2017 Conference Speakers

Ike Anand
Vice President, Strategy and Business Development - Expedia group

Ike Anand serves as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for Expedia group and is responsible for Brand Expedia Group’s global strategy. In this role, Anand creates and implements global strategies for Expedia’s Lodging, Air, Rail, Car and Packages businesses, and is responsible for exploring new business development opportunities for these products. He is also responsible for Analytics to support and optimize the business. His team manages relationships with various technology partners that enable and support the travel business. His experienced team also supports the supply partners, helping them reach and understand the buying patterns of the millions of consumers who shop for travel on Expedia booking sites across the globe.

Anand joined Expedia in 2006 to support its Air product reporting and analysis practices. He subsequently assumed responsibility for Transport Analytics which he led for 4 years. Before Expedia, Anand spent a few years at Sabre Holdings in various positions in Strategy, Pricing and Analytics.

Anand holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics from Delhi University, and an MBA from the Southern Methodist University.

Aileen C. Clemente
Chairman and President,Rajah Travel Corporation

Ms. Aileen C. Clemente is the President and Chairman of Rajah Travel Corporation. She has been part of the company since 2000. Since then, the company expanded to have a manpower complement of over 250 employees. She is responsible for the overall operations of allits offices in Manila (Head Office), in Makati, and it’s other Implant Offices. Her inevitable dedication and hard work led her to receive numerous awards. She is the only Filipino recipient of the Global Peace Awards for Empowered Women in Tourism organized by the International Institute for Peace through Tourism India in partnership with the United Nations World Tourism Organization received in 2016. She has also been honored with the SKAL Makati Travel Agency Personality of the Year 2015, and the Amadeus Industry Leaders Award (ILAW) awarded last 2012. Through the years, she has held various positions in several travel industry associations and organizations. She currently serves as Executive Vice President of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) from 2016 to 2017 and an appointed Member of the Commission on Higher Education Technical Committee for Hotel and Restaurant Management and Tourism. Recently, she served as the President of the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) from 2014 to 2016.She is also past presidentof the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), Philippine IATA Agents Travel Association(PIATA) and IATA Agency Programme Joint Council (APJC). She is a regular resource speaker in the field of tourism and has participated in a variety of forums, seminars, working groups, as a guest speaker, panelist or resource person in both local and international activities. This includes the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) COMPETE Project, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines’ Arangkada Philippines Forum, different projects of the Department of Tourism, Web In Travel, and The Asset Magazine Philippine Forum. She is also a part of TwoEco Inc. – a tourism consultancy firm designed to provide professional assistance on conceptualization, drafting, and implementation of various private and public tourism projects.

Chris Cammann
Chief Digital Officer - Hybrid News

After graduating from the University of the West of England, with a BA Hons in Business & IT, Chris joined Hargreaves Lansdown working on Technical Projects. Implementing his digital knowledge and learning from the senior team, Chris worked on data, security, marketing and digital advertising projects.   Chris joined Hybrid News in 2013 and has been pivotal in the development of our web assets. Overseeing the redesign of our websites, the creation of our own in-house analytics tool ‘Campaign Hub’ and driving the advertising strategy across social media channels, taking our readership to over 6 million people per month. 

Sharon Chen
Corporate Director of Revenue Management - Montigo Resorts Pte Ltd

Sharon is a Revenue strategist who partners with company Executives to formulating winning Revenue and Distribution strategies in the most effective and efficient manner. After spending nearly a decade working in Revenue Management with international hotel  chains and boutique life style hotels, Sharon knows what truly drives Revenue Growth, Distribution and channel efficiency. Sharon has landed her first Revenue management career with Intercontinental Hotel Group, subsequently with Ascott Group, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and now she is Corporate Director of Revenue Management for Montigo Resorts Pte Ltd. Her portfolio includes both Business hotel and luxury resorts in APAC region. Sharon is a Certified Revenue Management Executive by Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) in the United States, she obtained her Master degree from University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a stunning Scholarship from Singapore Workforce Development Agency.

