uk

Kate has wide-ranging experience working on PR & marketing campaigns across the travel sphere having represented national and regional tourism boards, tour operators, airlines, accommodation providers and travel associations. Her experience ranges from full-service commercial representation to PR, events, corporate communication and social media strategy.

Kate has led a number of award-winning travel PR campaigns and in 2020 was awarded Best PR Professional at the UK Travel Media Awards. 
 
Kate speaks fluent Spanish and is a trustee and volunteer of the LATA Foundation (lata.org).

Katherine Doggrell

Co-founder of NewDog PR

www.newdogpr.co.uk

Katherine has written for publications as diverse as the Financial Times, the Guardian, Q, Mojo and Business 2.0 and is the author of Checking Out: What the Rise of the Sharing Economy Means for the Future of the Hotel Industry, published by Bloomsbury.

Debbie Flynn

Managing Partner and Global Travel Practice Leader,
Finn Partners

www.finnpartners.com

Debbie was the founder of The Brighter Group in 1995 and built it up to be one of the leading UK tourism  specialist marketing and communications consultancies. 

Based in London, Debbie is each year named by the PR Week Power Book  as one of the top 10 travel comms influencers in the UK and advises a number of organisations pro bono including Just A Drop, Tourism Cares and the Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council. 

Debbie is a judge on the Peace Through Tourism Awards , sits on the advisory board of the Travel Media Awards, the World Tourism Association for Culture and Heritage and is part of the Founding Circle for the World Experience Organisation (WXO).

Helen Marano

Founder and President of Marano Perspectives Limited

www.maranoperspectives.com

Based in the UK, Helen capitalizes on her extensive global network of government and industry colleagues of all management levels and is well recognized as a professional Travel & Tourism expert and advocate. Her capacities include being a strategic thinker and planner and consensus builder from a destination management perspective, engaging multiple stakeholders.  She reigns from both a private sector global membership organisation (World Travel and Tourism Council – WTTC) as well from a top government level leadership position.  

Helen offers a strong political acumen from over a decade of leading the National Travel & Tourism Office for the United States, ensuring an integral relationship with all segments of the industry and interagency as well as intergovernmental collaborations. 

Currently Helen serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees for The Travel Foundation, is an Advisory Board member of the Blacks in Travel and Tourism Collaborative, Secretary of the Board for ArtWorks for Freedom, and is on the Advisory Board for the University of Surrey School of Hospitality and Management. Her technical proficiency is in market research, with expertise in building, directing and presenting comprehensive statistical systems for economic impact measures and market trend interpretations for policy deliberations and positions.  

Her entrepreneurial style was honed by establishing new departments and functions within organisations and overseeing large initiatives. Her approach to any endeavour is through teamwork and coalition building for maximum impacts and success.

David Mears

Founder and Senior Partner, DMA Partners

www.dma-partners.com

David Mears is Founder and Senior Partner of Creative + Communications Agency, DMA Partners.

He has over 25 years’ experience working with blue-chip multi-national clients, creating stand out creative communication, defining and directing strategic communication projects and consulting with the ‘C’ suite.

At the heart of the approach is careful listening, sensing where a client wants to go and then turbo-charging communication projects to get there. David is definitely anti-waffle and pro-results.

Particular specialist sectors are; telecommunications, technology, consultancy and professional services, finance and travel. Big name clients have included, Deloitte, Smiths Group, Google, Sixt, Vodafone & Amadeus IT Group amongst many others.

Away from his professional life David has written for the theatre and has set as a distant long term objective a Major winning debut on the PGA Tour.

Yolanda Perdomo

Global Tourism Strategist

 

Yolanda Perdomo has over 20 years of professional experience in the tourism and institutional relations sector. She is an expert in sustainable destination management, product development, tourism marketing, and public-private collaboration. 

Yolanda has experience in both the public and private sectors. She has worked in senior positions at the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the Canary Islands Tourism Ministry,  and as an international advisor and consultant to the industry, in 30 countries, four continents, working with stakeholders at all levels (UN agencies, government bodies, private sector, SMEs, NGOs, communities, and academics). Yolanda graduated in International Economics from the American University of Paris, studied Tourism at ULPGC, and has also completed a Master’s Degree in International Marketing from Universidad Camilo José Cela, and a Senior Executive Program for the Travel and Tourism Industry from IESE. 

