Speakers
REGISTER here to receive updates on the developing agenda for 2020
CITY NATION PLACE GLOBAL
CITY NATION PLACE UK
CITY NATION PLACE ASIA PACIFIC
CITY NATION PLACE LATAM & CARIBBEAN
Confirm cancellation
An error occurred trying to play the stream. Please reload the page and try again.
Close
Asbjorn Overgaard took up the position as CEO in Copenhagen Capacity on 1 June 2020 being at the forefront of attracting and retaining foreign companies and talents, with the aim of creating growth and development in Greater Copenhagen. Throughout his career, Asbjorn has worked in both private companies and public organizations and close to the political decision-making process. Asbjørn have a long experience from positions as Director of Danish Shipping, a number of positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Private Secretary to the Minister of Trade and Investment, Deputy Ambassador and Deputy Director of Invest in Denmark.
Astrid is the Director of Marketing Drenthe, a destination marketing organization for Drenthe, a province in the North East of the Netherlands. She has more than 30 years of experience in tourism, marketing and communication, and public-private partnerships and has worked for several Dutch destination marketing organizations. She did this for both regions and cities in various positions in which she was responsible for marketing policy and strategic relationship management.
Clare is the founder and director of City Nation Place, the global forum for place branding and place marketing. City Nation Place creates connections and shares best practice between country brands, regional brands, and city brands around the world through articles, interviews, surveys, white papers, a membership group, and conferences.
Clare’s interest in the complex area of place branding was sparked whilst working on a series of Nation Branding Masterclass events, led by Simon Anholt, one of the first thought-leaders to speak about and promote the concept of place branding. Having listened to Simon address audiences in Accra, Delhi, Dubai, London and Singapore on how policy, governance, and symbolic actions need to combine with branding and marketing to create a competitive identity and drive economic growth, she continued to follow the growth in this sector. Clare launched the first City Nation Place Global conference in London in 2015: CityNationPlace.com has been steadily building followers and in 2017, she launched the first City Nation Place Americas conference, in 2018 City Nation Place Asia Pacific took place in Singapore, and 2019 saw the first City Nation Place UK, specifically for towns, cities and regions across the UK, and the launch of the first City Nation Place LatAm & Caribbean event. Clare manages the small team at City Nation Place alongside providing event consultancy and management for a number of clients in the publishing and trade association sector, including running the World Media Awards for the World Media Group and event consultancy for the UK Association for Online Publishers.
Since 2019, Cor is the CEO of Utrecht Marketing, the destination Marketing Organisation of the city of Utrecht. Utrecht Marketing is devoted to visitor marketing and to promoting the cultural offerings of Utrecht. We additionally fulfil a broader role by helping to attract (international) talent and by supporting new enterprise. We stimulate Utrecht citizens’ pride in the city and region, and pursue a more strategic role with respect to themes such as inclusivity, sustainability, and the right balance between growth and liveability.
Cor has more than 30 years experience in marketing & communications positions in higher education: last 9 years at Utrecht University as Director of Regional
Co-operation and Strategic Alliances, and director Communications & Marketing for Utrecht University, one of Europe’s leading research universities. In this position he was one of the founder fathers of Utrecht Marketing, founded in 2016.
Prior to Utrecht University, he worked in the field of Communication & Marketing for several universities: University of Groningen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences.
From 2013 untill 2019 he also served as President of the Business Peloton Utrecht (BPU). The BPU initiated and supports Utrecht's ambition of becoming the first city in the world to host all the major world cycling tours: the Giro d’Italia (2010), the Tour de France (2015) and the Vuelta a España in 2022.
Burkhard Kieker has been Chief Executive Officer of Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH, operating under the trade name visitBerlin, since 1 January 2009. He is responsible for marketing Berlin worldwide as tourism and congress destination as well as maintaining the brand Berlin.
In his career to date, he held positions in the German industry with Deutsche Lufthansa AG and headed the Aviation Marketing of Berlin Airports. As journalist, he worked for RIAS Berlin, the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT in Hamburg, and the television channel Deutsche Welle. Burkhard Kieker completed the International Executive Program (IEP) at INSEAD Business School.
Mark is Professor of Public Policy at King’s College London. He has been a government adviser at the No10 Strategy Unit, a civil servant at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and a policy director for all three London Mayors, leading a range of policy work on the economy and business, migration, urban governance, regulation, smart cities and technology, housing and homelessness, and Brexit.
Mark has held academic posts at the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics, as well as a chair in International Social Policy at the University of Bristol. In 2015, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, and in 2019 a Visiting Fellow at the City Futures Research Centre, University of New South Wales. He is a former Policy Fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge
He is the author or co-author of four books, including A European Welfare State? (Palgrave) and Working Capital: Life and Labour in Contemporary London (Routledge) and more than 100 published papers. He has spoken at many academic and policy conferences in the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, China and Japan. Mark has also been a consultant to the OECD, the European Commission, government departments, local authorities, and major UK and global companies.
Liina Maria is the Member of the Board in Enterprise Estonia responsible for all the international services the government agency offers: tourism, attracting talent and foreign investments, export but also promoting Estonian digital nation and our first in the world e-residency programme. As all of the services are very much dependent on strong nation brand then as a keen brand enthusiast and proud Estonian Liina Maria is actively also involved in Estonian brand developments. Previously Liina Maria has been the Director of Estonian Tourist Board, promoter of digital society of Estonia, CEO of a film studio project and has long-term experience in banking.
Jaume Mata is the head of sustainable tourism at Visit València Foundation (the city’s destination management organization), where he coordinates the city’s strategy to become a sustainable destination. He has more than 25 years of experience in tourism planning, marketing and communication. He also has experience in large events organization as Marketing and Communication director, and director of the CEO’s office, of the public Consortium Valencia2007 (created to hold the 32nd America’s Cup).
He was the Deputy Director of Visit Valencia when the DMO was accredited in 2006 by UNWTO as SBest DMO, and awarded with the Ulysses Award for Innovation in Tourism Governance in 2008.
