Tourism Summit Speakers
John O’Sullivan
Managing Director, Tourism Australia
As Managing Director of the nation’s global tourism marketing agency, John is responsible for driving Tourism Australia’s strategies to increase demand for Australia’s tourism experiences and help to grow the sector to more than $115 billion by the end of the decade as part of the Tourism 2020 strategy.
John joined Tourism Australia in March 2014. He was previously Chief Operating Officer of Fox Sports. John has also held executive positions with Events Queensland (Chief Executive) and Football Federation Australia (Chief Commercial Officer), as well as with the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee. John has over 20 years’ experience in sports marketing, event management and media across Australia, the UK and the Middle East.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Trevor Sadler
CEO, interCaribbean Airways
Trevor Sadler, CEO of interCaribbean Airways leads the rebranded former Air Turks & Caicos, based in Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands. He has a back ground in traditional, hybrid and low cost airlines as part of several airline startups in Europe, USA, and the Caribbean, also held roles in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Indonesia and Malaysia. Trevor has 30 plus years of experience in the airline industry in serving over 60 countries and brings a global perspective to operations.
interCaribbean is a 25 year old regional airline that connects more of the Western Caribbean than any other airline making travel between the islands convenient and affordable. The company operates a fleet of Embraer 120 aircraft, Twin Otter and BE99 aircraft. The company will shortly introduce its first jet into operations. The company operates in 6 countries including 2 points in Cuba. The company is keen to create interline agreement opportunities with airlines serving the region. The company is currently a non IATA member, but is undertaking IOSA certification with the view to becoming an IATA member.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Arik De
Head of Commercial, AirAsia X Berhad
Arik joined AirAsia X in January 2016, as Head of Commercial. He is tasked with leading the commercial functions of the airline including Network, Revenue, Marketing, Ancillary, and Sales & Distribution. In the past few months, Arik has been part of the key turn-around team that has led to AirAsia X returning to consecutive quarters of profitability through network growth into Auckland, Delhi, Mauritius and Teheran, introducing new network based revenue management, and enhanced marketing and ancillary initiatives.
Arik started his career at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a young economist. He subsequently acquired over 16 years of experience in aviation through work at WestJet in Canada, and being part of two of the largest aviation consulting firms - SH&E/ICF Aviation and InterVistas. At WestJet, he managed the network planning team to grow a primarily domestic airline into the largest non-US airline in the Caribbean, Hawaii and prime US leisure points of Las Vegas and Florida. He was also instrumental in evaluating the first code share partnerships, and being part of the core team that studied and introduced WestJet Encore, the regional arm of WestJet.
In his consulting career, he was engaged in over 100 consulting projects in commercial aviation including that at LAN, Aero Mexico, Singapore Airlines, Jeju, SpiceJet, Air India, Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways. Most recently, he acted as designated Chief Commercial Officer at TACV, the national airline of Cabo Verde.
Arik, holds a Masters degree in Finance and Public Policy from the University of Chicago, and as an avid traveler hasbeen to all countries in the world.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Carol Dray
Commercial Director, VisitBritain
Carol joined VisitBritain in March this year as part of the organisations restructure & is responsible for the Commercial Partnerships, Product development & distribution plus the online Retail operation. Carol has a strong track record in the digital space across the Travel, online retail & gambling sectors. She has held senior Commercial & Marketing roles in a number of organisations; British Airways, Lastminute.com, Thomas Cook, Avis, Rank & Rakuten.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Professor Dr. Wolfgang Arlt
Director, COTRI, China Outbound Tourism Research Institute
Professor Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt FRGS grew up in Berlin (West-Germany) and studied Sinology in Berlin, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
He visited Mainland China for the first time in 1978 and more than 150 times since. In the 1990s he was the owner of an inbound tour operator with offices in Berlin and Beijing. Since more than ten years he has been a full-time Professor for International Tourism Management in Germany and the founder and director of COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute.
When he started in 1999 to forecast China to become the biggest tourism source market in the world, few would believe it - by now he is considered to be one of the foremost consultant and researcher for Chinese outbound tourism. He is frequently quoted in all major international media including CNN, BBC, The Economist, etc. and publishes his own blog on Chinese Tourism on www.forbes.com.
