List of VIP's in the Global Travel & Tourism Industry

Andrew J Wood, President SKAL Asia

Juergen T Steinmetz — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 01:23:23 +0000

Andrew J Wood was born in Yorkshire England, he is a former hotelier, Skalleague, and travel writer.

Andrew has 48 years of hospitality and travel experience.

Educated at Batley Grammar School and a hotel graduate of Napier University, Edinburgh. Andrew started his career in London, working with various hotels.

His first posting overseas was with Hilton International, in Paris, and he later arrived in Asia in 1991 in Bangkok with his appointment as Director of Marketing at the Shangri-La Hotel and has remained in Thailand ever since.

Andrew has also worked with the Royal Garden Resort Group now Anantara (Vice President) and the Landmark Group of Hotels (Vice President ). Latterly he has been the General Manager at the Royal Cliff Group of Hotels in Pattaya and the Chaophya Park Hotel Bangkok & Resorts.

A past board member and Director of Skål International (SI), a former National President with SI Thailand, and a two-time past President of the Bangkok Club.

Andrew is currently President of Skål Asia. In 2019, Andrew was awarded SKÅL’s highest award the distinction of Membre D’Honneur. He is a regular guest lecturer at various Universities in Asia.

Apolónia Rodrigues, Dark Sky, Portugal

Juergen T Steinmetz — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 21:22:00 +0000

eTurboNews:

Apolónia Rodrigues has always fallen in love with the challenges in creating new destinations and future trends in sustainable tourism. She started her professional career in the Tourism Region of Évora in 1998, where she implemented several projects until 2007.

Founder and creator of the destination brand Dark Sky® and Dark Sky® Alqueva, is currently the President of the Dark Sky® Association, and President of the Rede de Turismo de Aldeia do Alentejo.

She has also coordinated the European Network of Places of Peace since 2010. Between 2010 and 2016 she was co-leader of the Task Force Indicators (NIT). NIT was created by NECSTouR – Network of European Regions for Sustainable and Competitive Tourism, Brussels, Belgium.

Between 2014 and 2016 she was a member of ETIS POOL of Experts, a group created by DG Grow, European Commission, to develop and test the European System of Tourism Indicators for sustainable practices and destination management. Between 2005 and 2014, Apolónia was a member of the Tourism Sustainability Group (TSG), a group that created the Agenda for the European Sustainable and Competitive Tourism, where she took on the co-leadership of the Working Indicators Group.

This group was set up by DG Grow of the European Commission. Between 2009 and 2013 she was also a member of the Eureka European Tourism Advisory Committee.

International Awards and Distinctions: In 2007 her European Network of Village Tourism project was honored with the Ulysses Prize of the United Nations World Tourism Organization. In 2016, IDA awarded Apolónia with the Dark Sky Defender Award.

In 2020 and included in The Bizz Award given by Worldcob, she received the distinction of World Businessperson 2020 and by the ACQ5 Global Awards the distinction of Gamechanger of the Year for the years of 2020 and 2021. With her Dark Sky® Alqueva project, it received the Runner Up award from the Ulysses Prize in 2013, and in 2019 the Bronze CTW Chinese Welcome Award. In the same year, Dark Sky® Alqueva received a Tourism Oscar from the World Travel Awards as Europe’s Responsible Tourism Award 2019.

In this year of 2020 in the middle of this pandemic situation, Dark Sky® Alqueva and Dark Sky® Association receive different distinctions. In February, Dark Sky® Alqueva is awarded a Corporate Travel Awards, as Europe’s Leading Tourist Destination 2020, followed by a distinction awarded by the Business Intelligence Group, the Sustainability Leadership Award 2020. In October, Dark Sky® Alqueva becomes part of from the Sustainable Destinations Global Top 100 by Green Destinations.

And in November, it receives the ACQ5 Global Awards in the category of Company of the Year (Astrotourism) and receives two “Tourism Oscars “Awards from the World Travel Awards, such as Europe’s Responsible Tourism Award 2020 and Europe’s Leading Tourism Project 2020. In 2021, among many other awards, such as Luxury Travel Awards, Green World Award, International Travel Awards, also another “Tourism Oscar” as Europe’s Responsible Tourism Award 2021.