He holds two Master’s degrees: MSc in Tourism Management from the University of Surrey (UK), and master in Tourism Management from the Polythecnic University of Valencia (Spain), as well as a BSc degree in Economics and business administration (University of Valencia).
He is lecturer at the University of Valencia and the Open University of Catalonia. He collaborated in the UNWTO Handbook. Introduction to Tourism (UNWTO, 1998). He is the author for the chapter: Intelligence and Innovation for City Tourism Sustainability, The Future of Tourism (Springer, 2019)
Jason is a research, communications and reputation strategist with 15 years' global experience providing strategic council to public, private and non-profit clients regarding their reputation strategies, competitive positioning, stakeholder engagement, marketing and communications. Jason consults with clients on their reputation measurement and evaluation programs, and how they can optimise their marketing and communications programming for the greatest reputational impact.
Sithembile Ntombela has been part of the Brand South Africa team for over a decade. A prolific marketer with over 22 years of marketing experience in private and public sector and has a deep understanding of the marketing and brand environments.
She has extensive classical marketing experience in FMCG, global marketing, and destination (Nation Brand) marketing. A leader with the mission to innovate and improve overall company performance. She is a prudent decision-maker and an inspiring leader that strives to build high performing teams.
Sithembile has held senior managerial positions from diverse companies and her experiences include developing and implementing impactful, successful, and sustainable brand strategies.
Sithembile completed her Marketing undergraduate qualification at Mangosuthu University of Technology in KZN. She later pursued and completed a Post Graduate National Diploma in Marketing and BPHIL Honours in Marketing through the Institute of Marketing Management (IMM) and a Masters in Commerce (MCOM) from MANCOSA.
She is a Chartered Marketer (CM-SA) with the Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA) and a member of Black Management Forum.
She is also an Advisory board member the CMO Council (Sub Saharan Africa) and City Nation Place where she continues to share her insights relating to dynamics in brand and marketing world.
Matt Painter is the UK Managing Director of Ipsos Corporate Reputation. He leads a team of 40 people, based in London and Edinburgh. Previously Head of Research at Echo Research Ltd and Ebiquity plc, Matt has specialised in brand, reputation and corporate communications for 20 years. Over this time he has worked with some of the world’s most renowned businesses, as well as national governments, universities, NGOs and media outlets.
Matt is a regular speaker and author on reputation issues and the emerging trends facing corporate communicators.
Claire is Head of Marketing for Brand Scotland at the Scottish Government. Brand Scotland is a strategic marketing and communications partnership that brings together the communications efforts of the Scottish Government and key partners in building Scotland’s global brand and reputation. Brand Scotland is very proud to have won Best Communications Strategy – Place Brand at the most recent City Nation Place Awards in 2022.
Prior to this, Claire spent 7 years leading award-winning behaviour change campaigns for the Scottish Government across climate change, health, road safety and justice, and also has extensive agency experience having spent 5 years as Account Director at one of Scotland’s leading advertising and creative agencies.
Claire is also vice Chair of the Marketing Society Scotland Advisory Board.
Kevin leads communications for investment promotion agency IDA Ireland where he is a member of the Executive Leadership team. As part of his role, Kevin handles a diverse portfolio of areas for IDA Ireland including: corporate communications, brand, reputation, political communications, events, crisis and internal communications.
Øyvind Såtvedt is the managing director of Oslo Region Alliance, which consists of the City of Oslo and 64 neighbouring municipalities. The Oslo Region Alliance organizes campaigns to attract international investors and talent to the Oslo Region, and was together with Oslo Business Region awarded the City Nation Place “Place Brand of the Year” award in 2015. Øyvind is a political scientist, has worked as consultant and researcher, and was chief of staff for Oslo’s Governing Mayor from 2000 to 2007. He lives in Oslo with his wife and two children.
Parul leads the team of analysts and consultants behind Brand Finance’s annual Global 500, Nation Brands, and Global Soft Power Index studies. She has a wealth of experience in Business and Brand Valuation working across sectors, specialising in Nation Branding, Food & Drinks, and Utilities. She is an experienced research and data analyst with survey experience across a range of evaluation and research issues.
Parul has worked with a variety of clients such as GREAT Campaign and PromPeru. She has a BSc in Economics and Economic History from the London School of Economics and is a chartered global management accountant, CIMA.
Anu Syrmä is the Director for Brand, Marketing and Communications for Helsinki Partners, a company owned by the city of Helsinki, attracting international visitors, talent and investments to Finland’s capital. Before joining Helsinki, Anu has worked in various leadership roles doing international sales and marketing eg. for brands Reima, Nokia, Coca-Cola, L’Oréal.
An engaged and experienced strategist, advisor and moderator with a deep interest in sustainable development and innovation in destinations, building bridges to achieve results. She has many years of experience in leading the sustainability work within the tourism industry in Gothenburg. As a result, Gothenburg has been named world leader by Global Destination Sustainability Index 2016 – 2019. She was also leading the city’s candidature for European Capital of Smart Tourism 2020.
Ms. Thorstensson has been Head of Sustainability and Senior Advisor of several international meetings and events hosted both nationally and in Gothenburg. She strongly believes in collaboration and has e. g. initiated the ECM Knowledge Group on Sustainability which she is also leading as Chair. She is also a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Gothenburg and at international symposiums.
The mission of Göteborg & Co is to get more people to discover and choose Gothenburg. We do this through wide-reaching collaboration, by leading and promoting the development of Gothenburg as a sustainable destination, so that everyone who lives and works here benefits from a growing hospitality industry.
Göteborg & Co is the DMO of the destination, a municipal company owned by the City of Gothenburg.
Bloom Consulting CEO
Since 2003 Mr. Torres has been advising Countries in the field of Nation Branding and City Branding, working directly with heads of state, directors of National Tourism Organizations and Investment Promotion Agencies.