His institute COTRI provides data, analysis and strategy development for international organisations, companies and governments around the world. Prof. Arlt is visiting professor at universities in China, New Zealand and the UK as well as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (UK), Research Fellow of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (Japan) and a member of the Industry Committee of PATA.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Erik J. Hansen
Senior Director, Domestic Policy, U.S. Travel Association
Erik Hansen serves as Senior Director of Domestic Policy for the U.S. Travel Association where he leads the development of the Association’s domestic and transportation policy agenda and represents the travel community before the Executive Branch and Congress.
Mr. Hansen focuses on issues related to aviation, surface transportation, infrastructure, and federal travel. Mr. Hansen also serves as the General Manager for the Connecting America Through Travel conference, which convenes travel industry leaders, transportation experts and policy influencers to help shape the discussion on revitalizing America’s travel infrastructure.
Before joining U.S. Travel Association, Mr. Hansen worked for five years on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and for the office of Congresswoman Chellie Pingree. Prior to his work on Capitol Hill, Mr. Hansen served as Field Director for the reelection campaign of Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and worked in the government affairs office of Prudential Financial.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Alfredo Gonzalez
Vice President of Sales and Global Development, Visit Florida
Alfredo Gonzalez joined VISIT FLORIDA in January 2015 as the Vice President of International Sales & Market Development. VISIT FLORIDA is the state’s official tourism marketing corporation which serves as Florida’s official source for travel planning to visitors across the globe. VISIT FLORIDA is a not-for-profit corporation created as a public/private partnership by the Florida Legislature in 1996. In this role, Alfredo is responsible for promoting Florida as a premier travel destination by expanding Florida’s international presence, travel trade outreach, VISIT FLORIDA’s meetings and event initiatives as well as developing co-operative partnership programs with international trade and media partners.
Prior to joining VISIT FLORIDA, Alfredo spent two years as the Senior Vice President of Global Market Development for Brand USA where he was responsible for promoting travel on a national level by driving tourism to the United States. While at Brand USA, Alfredo was responsible for launching the United States’ first ever nationally coordinated tourism marketing effort to increase international visitation to the United States.
Alfredo also spent 14 years with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau (GFLCVB). As Vice President of Tourism and International Business for GFLCVB, Alfredo helped shepherd record visitation and spend to Florida from international markets and led the bureau’s successful air-service development initiative, which enabled the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to attract new carriers and an influx of international travelers from France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Colombia and Mexico. As a result of these and other efforts, he was presented the Routes Destination Marketing Award at the 2013 Route Americas conference in Cartagena, Colombia. The award recognizes the best destination marketing campaign by a tourism authority.
Alfredo has been a passionate member of the travel industry for nearly 30 years, launching his career with the Orlando Airport Marriott in 1985. In 1989, he joined Concord Resorts as director of Latin American sales. In 1993, CFI Resorts Management asked him to establish the international sales program for its timeshare resorts. Having established a strong track record in international sales at CFI and subsequently at Palace Resorts and Bancor Leaders in Travel, Inc., Alfredo joined the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB in 1999 as head of its international sales department. He was promoted to vice president in 2004.
An active member of the industry, Alfredo sits on the board of the Miami Chapter of SKAL and the advisory board of Routes International. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Florida. He is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Khalil Lamrabet
Director - Aviation Business Development, Dubai Airports
Khalil Lamrabet currently holds the position of Director of Aviation Business Development at Dubai Airports, responsible of airline marketing, routes development and airline relationship management for both Dubai International and Al Maktoum International airports.
He joined Dubai Airports in 2010, and assumed different roles and responsibilities in market development and business development areas including forecasting, strategic planning and customer liaison.
Prior to joining the airport industry, he held responsibilities in Network Planning with Emirates Airlines and was part of the Sales and Marketing team of Bombardier Aerospace covering sales campaigns in Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Khalil holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal and a Master in Aerospace Engineering from McGill university.