The Dark Sky® Association receives also in 2020 The Bizz and The Peak of Success in 2021, given by Worldcob and an ACQ5 Country Awards, in the category of Portugal – Best Practice Operator of the Year (Astrotourism) for 2020 and 2021.

Halim Ali, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Juergen T Steinmetz — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 19:47:57 +0000

eTurboNews:

Halim Ali is from Dhaka, Bangladesh

He has been working in the Travel and Tourism Industry for more than 50 years.

He is a pioneer in the development of Bangladesh Tourism and received numerous national and international awards for his contribution to bringing Bangladesh Tourism to the world.

Halim Ali is on the board of numerous travel and tourism organizations in Bangladesh and abroad.

He is currently head of the Bangladesh International Hotel Association and a member of the World Tourism Network

Halim is also the published of a Tourism News Publication, which he founded 35 years ago.

hakimintraco@gmail.com

Dr. Walter Mzembi, Zimbabwe- South Africa

editor — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 06:02:31 +0000

eTurboNews:

Served as Minister of Tourism and Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Zimbabwe for a decade until Nov 2017.

Was the African Union Candidate for UNWTO SG elections and its former Commission for Africa Chairperson and Executive Council Member for two terms.

Currently, a Global Consultant and also serves on African Tourism Board as a member of the Executive Board and its Safety, Security, and Crisis Management Chairperson.

Global Networking in a virtual world disrupted by Covid 19 is a sustainable solution to communication and the new normal in transactional diplomacy.

Content on Dr. Walter Mzembi on eTurboNews

wmzembi@gmail.com

Deepak Joshi, Former CEO Nepal Tourism Board, Nepal

Juergen T Steinmetz — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 06:00:15 +0000

eTurboNews:

Deepak Raj Joshi
Former Chief Executive Officer
Nepal Tourism Board
Former chairman-
Destination Committee (Pacific Asia Travel Association)

Mr. Deepak Raj Joshi served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Nepal Tourism Board (National Tourism Organization of Nepal) from December 2016 – December 2019. During his 20 years of work experience in destination management, tourism promotion, and Public-Private Partnership, Mr. Joshi has worked with many levels of tourism professionals of Nepal and also has a good network with top international partners.
Mr. Joshi’s contribution to the tourism recovery of Nepal post-2015 earthquake was highly noted. At the time, Mr. Joshi successfully led the Tourism Recovery Committee (TRC) Nepal Secretariat in coordination with the private and public sectors.
Mr. Joshi also has a special interest in the sustainable tourism development sector and was an Executive Council Member of Bird Conservation Nepal from 2009 to 2014 and he has also served at Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) being in the Executive Board and Chairperson for Destination Committee-PATA.
Mr. Joshi has been awarded the highest IIPT Champions in Challenge Award 2018 from the “International Institute for Peace Through Travel and Tourism” at the ITCMS (International Travel Crisis Management Summit) in London, UK. He is the first Nepali to receive this award. And, was also awarded as the best CEO in Asia in the national tourism board category.

An avid reader and writer, Mr. Joshi has written on tourism for select issues of national broadsheets, contributed to the book “Readings in Rural Tourism” and has presented papers on tourism with original ideas at seminars and workshops in Nepal and abroad.

Mr. Joshi is a Master’s degree holder in Social Science and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. Mr. Joshi is known for his quick wit, good humor, dedication in tourism and genuine nature among his colleagues and working partners.

Vijay Poonoosamy, WTN Aviation Group, Singapore

Juergen T Steinmetz — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 05:57:31 +0000

eTurboNews:

Vijay Poonoosamy is an Honorary Member of the Hermes Air Transport Organisation, a Non-Executive Member of the Board of the Veling Group, and a member of the Advisory Board of the World Tourism Forum Lucerne and of the World Economic Forum’s Gender Parity Steering Committee.

Vijay is a barrister (Middle Temple) with a law degree from the University of Nottingham, a Master’s degree in International Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (with specialization in Air & Space Law), a Post Graduate Diploma in Air & Space Law from the London Institute of World Affairs and a Certificate in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors in New Zealand. Vijay is blessed with a supportive wife and two wonderful daughters.