His clients include Countries, Regions and Cities such as Australia, Costa Rica, Israel, Jamaica, Poland, Sweden, Stockholm and many others spread across all five continents.
Mr. Torres collaborates directly with the World Economic Forum in the matters of Nation Branding and is a guest speaker in some of the most prestigious universities in USA and Europe, such as HARVARD, the London Business School, Stockholm School of Economics and many others, being interviewed by The Economist, BBC, Guardian and CNN.
Since 2011 his company performs a global research project called the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking and most recently the Digital Country Index and the Digital City Index
Jos Vranken (1967) has been NBTC’s Managing Director since 1 September 2007.
NBTC is the Dutch national destination management organisation, responsible for the development, branding and marketing of the Netherlands as a destination.
After graduating from the Breda University of Applied Sciences, Jos Vranken started his professional career in 1990 at the former Netherlands Board of Tourism (NBT). In 1996, having held various positions, he joined Stayokay, the Dutch hostel chain, as its Sales & Marketing Manager and member of the Management Team.
In 1999, he moved to London to head up NBTC’s UK & Ireland office. Soon after, his role was extended to Regional director for the Nordic countries. Following a five-year tenure in London, Jos Vranken returned to NBTC head office to take on the role of International Marketing Director and joined the Management Team.
Early 2005, Jos Vranken accepted a new challenge at the contract catering company Avenance Nederland (which has since become part of Compass Group), where he fulfilled the position of Commercial Director and was a member of the Board.
On 1 September 2007, Jos Vranken re-joined NBTC as its Managing Director.
He is a member of the Dutch Hospitality Association and the Validation Committee for the development of a Professional Doctorate in Leisure, Tourism & Hospitality. He also holds a non-executive role in the Supervisory Board of the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) and the Economic Board West Holland.
Chris Woodall is Head of Brand Partnerships for the WSJ/Barron's Group in EMEA & APAC. He oversees all sales aspects of Dow Jones’ content offerings and works with the wider News Corp divisions to create proactive new partnership sales opportunities. Chris started in media 18 years ago at ITV and has held roles at The Economist and Bloomberg before joining The Wall Street Journal in 2016.
Patricia Yates has been the CEO of Visit Britain since April 2022. Patricia has been with the national tourism agency since 2005 and was previously its Director of Strategy & Communications. She is responsible for research, tourism affairs and communications. Patricia started her career as a journalist including a long period editing Holiday Which? She also launched and edited the Which? Guide to Hotels for many years. Patricia is the Chair of TIER – the Tourism Industry Emergency Response group - which coordinates the tourism industry messaging at times of crisis.
Phil was Director of Public Engagement for the £32m UK City of Culture project in Hull. In this role he was responsible for capitalising on the city’s year in the spotlight by devising a place-based campaign to transform perceptions through culture and the arts.
Working across a 365-day artistic programme of more than 2800 cultural activities, Phil played a pivotal role in ensuring 9 out of 10 residents of Hull took part in the year’s programme; whilst attracting millions of visitors from across the UK to experience the City of Culture celebrations.
Prior to this Phil spent a decade working in a marketing and research consultancy on behalf of leading national charities including the British Red Cross, Keep Britain Tidy, Young Minds and the British Heart Foundation.
Currently Phil is working with towns and cities throughout the UK and Ireland on cultural regeneration projects and has most recently overseen the marketing to launch Waltham Forest as the first-ever London Borough of Culture.
Born and educated in the UK, Phil is also an associate of the Culture, Policy and Place Institute at the University of Hull
Carolyn has over ten years’ experience in the marketing, managing and developing places across the UK. She has held management roles at various companies, most recently at FOR Cardiff (Cardiff’s Business Improvement District, BID) where she is the Head of Marketing and Communications. Her role requires her to deliver strategic guidance, to organise and execute B2B/B2C marketing, events and communication activities to FOR Cardiff’s member businesses and promote Cardiff as a destination of choice.
Deborah became Chief Executive of the Birmingham City Council in June 2021, following over 30 years’ in public services.
Previous senior roles included Chief Executive of the WMCA, Head of Policy at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and Local Government Advisor to the Ministerial Team at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions.
Following roles as the Audit Commission's Best Value Service Lead Inspector for the London region and Chief Executive for St Edmundsbury Borough Council and the East of England Development Agency, Deborah was Chief Executive of Suffolk County Council from 2011 to 2017.
She was born and bred in Birmingham and attended the University Birmingham. Deborah has a degree in politics as well as a master’s degree in economics and a further Master’s degree in management practice.
Deborah received an OBE in 2006 for services to local government. She was recently high commended in the Chief Executive of the Year category at the Inclusive Companies Awards 2019.
She is a trustee of the Joseph Rowntree Trust and Joseph Rowntree Housing Foundation and as a dedicated and passionate female advocate at the forefront of the public sector, Deborah recently won the First Women Award for Public Service.
Deborah is also a Commissioner for the Smart Government Commission and recently joined the Reform Advisory Board.
Deborah is listed in Local Government Chronicle’s ‘100 Most Influential in the Sector’
With over a decade of experience town and city centres, Paul leads the strategic direction of Ipswich's BID and DMO.
He is available to comment on a wide range of topics including:
- Local retail and business economies.
- High Street's and regeneration of town centres.
- Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).
- Destination Management Organisations (DMOs).
- The impact of Coronavirus on town centres and businesses.
- Local community issues relating to Ipswich, Suffolk and the East.
CAREER SUMMARY
- CEO of Ipswich Central since 2007.
- CEO of All About Ipswich from 2021.
- Set up of Central Management Solutions (CMS) in 2011
- British BIDs joined the CMS group in 2013.
- In 2018 acquired by Savills Plc.
- Director, Head of Place-Shaping at
- Savills from April 2018 to Dec 2020.
- Chair the Tyneside Group - a Newcastle based property development and lettings group specialising in student accommodation.
Sally is the StrategicTourism Manager with the Leicester & Leicestershire Place Marketing Team, jointlysupported by Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council, whichpromotes the area as a great location to work, invest, study and visit.