Participating Talks and Sessions
David Scowsill
President & CEO, World Travel & Tourism Council
Prior to joining WTTC in November 2010, David worked for 6 years in private equity and venture capital, completing deals in technology and travel sectors.
David was CEO of Opodo, pan-European online travel company from 2002 to 2004, building the business from start up to a €500mn transaction turnover, before it was sold to Amadeus.
He joined the board of Hilton International in 1997 as senior VP sales, marketing and IT, leading the brand re-unification programme between the two Hilton shareholder companies.
David rejoined British Airways from 1993 to 1997 as regional general manager Asia/Pacific. He established the Joint Service Agreement and global alliance with Qantas.
He joined American Airlines in 1991 as managing director sales, Europe Middle East and Africa.
David’s earlier career was with British Airways, with a variety of operational and sales roles in US, Europe, Latin America, Gulf States, Africa, and Asia.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Beverly Nicholson-Doty
Commissioner, US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism
Beverly Nicholson-Doty serves as Commissioner of Tourism for the United States Virgin Islands, a cabinet-level position. She oversees the Department of Tourism’s advertising and marketing strategy, its national and international tourism-related efforts and product development.
Raised in St. Thomas, Mrs. Nicholson-Doty began her career in the hospitality industry while attending the College of the Virgin Islands.
In 1993, Nicholson-Doty joined the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel & Tourism Association as its Executive Director. In this position, her responsibilities included spearheading the implementation and development of the Association’s strategic plan. Nicholson-Doty oversaw the unification of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel & Tourism Association with the St. Croix Hotel & Tourism Association to create an integrated Association that strengthens the entire U.S. Virgin Islands hotel product while recognizing the unique offerings of each island. In 2004, she was appointed President of the USVI Hotel & Tourism Association.
Nicholson-Doty has served as Commissioner of the USVI Department of Tourism since 2007, and as Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Council of Ministers and Commissioners from October 2012 to September 2014.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Steve King
CEO, Black Swan
Steve King is the CEO of Black Swan, the fastest growing start up in the UK which uses Artificial Intelligence to predict human behaviour. Since reading Cognitive Science the 90’s, Steve’s applied his tech, coding and visualisation skills to solving his clients’ challenges. Black Swan works with prediction for brands such as Disney, PepsiCo and GSK through connected aircraft across most of the major airlines.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Dr. Adam Wu
CEO, CBN Travel & MICE and the World Travel Online
Dr. Wu is the Chief Executive Officer of CBN Travel & MICE and the World Travel Online, both are parts of China Business Network (CBN) which "Brings the world to China and takes Chinese to the world”.
CBN is a consortium of organizations specializing in business consultancy and facilitating services for a large number of Chinese and foreign authorities from Argentina to Zimbabwe and other organizations worldwide from airline to airport.
Dr. Wu is the Chief Executive Officer of CBN Travel & MICE and the World Travel Online, both are parts of China Business Network (CBN) which "Brings the world to China and takes Chinese to the world”.
Dr. Wu has been directly involved in advising foreign tourism authorities and travel businesses, at the same time leading CBN Travel & MICE to support Chinese official delegations, investors and business groups going to other parts of the worlds to invest, to do business as well as to enjoy leisure visits.
For supporting outbound travel from China CBN put huge amount of resources and developed the award wining outbound travel portal in Chinese langauge on the China Wide Web called "World Travel Online” which is dedicated to the provision of the most up to date information in Chinese about travelling overseas to both the outbound travel trade as well as millions of Chinese travellers.
Both CBN and the “World Travel Online” support tourism promotion authorities on the national, regional and local level to promote foreign destinations in China both online and offline as well as recommend incoming service providers from airlines to airports directly to the outbound tour operators and corporate travel organisers as well as reaching millions of Chinese travellers in the most cost effective way.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Ed Roberston
Editor, Routes News
Edward has been editor of Routes News since the start of the year and oversaw the redesign aimed at bringing the magazine up to date for today’s routes market.