She speaks English, French, Italian, and Spanish. Yolanda has designed and implemented the UNWTO’s prototype methodology for sustainable product development on specialized segments, such as gastronomy tourism, shopping, urban tourism, and seasonality. 

She has led more than 50 projects and global operations related to destination marketing, product development, branding, communications, air connectivity, sustainability, and governance in tourism. She has also been involved in extensive research and publications activity and has been a keynote speaker and panelist at multiple national and international conferences.

Luis Montané

Founder and Partner at Glight Marketing Lab

www.glight.es

Luis has dedicated his career to the world of marketing and graphic design, and after 16 years working for Hotelbeds Group, he has created Glight Marketing Lab, a digital marketing agency specialized in small and medium-sized companies.

Christopher Bjørk

Communications Consultant


For more than a decade, Christopher was a correspondent with The Wall Street Journal in Spain. He later founded a boutique PR agency where he has advised multinational clients on complex financial issues, litigation support, crisis management and positioning strategy.

A Norwegian who has lived in Madrid for more than two decades, Chris also has significant experience working with technology start-ups and other firms in the digital ecosystem, with broad connections among reporters covering the industry.

Jon French

Director and Co-founder, Swift Travel Consultancy

swifttravelconsultancy.com

Jon is a board-level executive / MD with an extraordinary depth of knowledge in both B2C and B2B travel businesses. His range of achievements are as diverse as leading teams of up to 200 people, and generating start-up projects (easyJet holidays, and online travel agency OctopusTravel Spain) and launching Dynamic Packaging and other new product development (for ebookers/Orbitz). Jon’s knowledge of technology in travel is impressive, and he has worked on multiple optimisation projects and is experienced in the challenges of technology project work from concept to delivery. Prior to Swift and his other engagements, Jon led the Strategic Partnerships team at Hotelbeds, developing its airline proposition and led its ground-breaking partnership with easyJet holidays.

Jon’s B2C credentials also include covering senior/board roles at LateRooms and ebookers/Orbitz, and taking on the Managing Director’s role at the online travel agency Octopus Travel Spain, an early adopter of online travel back in 2004. Jon started his career in contracting transportation, Tours, and Activities in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, and built his early reputation buying in the Destination Services division of Gulliver’s Travel Associates.

Jon has lived & worked abroad, including Australia and Spain – he is also fluent in Spanish. He now lives on the Kent coast with his family and is a lover of travelling & (relatively) healthy living.

Charo Hierro

Freelance Consultant

Linkedin Profile

Charo has over 15 years of communications experience in the Spanish travel & tourism sector, including as a journalist on both Preferente and Hosteltur, and until recently was the Communications Adviser for the Spanish Secretary of State for Tourism. She is available for speech writing, opinion pieces, media training workshops and strategic advice.

Claudia Ronchi

Freelance Consultant

www.crcommunications.it

Claudia is based in her native Italy and has extensive experience handling Italian tourism media, including as part of the press office team for BTO – Buy Tourism Online, Florence from 2012 to 2020.

For more than twenty years she has been working on communications, events organization, press office and PR projects, working for well-known local Italian and international enterprises such as Sun Microsystems, Vitaminic, Buongiorno,
Kiver and Yahoo!

Since 2011 she has been offering her professional experience – including her personal organizational and creative talents, as well as her pragmatic and dynamic approach – as a freelancer to companies and clients looking for complete and integrated communication services, tailor-made to their specific needs.

Giles Kenningham

Founder, Trafalgar Strategy

www.trafalgar-strategy.co.uk

Giles Kenningham MBE is a former Head of Press at Number 10 Downing Street and spokesman to the Prime Minister. He was the Director of Communications for the Conservative Party’s general election win in 2015 leading a team of 40 people. Prior to this he was a special adviser/ press secretary to the Secretary of State for Communities, Local Government and Housing.

He started his career as a journalist in national radio reporting on business and consumer issues for a variety of stations including Classic and Magic FM. He is a former ITV News producer having worked for 3 years on their three main flagship programmes.