Limin Cheng
Director of Revenue and Distribution Management, Marina Bay Sands 

With more than 10 years’ experience and an unwavering passion for the hospitality industry, Limin is thankful to be in a career that marries the thrills of revenue management with the dynamism of a mega-hotel/integrated resort.

Having been a blessed beneficiary of wonderful mentors throughout her career, she is most interested in nurturing and mentoring revenue and distribution professionals of the future. 

Nathania Christy 
Insights & Community Lead, APAC - TrendWatching

Nathania Christy is the Insights & Community Lead at TrendWatching APAC. As a published author and experienced speaker, she is regularly invited to deliver presentations in institutions.
Based in Singapore, she oversees partnerships with industry and market experts to gather on-the-ground innovations and analyse trend insights in the region. Prior to joining TrendWatching she gained experience in the startup and accelerator scene. She has also worked with companies such as General Electric, BOSCH, and Inoue Seikoen on consulting projects. She holds an honours degree in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore.

Her interest in consumer trends and innovations started in business school and grew as she immersed herself in the tech startups ecosystem. She is excited to share her insights and help brands stay relevant through trend-driven innovations!

Nathania can be contacted at nathania@trendwatching.com

James Craven
Managing Director - Hybrid News

 James has 20 years working in the media running businesses based in Sydney, Beijing, Bangalore and New York.  He was previously the CEO of a web publishing and events group, growing revenues from £7M – £20M during his four years in charge.  James started Hybrid News in 2009 because of his passion for news, geopolitics and digital media and the gaps he saw in regional reporting.    

Isabella Crocker
Asia Pacific Senior Manager, Global Early Talent - Expedia

Isabella currently leads Expedia’s Global Early Talent function, across Asia Pacific, and is responsible for building and shaping Expedia Group’s early careers presence in the region.
Isabella is a ‘true-blooded’ graduate recruitment professional with over 16 years of international graduate recruitment experience in Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific, working across multiple sectors.

Being part of the world’s largest online travel business has its perks, and Isabella enjoys travelling to new and exciting locations, learning about the many rich and diverse cultures in this region. To remain sane and calm during the busy graduate recruitment cycles, Isabella volunteers as a Conservation Docent at the Singapore Zoo. She also nurtures a healthy obsession for elephants, and looks forward to her next volunteering holiday with these intelligent and gentle giants!

Faeez Fadhlillah
CEO and Co-founder, Tripfez

Faeez Fadhlillah is the CEO and Co-founder of Tripfez, an innovative , state of the art travel portal dedicated to the rise of global Muslim travelers.
Awarded the Malaysia’s Young Technopreneur 2013, Faeez is also an avid speaker at many international travel conferences and seminars and currently chairs the R&D committee of the Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA). Faeez was elected as Vice President of MATTA, Malaysia’s largest travel association for the term 2015 -2017.

Faeez was named 30 under 30 by Forbes magazine in 2016 – http://www.forbes.com/30-under-30-asia-2016/retail-ecommerce/#59277f281016

Faeez works very closely with various Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) in the region. Faeez graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honors from the School of Engineering.

Douglas Gan
Founder and CEO - Vanitee

Douglas Gan 颜義东 is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Vanitee, and additionally serves as a co-founder and director of iFashion Group. He is also an angel investor investing in startups in Southeast Asia.

Between 1997 and 2016, he founded 5 companies which are all sold to MNCs.

His accolades include being named as SCS Young Professional of The Year, Top 25 Outstanding Alumni Award in Technopreneurship at the Ngee Ann Poly’s 50th Anniversary