He has been a B2B travel journalist since 2003 specialising in two areas, tour operators and tourist boards. The former has shown him how the business works across the world and the need for effective and economic airlift to be in place. The latter has left him convinced of the role the boards play in attracting travellers from around the world and just how much they need to work with airports for effective route development. Before joining the travel industry, Edward was a UK national newspaper journalist.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Kathy Smits
Vice President, International Tourism, Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board
Kathy Smits oversees LATCB’s global tourism initiatives. She leads the efforts of LATCB’s international offices in Australia, China and the U.K., and manages representatives in Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, the Middle East and South Korea. She also oversees LATCB’s international efforts on behalf of Los Angeles World Airports, which focus on marketing LAX, and air service development and promotion. Prior to joining LATCB in 2011, she served as executive director of the Beverly Hills Conference and Visitors Bureau for eight years, and prior to that served as marketing manager for the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Kathy’s background also includes sales and marketing for L’Ermitage Hotels and hospitality and tourism consulting for PKF Consulting. Smits served on the Board of Directors of the California Travel Association and DMA West (formerly the Western Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus, where she served as President). She is an active member of Brand USA’s Global Development Task Force and Visit California’s International Committee. Smits received her Master of Science in Tourism Marketing from the University of Surrey, England as a Rotary Foundation Scholar.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Sarah Matthews
Head of Destination Marketing APAC, TripAdvisor
Participating Talks and Sessions
Daniel Pearce
Managing Director & Owner, TTG Media
Following completion of a management buy-out in 2013, Daniel Pearce is managing director and owner of TTG Media Limited.
The proud publisher of Routes News and the delegate directories at Routes events since 2015, the new company continues to connect buyers and sellers of travel across the UK trade and beyond, with a business stretching from website ttgmedia.com and quarterly magazine ttgluxury to an innovative portfolio of events including the TTG Travel Awards, the TTG On Tour series of roadshows, the expanding TTG LGBT network and a string of events in luxury travel.
The company also has put a new focus on its international network of TTG partners, which stretch from TTG Nordic in Copenhagen to TTG Asia in Singapore.
More than 60 years since it was first published in 1953, the business continues to be underpinned by TTG, the magazine that continues to inform, inspire and champion the UK travel industry every week.
Participating Talks and Sessions
The Honourable Minister Edmund Bartlett
Minister of Tourism, Government of Jamaica
Recognized for his wide-ranging expertise and accomplishments in the political arena,
Honourable Edmund Bartlett has given over thirty-five years of service to Jamaica, working both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives.
Mr. Bartlett was first appointed Minister of Tourism in 2007, serving until December 2011. Prior to this appointment, he already had a solid track record of service as an outstanding legislator in central government in both Chambers of Parliament. He served as Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and Culture in the Office of the Prime Minister and Minister of Youth, Sports & Community Development from 1980 to 1989; later he served as Senator and Opposition Spokesman on various portfolios, including Tourism, from 1989 to 2007. While serving in the shadow Cabinet following his first stint as Tourism Minister, Mr. Bartlett traveled the world forging alliances with strategic partners for global initiatives. He returned to the helm of the Ministry of Tourism following the February 2016 victory at the polls by the Jamaica Labour Party.
Beyond the duties of his assigned portfolio, Minister Bartlett has continually championed the advancement of education, skills training and job creation as ways of improving the lives of his constituents in East Central St. James. He is passionate about education and so his efforts have been about creating scholarships for both students and teachers, thus raising the bar for educational achievements. He has also worked tirelessly to improve the welfare of the elderly and disabled in his constituency. Mr. Bartlett has also represented Jamaica regionally and internationally and currently chairs the Board of Affiliate Members of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). He is the first to serve on the executive of both the public and private sector arms of this prestigious organization. During his first tenure as tourism minister he served as Vice Chairman of the Executive Council of the UNWTO, representing the Americas. He also served as Vice President for the 19th General Assembly of the UNWTO held in South Korea in 2011.
A graduate of the University of the West Indies, where he majored in accounting, he has worked at the senior management level in the areas of marketing and sales as well as accounting, for major multi-national companies operating in Jamaica, prior to entering elective politics.