Sally leads onstrategic development of the visitor economy using the framework of the Leicester & Leicestershire Tourism Growth Plan2020-2025 and guided by the Tourism Advisory Board, a body of keysenior sector stakeholders from both the public and private sectors.
Sally has a background in heritage attraction management, heritageinterpretation and museums and arts management in the public sector,specialising in strategic development.
Nigel is a Cabinet Member at Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and over recent years has overseen plans to revitalise the town centres in the Borough, including the riverside project for the Stockton High Street, repurposing the space from retail to an urban park and opening up the high street to the river. The plans for the High Street, which are set to complete in 2025, have been featured on BBC1’s Panorama and ITV’s Tonight programmes.
Nigel was first elected as a councillor for Hardwick and Salter Lane Ward in 2011, and chaired the council’s Place Select Committee until 2015. In 2014 he received the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) Scrutineer of the Year award for his pioneering work tackling Affordable Warmth & Fuel Poverty. Nigel became a Cabinet Member in 2015, first for Regeneration & Transport and then Regeneration & Housing in 2016. His portfolio not only includes economic and town centre development but also covers a wide range of responsibilities such as tourism, planning, and housing strategy and policy.
Stockton-on-Tees is also part of the Tees Valley Combined Authority and over the years Nigel has had various roles on the Combined Authority including the Education and Skills Partnership Board and the Land Commission. He is also a member of the Housing, Neighbourhood and Affordable Warmth Partnership for the Borough.
Nigel was born and grew up in Stockton-on-Tees. He works for the NHS as a clinical skills trainer and also has an interest in environmental issues. He is a keen musician and enjoys spending his spare time watching local bands with his wife.
Kathryn Davis has spent the last 21 years working in Destination Management and Marketing. As Visit West’s Director of Tourism, Kathryn oversees and manages the Destination Management Organisation (DMO), representing the destinations at national, local and international forums, and a Board Member of UKInbound and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. Her work includes a strong focus on sustainability and inclusivity, as well as identifying opportunities and trends across the visitor economy, particularly in the roles of culture, film and culinary travel.
Clare is the founder and director of City Nation Place, the global forum for place branding and place marketing. City Nation Place creates connections and shares best practice between country brands, regional brands, and city brands around the world through articles, interviews, surveys, white papers, a membership group, and conferences.
Clare’s interest in the complex area of place branding was sparked whilst working on a series of Nation Branding Masterclass events, led by Simon Anholt, one of the first thought-leaders to speak about and promote the concept of place branding. Having listened to Simon address audiences in Accra, Delhi, Dubai, London and Singapore on how policy, governance, and symbolic actions need to combine with branding and marketing to create a competitive identity and drive economic growth, she continued to follow the growth in this sector. Clare launched the first City Nation Place Global conference in London in 2015: CityNationPlace.com has been steadily building followers and in 2017, she launched the first City Nation Place Americas conference, in 2018 City Nation Place Asia Pacific took place in Singapore, and 2019 saw the first City Nation Place UK, specifically for towns, cities and regions across the UK, and the launch of the first City Nation Place LatAm & Caribbean event. Clare manages the small team at City Nation Place alongside providing event consultancy and management for a number of clients in the publishing and trade association sector, including running the World Media Awards for the World Media Group and event consultancy for the UK Association for Online Publishers.
Odhran Dunne is the Chief Executive of Visit Derry, the official tourism organisation for the city of Derry~Londonderry in Northern Ireland.
He’s been providing strategic leadership for the past 20 years in the tourism industry and his partnership approach has helped to establish the city as one of Ireland’s must-see destinations. He led the destination marketing strategy in the lead up to the inaugural UK City of Culture title for the city in 2013 attracting record visitor numbers and growth.
More recently he has been pivotal in working with strategic partners to launch a £1m state-of-the-art Visitor Information Centre, in the heart of the city. The centre is now the gateway for experiencing Ireland’s only completely intact historic Walled City - where the Wild Atlantic Way meets the Causeway Coastal Route.
His collaboration with government departments, Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland has helped unlock the potential of the North West of Ireland, while cementing the need for greater coherence and partnership to benefit the wider visitor economy.
Richard drives the delivery of the Council’s placemaking agenda, seeking to establish Medway as a great place to live, to work, to learn and to visit.
As Director of Place and Deputy Chief Executive, Richard has responsibility for Frontline Services, Culture & Community, Regeneration and Communications & Marketing.
The Regeneration, Culture and Environment directorate provides essential services such as Waste, Highways and Transport, alongside delivering one of the largest free events and festival programmes in the country, delivering a monumental regeneration programme including our Housing Infrastructure Fund programme, worth £170m and delivering our Putting Medway on the Map agenda.
Richard has held a number of roles at Medway since its inception in 1998, and before that time worked in a range of positions across Kent County Council, both at corporate and service level.
Judith O’Doherty has a keen interest in all things place. Judith’s career in economic development spanning 21 years in both the private and public sector enabled her to travel extensively on an international basis and work on place promotion campaigns across the UK, Europe and the US, oftenwith a focus on foreign investment attraction.
Judith founded eutopia to help places more effectively identify and leverage strengths to optimise their economic potential. She is a keen advocate for the use of a data driven approach in place marketing to ensure higher impact and continued investment.
Judith has a MSc in Place Management and Leadership from Manchester Metropolitan University, is a Fellow of the Institute of Place Management and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. She has alsobeen appointed as an Expert on the High Streets Taskforce in England.
Nick is the Joint Managing Partner of Argent and a partner of Argent Related. Having spent almost 10 years working on Argent’s 8m sq ft King’s Cross development in central London, Nick is now part of the leadership team for Argent Related’s 10m sq ft Brent Cross Town development in north London.
Before joining Argent in late 2007, Nick worked with Chelsfield and European Land at Paddington Basin in London. Prior to that he spent almost 5 years working on large developments in the Far East.