Vijay was the Managing Director of Air Mauritius, Special Adviser (International Civil Aviation) and Member of the Public/Private Consultative Group in the Prime Minister’s Office of Mauritius, the Executive Chairman of Airports of Mauritius, the Vice President International Affairs of the Etihad Aviation Group and Senior Adviser, International Civil Aviation Affairs, UAE Mission to ICAO. He was also Chairman of the 4th ICAO Worldwide Air Transport Conference, the ICAO Special Group on the Warsaw Convention Governing International Air Transport, the Air Transport Committee of the African Civil Aviation Commission, IATA’s Industry Affairs Committee, IATA’s Legal Advisory Council, and IATA’s Task Force on International Aviation Issues. Vijay was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Mobility, the World Travel & Tourism Council Advisors Circle, the World Routes Advisory Panel, the Board of Directors of US Travel Association, and the Board of Governors of the International Aviation Club of Washington, DC.

Vijay was a Moderator at ICAO’s ICAN Symposia of 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2014, the 2012 ICAO Air Transport Symposium, the 2013 ICAO Pre-Air Transport Conference Symposium, the 2015 ICAO Meeting on the sustainable development of Air transport in Africa, the 2016 ICAO Aviation Training and TRAINAIR PLUS Global Symposium, the ICAO 2017 Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Regional Seminar and the 2018 ICAO Global TRIP Symposium and Exhibition. He was the Moderator of the CEOs’ Roundtable at the 50th AFRAA Annual General Assembly and Summit and the Joint Industry Group for Africa Aeropolitical Forum in 2018 and a Moderator at AFRAA’s 8th Aviation Stakeholders Convention on 13 May 2019. He will also be the Moderator of the two inaugural interactive sessions at the June 2019 ICAO Global TRIP Symposium and Exhibition at the ICAO Headquarters in Montreal.

Vijay’s over 30 years of experience in the aviation sector has enabled him to build solid ties with ICAO and all its stakeholders, including with UNWTO and national and regional tourism authorities, and consolidated his ability and reputation for progressive consensus building.

I believe in and promote the multiplier value of international civil aviation for cities, provinces, countries, regions, and the world.
I also believe in and promote the contribution of tourism to national and regional socio-economic development, including jobs.
The airline and tourism industries are interdependent. With so many jobs lost, severe drops in income, the ongoing health concerns and psychological impact, travel restrictions, and the dire airline industry, tourism revival is not going to happen soon. And this will have another negative impact on the ailing airline industry.
Hence the timeliness of and need for #rebuildingtravel

Raed Habiss, WTN ,Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Juergen T Steinmetz — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 05:55:37 +0000

eTurboNews:

30 years experience seasoned in aviation, travel & tourism, technology, and investment.

Held many professional industry roles; travel distribution for Saudi Airlines, IATA agency program in KSA, Shareholder and CEO of VIP Travel Club, and the wholesale travel company Destinations of The World – Saudi Arabia.
Director of Tourism development and investment in OIC countries.

Currently, Vice-chairman in Baseera Conferences and Exhibitions company as well as RHH Travel & Tourism Consultants in Saudi Arabia.

To launch a global technology platform to promote tourism awareness, education, training, and exchange of knowledge and experiences.

Global tourism payment system, hence I initiated IATA BSP in Saudi Arabia 30 years ago.

Assist in creating and maintaining jobs in tourism SMEs.

Dr. Peter Tarlow, WTN, Texas, USA

Juergen T Steinmetz — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 05:52:42 +0000

eTurboNews:

Dr. Peter E. Tarlow is a world-renowned speaker and expert specializing in the impact of crime and terrorism on the tourism industry, event and tourism risk management, and tourism and economic development. Since 1990, Tarlow has been aiding the tourism community with issues such as travel safety and security, economic development, creative marketing, and thought. Tarlow earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Texas A&M University. He also holds degrees in history, in Spanish and Hebrew literature, and in psychotherapy
Tarlow is the founder and president of Tourism & More Inc. (T&M). He is a past president of the Texas Chapter of the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA). Tarlow is a member of International Editorial Boards for academic tourism around the world.
Tourism Security
Tarlow has worked with numerous US government agencies including the US Bureau of Reclamation, US Customs, the FBI, the US Park Service, the Department of Justice, the Speakers Bureau of the US Department of State, the Center for Disease, US Supreme Court police, and the US Department of Homeland Security. He has worked with such US iconic locations as the Statue of Liberty, Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and Liberty Bell, the Empire State Building, St. Louis’ arch, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Protection Services in Washington, DC.In 2018, the government of Jamaica appointed him to become a member of the Jamaican National Tourism Security Audit Team. In 2019 Tarlow became the team’s head and was also tasked with the job of developing a national tourism security program. Also in 2019 Tarlow was appointed the security expert for the African Tourism Board and as an advisor to Mexico City’s new tourism police unit.SpeakerTarlow has been a keynote speaker for United States governors’ tourism conferences around the nation including those for Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington State and Wyoming.He has addressed large scale US government meetings for such agencies as:
The Bureau of Reclamation
The United States Center for Disease Control
The United States Park Service,
The International Olympic CommitteeOn the international scene he has addressed conferences in English, Portuguese, and Spanish:
The Organization of American States (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Panama City, Panama),
The Latin American Hotel Association (Quito Ecuador, San Salvador, El Salvador and Puebla, Mexico),
The Caribbean Chiefs of Police Association (Barbados),
The International Organization for Security and Intelligence – IOSI ((Vancouver, Canada),
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ottawa
The French Hotel Association CNI-SYNHORCAT (Paris)
Additionally, Tarlow is a featured speaker for numerous US embassies and with foreign tourism ministries around the world. For example, in his role as an expert in tourism security he has worked with:
Vancouver’s Justice Institute (2010 Olympic games)
The police departments of the state of Rio de Janeiro (2014 World Cup Games)
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police,
The United Nation’s WTO (World Tourism Organization),
The Panama Canal Authority,
Police forces in Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Curaçao, Colombia, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Serbia, and Trinidad & Tobago
National Tourism Security Team: Jamaica
Training Tourism Professionals
Tarlow lectures and trains tourism professionals and security personnel in multiple languages on a wide range of current and future trends in the tourism industry, rural tourism economic development, the gaming industry, issues of crime and terrorism, the role of police departments in urban economic development, and international trade. Some of the other topics about which he speaks are: the sociology of terrorism, its impact on tourism security and risk management, the US government’s role in post terrorism recovery, and how communities and businesses must face a major paradigm shift in the way they do business.
Other work experience
In 2013 the Chancellor of the Texas A&M system named him his Special Envoy. In 2015 the Faculty of Medicine of Texas A&M University asked Tarlow to “translate” his tourism skills into practical courses for new physicians. As such he teaches courses in customer service, creative thinking and medical ethics at the Texas A&M medical school
In 2016 the international engineering firm Gannet-Fleming appointed Tarlow its Senior Security and Safety Specialist. In 2016, Governor Gregg Abbot of Texas named Tarlow as the Chairman of the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission. Tarlow finished his term as chairman in 2019.
Tarlow organizes tourism security conferences around the world, including the International Tourism Safety Conference in Las Vegas. He has also worked with or played a critical role in the organization of conferences in St. Kitts, Charleston (South Carolina), Bogota, Colombia, Panama City, Croatia, and Curaçao.
Publications and Expert Witness
Tarlow publishes extensively in these areas and writes numerous professional reports for US governmental agencies and for businesses throughout the world. He has been asked to be an expert witness in courts throughout the United States on matters concerning tourism security and safety, and issues of risk management.
As a well-known author in the field of tourism security, Tarlow is has authored numerous books and scholarly articles and has also been a contributing author to multiple books on tourism security. His scholarly articles have appeared in publications such as: The Futurist, The Journal of Travel Research and Security Management. Tarlow’s has written articles on such topics as:
• Crime and terrorism,
• Cruise security,
• Dark tourism,
• economic development through tourism,
• Tourism ethics.
Tarlow writes and publishes the popular online tourism newsletter Tourism Tidbits. Thousands of tourism and travel professionals around the world read Tourism Tidbits in its English, Spanish, and Portuguese language editions.
Among the many books that Tarlow has authored or co-authored are:
Event Risk Management and Safety (2002).
Twenty Years of Tourism Tidbits: The Book (2011)
Abordagem Multdisciplinar dos Cruzeiros Turísticos (2014, in Portuguese)
Tourism Security: Strategies for Effective Managing Travel Risk and Safety (2014)
A Segurança: Um desafío para os setores de lazer, viagens e turismo, 2016 published (in Portuguese) and republished in English as Cruise Security (2016)
Gazing at Death: Tourism and Dark Tourism (2107)
Sports Travel Security (2017)
Personal Reconstruction: A Psychological, Spiritual, Financial, and Legal Course in the Art of Preventing Personal Crises and Recovering from Them. (2018)
Tourism-Oriented Policing and Protection Services (2019)
Tarlow has appeared on nationally televised programs such as Dateline: NBC and on CNBC and is a regular guest on radio stations around the US. He is the recipient of the International Chiefs of Police’s highest civilian honor in recognition for his work in tourism security.
Below is a selection of programs in which Tarlow has appeared around the world and in multiple languages:
In English:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAF1rkqKv6M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKQG-WliKCo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5EWAjnIVnU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od8s_79Ie28
In Papiamento
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Sid-UReZU
In Portuguese
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMDEanF4roM
In Spanish:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DIVZ95HbLWk&t=17s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRLt0K1mZsQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kObr82OUXyE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjJLXOtt270
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJIwsbcQyWs
University lectures
Tarlow lectures on security issues, life safety issues, and event risk management at universities around the world. These universities include institutions in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Pacific Islands, and the Middle East.