Minister Bartlett has been married for 36 years and has two children. His passions include cricket, dominoes and dancing. At work and at play, he lives the words of Marcus Garvey, Jamaica’s first National Hero:
“God and Nature first made us what we are, and then out of our own creative genius we make ourselves what we want to be. Follow always that great law: Let the sky and God be our limit and Eternity our measurement.”
Participating Talks and Sessions
Lennart Johansson
Director Leisure Tourism & Airport and Airlines Collaboration, Gothenburg & CO
Lennart Johansson is the director of Leisure Tourism, Gothenburg & Co who serves as the destination marketing organization of the greater Gothenburg area.
Lennart has also served in several executive management positions in marketing and sales with SJ – the national train operator in Sweden and SAS – Scandinavian Airlines both nationally and internationally.
During the years with Gothenburg & Co Lennart has been very active in developing measurement tools for the visitors industry and the recently launched Global Destination Sustainability Index, founded in Gothenburg. He has also been responsible for developing different collaboration models with a triple helix dimension. One of them is go:CONNECT – the platform for development of the accessibility to the destination. He is also a board member of the Centre for Tourism, University of Gothenburg.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Eduardo Santander
Executive Director & CEO, European Travel Commission
Eduardo Santander has been executive director of the ETC since 2012. Educated in Spain and Austria, he holds a PhD in sports science and an MBA. He has extensive experience in destination marketing gained through his career in diverse companies from the tourism industry in Innsbruck, Austria and the United States. He has also been a guest lecturer on tourism marketing at international business seminars in a number of U.S. universities. Under his leadership, the ETC continues supporting member National Tourism Organizations in their portfolio of marketing and research activities in major long-haul markets with the aim of strengthening and increasing competitiveness of Destination Europe.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Andrew Cowen
CEO, Hong Kong Express
24 years in the aviation industry initially with British Airways before focusing on the emerging low cost and business aviation airline sectors. Today, as Deputy Chief Executive, Andrew is leading the transformation of Hong Kong Express into a low cost carrier.
Andrew typically works very closely with airline shareholders/senior management ‘on the ground’ and for extended periods of time. Holding top-level management positions, his usual role is to guide and direct the creation of new aviation businesses, typically new LCCs, taking them from concept through to launch, and then on through their early growth stages.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Olivier Jager
CEO & Co-Founder, Forward Keys
Olivier Jager is the Co-founder and CEO of ForwardKeys, a tactical intelligence company analysing 14 million daily booking transactions to predict future travel patterns for businesses worldwide and help them monitor and anticipate traveller arrivals and trends.
Before launching ForwardKeys in 2010, Olivier had already accumulated cutting-edge experience in IT and travel with companies including AOL, Amadeus, PhoCusWright, Market Metrix and TravelCLICK.
A strategic thinker with a zest for innovating and solving problems, Olivier’s expertise has focused on marketing and distribution, management and business development.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Yolanta Strikitsa
Director, Strikitsa Consulting
MBA from California State University Hayward (USA), BA from Gnesinykh State College (RF). During the last 15 years Yolanta has dedicated herself to management consulting and executive search. She has been living and working in USA, Russia and UK, where in 2003 she set up her own business. Prior to Strikitsa Consulting, Yolanta has been working for Morgan Chase, Leucadia National Private Equity and Price Waterhouse. Yolanta is fluent in English, Polish and Russian.
Strikitsa Consulting has been specializing in executive search and consulting services to airports and airlines from 2003 and have completed assignments in UK, Europe, Russia & CIS and SE Asia.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Dr Matt McDougal
Founder & CEO, Digital Jungle
Dr. Mathew McDougall grew up between Australia and New Zealand then in his late teen’s ventured overseas for his University studies. Now, after 23 years of working in the Internet technology space and digital marketing areas, he boasts over 10 years working experience in China and time spent working in Australia, UK, US and Japan.He is a renowned expert on digital marketing, especially in the area of Chinese digital marketing. Recognized for his published articles, his frequent speaking engagements, as well as his prestigious consulting and teaching programs. Dr. McDougall thrives in entrepreneurial environments, where fast-paced change and continually evolving technology is the norm.