Nick is also the chairman of trustees for the charity Club Peloton that organises the cycle rides to Mipim, Mapic and other industry events each year.
Louisa Shaw is the Place Brand Manager at We Are Staffordshire, a new approach to promoting and marketing the county, funded by Staffordshire County Council.
Louisa is working with Staffordshire’s Place Board of business leaders and partners to develop and promote a vibrant new place brand and narrative for Staffordshire, maximising opportunities to promote inward investment, support visitor economy, and generate economic growth across the county.
With over a decade's experience in destination marketing, Louisa has led complex marketing and community engagement programmes for major infrastructure and regeneration developments in the Midlands and wider UK.
Emma is the CEO of Visit Pembrokeshire, which launched in November 2020 and is the first Destination Management Organisation (DMO) of its type in Wales. It leads on a coordinated approach to tourism delivery across the County through the 2020-25 Destination Management Plan (DMP) (English language DMP Welsh language DMP).
The DMP is a demonstration of the commitment from Partners in Pembrokeshire to work collaboratively and sets out a clear vision and strategy to grow tourism in a sustainable way for the benefit of all. Emma has 20 years’ experience working across the disciplines of City Centre Management and Tourism. She is passionate about building effective partnerships that ensure destinations reach their potential and maximise the economic benefits to the broader area.
As founding Director of thinkingplace, John has directed the development of over 80 place brands over the last 16 years across the UK. He is active in promoting and implementing this best practice approach of creating a shared place story, widening place leadership and creating active collaboration as a key part of growing a place’s economy and promoting local pride. He has led projects for places as diverse as Hampshire, Nottingham, Torbay, Harrogate, North Cambridgeshire, Newhaven, Medway, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Harrogate, Perth and all three UK Cities of Culture.
John has also been working with places to help them develop their response to the Towns Deal, Future High Streets Fund, Levelling Up Funding and Shared Prosperity Fund and is a Mentor to the High Streets Task Force helping to support local authorities and communities to transform their places.
Seren has over 25 years’ destination marketing and communications experience; Previously GM International Marketing for VisitBritain, overseeing all international campaign development along with the organisation’s presence and events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. For the 2012 London Olympics she joined the Mayor of London’s Culture Team, focusing on global media exposure for cultural activity throughout the games and the legacy delivery of the London Cultural Tourism Strategy.
Now her focus is supporting destinations to recognize their potential by developing experiential product, such as screen tourism and working directly with overseas TV distributors to raise the destination profile of Britain most loved TV dramas from Downton to All Creatures Great and Small.
Deirdre Wells OBE was appointed as CEO of Go To Places in September 2018. She leads an award-winning team that is responsible for running two destination management organisations (Kent and Hertfordshire) and delivering a number of major EU, national and regional visitor economy projects. The team also provide consultancy to clients that to date have included local authorities, destination management organisations and tourism businesses in over 20 destinations across the UK.
Prior to her appointment to Go To Places, Deirdre was Chief Executive of UKinbound, representing nearly 400 UK inbound tourism businesses. During her tenure at UKinbound, Deirdre was a passionate advocate on behalf of the industry on a broad range of issues including Visas, Air Passenger Duty, skills and the impact of Brexit.
Prior to UKinbound Deirdre spent 20 years at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport working on a variety of high-profile projects and was instrumental in the delivery of the GREAT campaign – an ambitious and far-reaching marketing campaign promoting Britain as a great place to visit, study, work, invest, and do business.
Deirdre is Chair of English Tourism Week and sits on the Board of the Tourism Alliance. She is also a Trustee of The Historic Dockyard, Chatham
Todd Babiak is CEO of Brand Tasmania. He made the switch from place branding and economic development consulting, with Story Engine and Places are People, where he had worked with clients in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. Why did he move to Tasmania, to join his former client as CEO? He had never implemented a strategy before, and he was inspired to understand why people didn’t always take action on his “brilliant advice.”
Now he gets it.
See tasmanian.com.au and toddbabiak.com.
Deepak Bagla has a professional career of over three decades, starting with the World Bank in Washington DC. In 1989 he joined Citibank Global Corporate and Investment Banking team and held several responsibilities across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. In 2007 he joined Private Equity to start an India dedicated fund for core infrastructure.
Mr. Bagla is currently Managing Director & CEO of Invest India, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency promoted by the Government of India. Invest India is also the execution agency for Government of India’s Start-up initiative.
He is a special invitee on the official Bilateral CEO’s Forum and a member of the Venture Capital Investment Committee of the US $ 1.5 billion “Fund of Funds for Start-ups” established under the Prime Minister’s Startup India action plan. He is also a member of the Ministry of Finance steering Committee on Fintech and a Member of the High-Level committee of the Atal Innovation Mission responsible for establishing and scaling up incubators and tinkering labs across India.
Mr Bagla has a Bachelor’s degree with Honors in Economics from St Stephens College, New Delhi and a dual Masters in International Diplomacy and International Trade and Finance from The School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC.
Karen Bolinger is a dynamic and experienced strategist and executive leader in the international events, travel, tourism and hospitality services sector.
Karen has made a significant contribution to the visitor economies of several Australian and international cities, and has a unique track record of bringing industry, government policy makers, funders and service organisations together to collaborate and deliver outstanding public value outcomes.
Karen brings a human-centred, engagement rich approach to her work, combined with commercial nous and a comprehensive understanding of Destination Marketing Organisation operating models, business development and market growth strategies.
Karen’s contribution to the sector locally and globally was recognised when Karen was awarded the 2019 Outstanding Contribution to the industry by the Tourism Accommodation Association and 2018 Joint Meetings Industry Council Unity Award, which recognises individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of the business events industry globally. In addition, in 2017 Karen was named in Meetings and Convention Magazine as one of the top 25 leading women in business events globally and a finalist in the 2016 CEO Magazine, Hospitality and Tourism Executive of the Year.
Karen is passionate about the tourism sector becoming a force for economic and social change, re-imagining the way tourism can create more cohesive and inclusive communities, and more vibrant and resilient economies, locally and internationally.