Creative ideas and developing out-of-the-box thinking.

More information on Dr. Peter Tarlow

Prof. Geoffrey Lipman, SunX, Belgium

Juergen T Steinmetz — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 05:50:05 +0000

eTurboNews:

Geoffrey Lipman leads SUN. Former top exec in IATA, WTTC and UNWTO, Geoffrey is President of ICTP and the Green Growth Travelism Institute (GGTI), as well as a Visiting Professor at Hasselt University, Belgium & Victoria University Australia

Formerly Exec. Director IATA: First President WTTC: Ass. Secretary-General UNWTO. Currently, President SUNx Malta – Strong Universal Network Played a key role in the emergence of Tourism as a serious socio-economic sector.

• As Executive Director at IATA in the 1970s helped drive a new liberalization agenda, responding to airline deregulation.

• As the first President of WTTC throughout the 1990s, he worked to pioneer new systems of measuring the sector, creating CSR Certification and supporting China’s efforts to open Tourism markets.

• As Assistant Secretary-General of UNWTO, in the first decade of this millennium, he spearheaded new development support systems, including the ST-EP Program, led the Davos Climate Summit, and launched the G20 Summit recognition program.

• As Co-founder of SUNx Strong Universal Network – a legacy project of Maurice Strong This is a global initiative to support Climate Resilience, related SDG’s and Emergency Response through Climate Friendly Travel ~ Measured: Green: 2050proof. Served on public/private sector Boards in Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Canada: Tourism Envoy to UNDP Administrator; Member EU Commissions on Airline Liberalization and on Tourism Employment:

Environment Advisor to the Governor of Jeju Island, Korea: President ICTP (International Coalition of Tourism Partners). Worked closely with the World Economic Forum since the early 90’s on its Competitiveness and Smart Travel activities.

Written/lectured widely on tourism strategy, sustainability & liberalization; co-author/ editor of two books and numerous journal articles on Green Growth & Travelism as a visiting Professor, Victoria U. Australia, and Hasselt U. Belgium. Co-author two major EIU studies on airline liberalization.

Dr. Taleb Rifai, former UNWTO Secretary-General, Jordan

Juergen T Steinmetz — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 05:45:30 +0000

eTurboNews:

Travel & Tourism Today is a powerful economic sector affecting and changing the lives of Billions of people around the world, but, beyond the numbers and the economic benefits of Generating $ 3.4 billion of global spending every DAY, Creating 1/10 jobs all over the world, and Representing 10.4 % of world GDP, Travell, and Tourism, is today a major contributor to much more significant change and transformation that slowly and gradually is bringing us together, as humans, like never before. We and Africa are ONE in today’s world. Travel has connected us back to where it all started.

In today’s world, I would like to believe that, the transformative power of Travel and Tourism, When well managed and utilized, is a cornerstone in establishing world peace and in turn a better world, for people and planet,
Protecting our cultural and natural heritage, Empowering local communities. Breaking down stereotypes enables us to experience, enjoy and celebrate the beauty of our rich cultural diversity,

These are indeed some of tourism’s contributions to MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.

Mark Twain summed it up pretty well when he said
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

Travel, my friends, opens minds, open eyes, and open hearts. We became better people when we travel

Taleb Rifai