He was the founder of SinoTech Group (headquartered, China), a social media technology business in 2007 that secured VC funding to develop a range of Chinese/Western social monitoring technologies.
Dr. McDougall subsequently went on to found a digital marketing Agency called, “Digital Jungle” in early 2011. This multicultural digital Agency wanted to exploit the needs of Western organisations that needed support in marketing to a Chinese audience. Over the short number of years, DIgital Jungle has grown to now have offices in China (Beijing & Shanghai), Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, partnerships with Agencies around the world.
In the workplace, Dr McDougall is the type of “leader” that is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get involved with the team at all levels.
Dr. McDougall is also the editor of the “Digital Marketing Inner Circle” blog on digital marketing, author of “The Chinese Social Media Universe”, a frequent spokesperson on Internet issues and guest speaker at Internet industry forums worldwide such as:
- Ad-Tech
- SES Conference & Expo
- ATEC (Australian Tourism Export Council)
- iMedia Asia
- Social Media Summit
- AMP Amplify
- PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association)
- Routesonline
- China Retail Showcase
- G20 Global Cafe
Participating Talks and Sessions
Azim Barodawala
Co-Founder & CEO, Volatino
Azim Barodawala is Co-Founder and CEO of Volantio Inc., a Silicon Valley (Y-Combinator) backed travel technology company focused on helping airlines better target, convert, and retain their customers. Azim brings over 10 years of Travel specific leadership experience to his role with Volantio, having previously worked with Jetstar Airways, the Boston Consulting Group, and Despegar.com.
At Jetstar, Azim served as Head of Strategy, where he focused on developing partnership frameworks in the Asian region designed to ensure consistency of customer experience and maximization of synergies across the Jetstar Group of carriers.
With the Boston Consulting Group, Azim served as a Project Leader focused on the Travel and Tourism sector. Topics that Azim covered included online distribution, loyalty, customer acquisition, and liquidity/bankruptcy analysis. Azim has also led the online marketing efforts for Latin America's largest online travel site, Despegar.com, helping to lower the company's cost of customer acquisition.
Azim holds an MBA from the Wharton School, and a Masters in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University, graduating with Highest Honors. Azim is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Hugh Aitken
Director of Business Development and Commercial Operations, Skyscanner
Hugh leads the business development operations for Skyscanner for Business, the business-to-business arm of global travel search engine, Skyscanner. Skyscanner for Business develops strategic partnerships with a range of partners benefitting from Skyscanner’s global coverage, while also taking to market a range of unique analytical tools to provide partners with an holistic insight into travel demand and trends.
Prior to joining Skyscanner, Hugh spent four years at the European low cost airline, easyJet, where he looked after the commercial performance and market strategy for the airline across London, Scotland the North East of England, as well as the Middle East and Iceland. Prior to that Hugh spent 13 years at UK airport operator, BAA, where he held a number of senior commercial and business development roles.
Participating Talks and Sessions
Shanzhong Zhu
Executive Director, UNWTO
Mr. Zhu Shanzhong is currently serving as the Executive Director for Technical Cooperation and Services at the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) headquarters in Madrid, Spain. From late 2008 to 2013, he was Vice Chairman of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), overseeing international relations, marketing and promotions in domestic and overseas markets, tourism information center, tourism security and the establishment of a public service network. During his vice chairmanship, he also oversaw the composition and editing of key tourism documents such as the Mid & Long Term Planning of Inbound
Tourism in China and the 12th FiveYear Plan of Tourism Information Construction. He was also behind the launch of The Outline of National Tourism and Leisure. From 1989 to 2008, he served CNTA in different capacities, namely as Director of CNTA Sydney Office, Director of CNTA New York Office, Deputy Director General of International Marketing Department and Director General of the Marketing and Communication Department of CNTA. From 1985 to 1989, he was Department Manager of China International Travel Service (CITS), the biggest travel company in China. He received his Master’s Degree in Tourism Economic Management from the Graduate School of New York New School in 1988. Prior to that, he received his Bachelor Degree of Arts.