Karen is a champion for women in the workplace and is a founding member on the committee for Not In My Workplace (NIMW), a collective of senior female leaders working together to assist boards and senior management bodies to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Karen is currently on a “gap” year taking a career break to rejuvenate and rediscover her passion.
Nick Hill was appointed Chief Executive of Auckland Unlimited in October 2020, following three years at the helm of Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development.
Nick has extensive experience across the private and public sector. This includes the Chief Executive role with the Commerce Commission, and leading the formation of Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC, now known as Sport New Zealand).
He also has significant experience in the energy sector, having worked 10 years with ECNZ and Fletcher Energy in New Zealand, and with Santos in Australia.
Before joining ATEED, Nick was a Partner of specialist New Zealand public policy and management consulting firm Martin Jenkins – which he joined in 2011 to establish the firm’s Auckland practice.
As Assistant Chief Executive (Marketing Group) of the Singapore Tourism Board, Ms Lynette Pang is responsible for building the Singapore destination brand globally and helms the international marketing efforts, driving the consumer-centric and yield-driven approach to marketing.
Her role as ACE Marketing gives her responsibility for brand strategy and global campaigns, corporate and consumer communications, marketing partnerships, digital and content, industry marketing, agency management and marketing capability development.
In her previous role as Executive Director, Arts & Entertainment, Lynette w as responsible for the strategic development of the Arts and Entertainment sectors for tourism contribution.
She also held a concurrent position as Executive Director, F1 &Sports, overseeing the growth of sports tourism. Lynette had also managed the Enrichment (Healthcare and Education) portfolio in STB previously.
Before joining STB, Lynette was General Manager at leading theatre company,Singapore Repertory Theatre and held marketing leadership positions at Yahoo! Asia and at film distributor, Warner Bros. Theatrical.
She started her marketing career at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising where she worked on the Singapore Tourism Board account. Lynette graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Artsin English Literature and Sociology and completed an Honours in EnglishLiterature. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Singapore International Film Festival and Arts House Limited.
Dr. Dhananjay Regmi, born in 1975 in Syangja District in the western part of Nepal, is an eminent mountain geomorphologist and glaciologist of Nepal. He obtained his PhD in Environmental Earth Science from Hokkaido University, Japan in 2006. Then, he served as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow for the Global Land Project, NODAL office in Sapporo, Japan. He completed a three-month Post-Doctoral course on Dendrochronological Research in Arizona University, USA as a Haury Fellow.
Well known tourism entrepreneur, Dr. Regmi has also been working as an adjunct professor in the Central Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Tribhuvan University, Nepal and also as a Vice-Chairperson of Nepal Geographical Society. He has been involved in the field of climate change and ecological restoration activities as a President of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) Nepal chapter. In addition, as a Chairperson of Himalayan Research Expedition (HRE) and The Himalayan Research Center (HRC) Nepal, he is has been working for the betterment of the livelihood of the high mountain people through his intensive research activities in the Nepal Himalaya.
Dr. Regmi has served as a technical advisor, Glaciologist and Glacier Lake Expert for the Imja Lake Lowering project. He has published several papers about the geomorphological changes and tourism, landslide and floods, earthquake and its impacts, glacier lake outburst flood etc. He has devoted significant time in his career for the promotion of sustainable tourism in Nepal.
Shri Sanjeev Sanyal is currently the Principal Economic Advisor to the Government of India and also serves as the Co-Chair of the G-20 Framework Working Group. He also represents India on a number of international forums.
Prior to joining the government in February 2017, he spent over two decades in the financial sector and was Global Strategist & Managing Director at Deutsche Bank. He was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010. Shri Sanyal is also a well-known urban theorist and writer. In 2007, he was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship for his work on urban dynamics. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University, Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore, a Senior Fellow of the World Wide Fund for Nature, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London, and an Honorary Professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. In 2015-16, he served in the Future City Sub-Committee of the Singapore government tasked with building a long-term vision for the city-state.
Shri Sanyal attended Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi and Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar (1992-95). His best-selling books include Land of the Seven Rivers, The Indian Renaissance, India in the Age of Ideas, and The Ocean of Churn, all published by Penguin. In addition, he had published around 200 articles, columns and reports in leading national/international publications.
*****
Mr. Jens Thraenhart | Executive Director of Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office
Jens Thraenhart was appointed by the six tourism ministries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and China to head the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO). With more than 25 years of experience, Mr. Thraenhart has headed digital and marketing strategy teams at organizations including Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and the Canadian Tourism Commission. Recognized as a China expert, he co-founded award-winning Chinese Travel Marketing agency Dragon Trail in 2008, as well as China Travel Trends. He has consulted for the Asian Development Bank, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), and other international organizations. Educated at Cornell University with a Masters of Management in Hospitality, and currently pursuing his doctorate at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Mr. Thraenhart was named as one of the travel industry’s top 100 rising stars by Travel Agent Magazine in 2003, as one of HSMAI’s 25 Most Extraordinary Sales and Marketing Minds in Hospitality and Travel in 2004 and 2005, and one of the Top 20 Extraordinary Minds in European Travel in 2014. He currently serves as the 2nd Vice Chair of the Board of the Affiliate Members of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Bloom Consulting CEO
Since 2003 Mr. Torres has been advising Countries in the field of Nation Branding and City Branding, working directly with heads of state, directors of National Tourism Organizations and Investment Promotion Agencies.
His clients include Countries, Regions and Cities such as Australia, Costa Rica, Israel, Jamaica, Poland, Sweden, Stockholm and many others spread across all five continents.
Mr. Torres collaborates directly with the World Economic Forum in the matters of Nation Branding and is a guest speaker in some of the most prestigious universities in USA and Europe, such as HARVARD, the London Business School, Stockholm School of Economics and many others, being interviewed by The Economist, BBC, Guardian and CNN.