Few people entering the sector have his level of experience and insight of dealing with every crisis imaginable. From political scandals to sex scandals, to privacy issues, he has dealt day in day out for 6 years with the issues that have led the TV news bulletins and dominated the newspaper front pages.

Giles regularly appears as a political and media commentator on BBC, Sky &CNN. He also writes for a variety of national publications including the Times and Spectator.

Scott Crouch

Diector & Co-Founder BPRC Public Relations, Gmbh

www.pr-bprc.com

Scott Crouch is an expert in communications with over 20 years of experience in tourism PR and marketing.

A graduate of the London School of Economics, Scott has dual British and German nationality. He began his communications career at “Design Hotels“, handling both national and international public and media relations, before joining a major German agency, where he successfully generated and managed campaigns for renowned brands such as Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts.

In 2008, Scott co-founded the boutique agency “BPRC Public Relations” where he and his team provide PR, marketing and business development services within the German-speaking markets of Europe (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Clients include national tourist boards, tour operators, airlines, hotels and hotel groups, as well as MICE, logistics and travel tech companies.

Eddie Ross

Owner & Founder EPR Business International Coaching & Consulting,

Linkedin Profile

Eddie is a certified executive leadership coach based in Dallas, Texas.

He has had a career spanning a number of industries (advertising, travel technology, legal services, change management) and has extensive international strategy, marketing and communication experience. He works with business leaders to optimize leadership skills, engagement, productivity and profitability via an action-oriented approach.

A published business author, Eddie has an MSc Masters degree in Consulting & Coaching for Change from Oxford University, UK & HEC Paris, France and a BSc undergraduate degree in Systems Management from City University, London, and was trained by the Coach Training Institute and FocalPoint Business Coaching.

Clients of EPR Business include Randstad HR Services, Monster.com (Online recruitment), Brunswick Group (Global PR agency), Alliott Group (Global Legal & Accounting Group), Coldwell Banker (Real Estate), MD Communications (London-based Legal PR agency), 9Yards Capital Investment Company, RocketGenius software, SM Commerce eCommerce agency, TAP Inc. (advisory board chair of start-up freelancer platform).

Howard Salinger

Managing Director, Travel Connection Group

travelconnectiongroup.com

Howard Salinger is the Managing Director of Travel Connection Group, which he formed in 2017. Formerly the Regional Director UK of TravMedia, he wanted to offer a service connecting travel companies of any size with travel media, either through events or simple PR activity for smaller companies on a limited budget.

Utilizing the relationships he’s built up over 18 years working with travel media, he’s able to get straight through to the people who can help to promote your brand.

When the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in March 2020, TCG moved all of its operations into managing virtual events. This began with the launch of Social with Media, a regular media event with top journalists on a panel. The company then started to manage virtual media events for travel brands, including the German National Tourist Office, Caribbean Tourism Organization, Israel Tourist Office, Destination Canada, the Visit USA Association and Silver Travel Advisor, amongst others.

In 2021 they started managing virtual agent roadshows for companies such as Gold Medal and Kerzner International.

In the space of 12 months TCG soon became a leader in the world of managing virtual travel events and were rewarded with the Best Travel Networking Company award in the 2020 SME London Awards.

They are available to assist with any virtual events, and would love to show you how you can pay less to run an event, and get a bigger audience!

Simon Lehmann

CEO / Co-Founder

ajlatelier.com

Simon is one of the world’s foremost experts on short-term rental and vacation rental. He leads AJL Atelier, a specialized vacation rental, and business consultancy while also advising multiple companies as Board Member and Executive Chairman.

A sought-after speaker, panelist, and moderator, Simon loves to broach high-level and technical topics alike, from the future trends of short-term rental to the specifics of online distribution in the top 5 OTAs. Previously, Simon was the Co-Founder & Chairman of Vacasa Europe, former President of PhocusWright, and ex-Board member of HomeAway, to name but a few. He’s also an accomplished operator, having led Interhome as CEO, Hotelplan Group Deputy CEO, and Swissport as EVP.

LinkedIn

Subscribe to our newsletter