Since 2011 his company performs a global research project called the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking and most recently the Digital Country Index and the Digital City Index
Edith Wong is Chief Marketing Officer at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), a government department tasked to attract, facilitate and retain foreign direct investment into Hong Kong. The department works with companies of all sizes, from startups and SMEs to multinationals, and supports them in every stage from planning, setting up to promotion and expansion.
She joined Invest HK in 2005 and took up the CMO position in 2015. Her division oversees content marketing, events, public relations, social media, market intelligence and strategic research. Her teams work closely with 31 offices in key markets worldwide to reach out to potential investors and to strengthen and promote Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s premier business location. Recent campaigns launched and spearheaded by Invest HK include the StartmeupHK Festival and Hong Kong Fintech Week.
Prior to joining Invest HK, Edith worked with the Airport Authority Hong Kong and Hong Kong Productivity Council.
Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli is the Chief Executive Officer of InvestKL.
In his current role as Chief Executive Officer, he leads the team to identify, facilitate, and develop solutions for MNCs to locate their high value regional hubs in Greater KL and Malaysia. The focus sectors include oil & gas, healthcare, FMCG, business and financial services. To date, the InvestKL team led by Azmi has successfully brought in more than 90 MNCs to set up regional headquarters or hubs in Greater KL.
He joined InvestKL in 2012 as Director of Investor Relations for Europe.
Prior to InvestKL, Azmi has over 16 years' experience in leadership and management positions spanning commercial business, business transformation and operations with MISC Berhad, a subsidiary of Petronas. HE participated in MISC's business transformation initiatives and was part of a leadership team to re-engineer, develop and commission a global ICT system throughout MISC offices globally.
Azmi holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Marketing) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA. Azmi has attended Petronas Management Training programs as well as participated in several Executive Management programs under Harvard Business School and Dale Carnegie training.
Lawyer from Universidad del Norte with experience in the field of commercial, civil, labor and mining law; training courses in Business Legal Advice and seminars in Negotiation, Mediation and Conflict Resolution. Her work and commitment to the development of the city of Barranquilla started in the District Mayor's Office where she served as an advisor to the Management of Special Projects, a position in which she supported the promotion of the city in different national and international scenarios.
Additionally, she has exercised her profession from different areas: Lawyer of the Mining Legal Division of Empresa Nacional Minera Ltda. - MINERCOL Ltda, Assistant to the President of the Chamber of Labor of the Superior Court of the District of Barranquilla, and Assistant Lawyer of the law firm Rodriguez, Rozo & Asociados.
Since September 2011 she has been part of ProBarranquilla, where she started as Investment Promotion Coordinator, promoting investment in the city and the state of Atlantico and supporting the installation and expansion processes of investors in the region. Ana Maria Badel is currently the executive director of ProBarranquilla.
Diane Edwards is the President of Jamaica’s Investment and export promotions agency, JAMPRO, where sheoversees national projects in the tourism, manufacturing, energy, mining, logistics, agriculture, creative industries and the knowledge services sectors and is instrumental in leading investment negotiations for Jamaica. A former Trade Commissioner for Jamaica in New York, Brussels and London, Diane is a respected thought-leader and strong advocate for the development and advancement of Jamaica’s business brand, and transformation of the nation’s business environment.
She has successfully managed and executed product launches for Jamaican food brands into mainstream markets, and negotiated substantial European Union funding for the ‘Target Europe’ Trade Development Programme; an initiative that positioned Jamaican products in the European market. This project subsequently evolved into a five-year Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP).She was also successful in landing investments in Jamaica for Spanishresort investors RIU and Iberostarand pivotal to the development of Jamaica’s garment sub-contracting and information and communications technology (ICT) industries.
Diane currently serves as the President of the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) and a member of the UK Institute of Directors, a Trustee for the British Foundation for the University of the West Indies.
Pedro is the former VP of Innovation and Intelligence in ProColombia. He leads the team in the generation of insights in the difficult time of the pandemic.
Before joining the team at ProColombia, Pedro was a consultant for the World Bank and the Interamerican Development Bank, supporting statistical projects throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, especially household surveys and population censuses.
He also was Deputy Director of the DANE, Colombia’s official Statistics Agency, where he specialized in the job market statistics, inflation rates, and demographics.
He has worked in market research for companies like ACNielsen, YanHaas, and Movistar (formerly Telecom) for the last 15 years. He is also a professor in Market research methods at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, one of Colombia’s leading Universities.
He knows a wide range of industries: telecommunications, food services, financial services, pharmaceutical companies, and public affairs.
Pedro is fully Bilingual. He has a Master in Marketing Intelligence, a degree in Business and a postgraduate degree in Political Marketing, and public opinion from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia
The Minister of Tourism of El Salvador is a professional with extensive experience in the direction of planning strategies, development and implementation of programs at the national level with governmental and private institutions. Specialist in the design, monitoring and evaluation of investment projects and international cooperation.
She recently served as the Country Brand National Director in the Export and Investment Promotion Agency of El Salvador PROESA.
She has dedicated part of her life to the in-depth study of marketing and advertising, but mainly oriented to exalt the image of El Salvador inside and outside the territory.
Bachelor in Tourism, specialist in Tourism Management for Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, specialized in Management of Creative Business and Creative Cities for the Universidad de Cordoba / Argentina, expert in Leisure Studies at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Recently obtained a Master degree in Creative Economy, Cultural Management and Development for Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain. The subject chosen for the master thesis research was the development of creative tourism in small cities, which generated the Patchwork Methodology, a specific tool created for the management of projects connecting creative tourism, innovation and small cities territorial development. The Patchwork Methodoly won the 2017 Creative Tourism Awards as the best creative tourism development strategy. Member of the volunteer group of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), ambassador of the World Food Travel Association (WFTA) and collaborator of the International Institute of Gastronomy, Art, Culture and Tourism (IGCAT), Volunteer Member and founder of Frente da Gastronomia Mineira (FGM) – Minas Gerais Gastronomy Group, involving public institutions, private sector, third sector organizations, researchers and professionals.
When Katie was at university, she was asked – multiple times – what you can actually do with a degree in English. As it turns out, the answer is Head of Content at City Nation Place. Katie joined the team in 2018 as an Events Manager, helping Clare Dewhirst to research and create the conference agendas for both the City Nation Place conferences and a range of client events. As City Nation Place has grown, her role has expanded to include writing articles for the City Nation Place website, interviewing leading place brand practitioners, and curating the online content. Katie has developed a keen interest in all things place branding, and is looking forward to helping City Nation Place to continue to grow and develop in the future.
Larissa Perdomo has been head of the Uruguay Country Brand team since June 2014. She has been Image and Communications Manager at the Uruguayan investment and export promotion agency (Uruguay XXI) since 2009, contributing to the creation and management of the Uruguayan country brand project, and coordinating this activity from Uruguay XXI with the Interministerial Advising Committee for Foreign Trade. In recent years she has taken part in Country Brand international forums and workshops with specialists in Nation Branding. She coordinates the Jeremey Hildreth consultancy for “Redibero Region Image” Project (Ibero-American Network of Trade Promotion Organizations) within the framework of IDB Regional Public Goods programme. Larissa has worked as a professor of corporate communications and public relations in the Uruguayan Association of Marketing Executives (ADM) and has trained many executives from companies and organizations in their relationship with the media. She also lectures on country branding for the Tourism degree program at the Universidad Católica del Uruguay.
Hugo Fco. Rivera Fernandez was born in the City of Santo Domingo. He graduated from APEC University and has a Law Degree. He has worked in different newspapers and magazines; Business Today, facilitator for Hoy newspaper, Business Editor for the business newspaper MerKdos for Puerto Rico and columnist for Entrepreneurs magazine.
He has been professor of Commercial Law, Comparative Law, International Public Law, International treaties and Economic Policy of the Universities UASD, UNIBE, PUCAMAIMA, APEC and the OMG.
Work Experience:
Mr. Rivera is currently the Ambassador, Vice Minister of Foreign Relations for Economic Affairs and International Cooperation for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic.
In his state functions, he was the national coordinator and chief negotiator of the Free Trade Area of the Americas and coordinator of the implementation of the CARICOM and CENTROAMERICA agreements (2002-2004).
National Coordinator of the Training Plan on Foreign Trade. (2000-2004). Coordinator of the Dominican delegation on the Council for Trade and Investment of the Dominican Republic and the United States of America (2002-2004).
Director of the technical teams of the Special Office for DR-CAFTA negotiations.
Private sector:
Technical Coordinator of the Business Coalition to Support the Free Trade Agreement with the United States DR-CAFTA (2004-2006); international trade advisor to the American Chamber of Commerce AMCHAM of the Association of Free Zones Industries (2005-2006), consultant to the industry association of the Dominican Republic AIRD.
Advisor to: ASE-CAFTA Team and BHD Bank (2005-2009).
Consultant to: the United States Agency for International Development, Team USAID through the Chemonics program, and the Canadian-Dominican Chamber for matters related to Trade with Canada.
Advisor in International Trade to the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Department of Economic Development and Commerce (2007-2009).
Advisor to the Corripio Business Group and advisor to multinational companies including Procter and Gamble and PepsiCo International.
Senator Claudia Ruiz Massieu is a Mexican lawyer and politician who served as as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2017, Previously she was the Minister of Tourism, also under President Enrique Peña Nieto. During her time as cabinet member, Ruiz Massieu developed comprehensive soft power strategies to promote Mexico as a world-class destination for tourism and investment.
In the Mexican Senate, she is Chair of the Special Committee on USMCA implementation, as well as member of the committees on foreign affairs and North America.
Known for her forward-thinking, innovative leadership and fierce enthusiasm, Ronella Tjin Asjoe-Croes proudly serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Aruba Tourism Authority (A.T.A.), expertly leading Aruba’s destination marketing, business development, and partnerships while effectively collaborating with the Aruban government and the country’s private sector. She invests heavily in the A.T.A. team that have helped position Aruba where it is today within the global tourism industry. The economic impact of tourism over the past nine years was phenomenal, with an annual average growth of 5% in the expenditure of international visitors and a solid growth in visitor arrivals of on average 4% per year.
Well aware that Aruba is not immune to the ever-changing world and its increasingly complex environment, Ronella accepts the challenge to rebuild the Aruba tourism industry and to continue to evolve as a leader and inspire her fellow countrymen and women to evolve as well, placing great emphasis on building strong character, which she believes forms the bedrock of a resilient nation equipped to continue driving its tourism market upward.
Ronella currently serves as a member of the Board of the Stichting Beheer Centro Oranjestad, and as a member of the RBC Royal Bank Aruba N.V. Board of Supervisory Directors. She is also a member of Aruba’s national crisis team and served as a member of the Covid-19 steering committee recently, helping guide the Economic Recovery trajectory through the establishment of a National Master Plan. As CEO of the A.T.A., Ronella also guides the Tourism Recovery Marketing trajectory. All platforms are critical to managing the current Covid-19 crisis as well as the recovery trajectory.
Ronella serves and has served on numerous other committees, boards, and platforms in Bonaire and Aruba.
Bloom Consulting CEO
Since 2003 Mr. Torres has been advising Countries in the field of Nation Branding and City Branding, working directly with heads of state, directors of National Tourism Organizations and Investment Promotion Agencies.
His clients include Countries, Regions and Cities such as Australia, Costa Rica, Israel, Jamaica, Poland, Sweden, Stockholm and many others spread across all five continents.
Mr. Torres collaborates directly with the World Economic Forum in the matters of Nation Branding and is a guest speaker in some of the most prestigious universities in USA and Europe, such as HARVARD, the London Business School, Stockholm School of Economics and many others, being interviewed by The Economist, BBC, Guardian and CNN.
Since 2011 his company performs a global research project called the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking and most recently the Digital Country Index and the Digital City Index