Rom E. Hendler
Founder and Managing Partner, InnoVel

InnoVel is a new breed of innovation center. With unmatched knowhow in the industry, InnoVel connects travel companies with the most cutting-edge startups, leading them through the implementation of solutions that address concrete pains and problems and focus on valuable features. Prior to Innovel Rom held several C-level roles with Las Vegas Sands, the world’s biggest integrate resorts company. Rom joined the Las Vegas Sands in 2000. Through many promotions Rom eventually held the title of Senior Vice President & Chief Administration Officer till March 2016 When he left the company. In that role Rom oversaw the global budgeting process, capital expenditures spent, project management, financial reviews, corporate travel etc. In his role Rom drove process enhancement, efficiencies, labor analysis, streamlines approvals and standardization of operation procedures. Prior to that he was Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer overseeing Global Sales & Marketing efforts worldwide from October 2010 to August 2013. In December 2012, after the departure of Las Vegas Sands CIO, Rom was appointed interim Chief Information Officer until July 2013 when a new CIO was hired, while keeping his CMO position. In October 2009 he was appointed Corporate Vice President of Strategic Marketing, responsible for developing best practices for marketing analytics, distribution strategies, CRM, revenue management, e-commerce, loyalty programs, direct marketing, casino floor optimization and standardization of marketing systems among all properties. In 2007 he was appointed Vice President of Strategic Marketing for the entire complex consisting of the Venetian and Palazzo 7,093 suite properties where he worked to maximize profitability by setting the company’s distribution strategy, pricing the room and slot inventories, forming strategic partnerships, using state-of-the-art database analysis, optimizing the casino floor, and developing CRM and customer loyalty initiatives. Rom is highly seek after speaker in industry events. He speaks 5 languages – English, Hebrew, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Rom enjoys traveling & exploring new cultures with his family. His hobbies include skiing, swimming sailing, biking and spending quality time with friends and family. He is married and has three children.

Diego Herrera
Co-Founder, CEO - Zebra Design SD

Since 2006 Diego and his team have been creating engaging Sales & Marketing products for the Hospitality Industry, featuring MICE sector leading software Virtual Planner®, VPlite®, and VPViewer™ — Interactive 3D Meeting Planning solutions that combine the use of state-of-the-art 3D graphics with cutting-edge VR/AR technology, improving event venue booking experience. Diego is responsible for the business and product development of the company.

Diego developed his entrepreneurial skills from a young age founding his first company Crepes4Kids (kids party food company) when he was 15, his first experience in hospitality came years later when he worked as a sales executive in RCI. His studies include Advertising, 3D animation for featured films, and multimedia.

Andrew Hinshelwood
Vice President, Client Solutions APAC & EMEA  - Lonely Planet

Andrew Hinshelwood is Vice President, Client Solutions for APAC & EMEA at Lonely Planet – one of the world’s leading and most influential multi-media travel companies. He leads Lonely Planet’s Client Solutions team across the Asia-Pacific, Europe & Middle Eastern markets.

Lonely Planet’s Client Solutions team works with partners on a range of unique sponsorship opportunities, helping them reach passionate travellers by integrating them within the Lonely Planet experience across a portfolio of digital, video, print and social channels.

Previously Andrew has worked in media sales roles in Australia, Japan & the United Kingdom, including at Sky Media and Microsoft. 

Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world’s number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we’ve printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You’ll also find our content on lonelyplanet.com, mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more. Visit us at lonelyplanet.com and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/lonelyplanet), Twitter (@lonelyplanet), Instagram (Instagram.com/lonelyplanet) and Snapchat (@lonelyplanet).

Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas
Head of International Expansion, Head of Retail - Expedia

Passionate about travel and hospitality, Shyn Yee has spent her career developing a broad set of expertise including general management, strategic development, digital marketing, online distribution and revenue maximization. Her exposure and perspectives span across APAC corporate, on-property, hotel owners’ interests and 3rd party distribution.
She currently holds 2 roles – Head of International Expansion for Brand Expedia, and Head of Retail for Expedia China, based out of Singapore. In these roles, Shyn Yee is responsible for identifying and developing new international markets for Brand Expedia; and oversees marketing and business operations for Expedia China. Previously, she was Head of Merchandising, Asia responsible for all regional merchandising strategies and activities for Expedia.com and AirAsiaGo.com, across 25 points of sale in 13 countries. Before joining Expedia, Shyn Yee was part of the APAC Corporate Digital Marketing team at Starwood Hotels and Resorts supporting more than 250 properties; and Assistant Director at Horwath HTL where she led and managed consulting engagements, focusing on strategic expansion, and hotel and resort developments in the region.

A strong advocate for women empowerment, education and young talent development, she founded and co-led the Women at Expedia, Leading and Learning (WELL) Singapore Chapter from 2014-2016; and is also actively involved with her alma mater, the Singapore Management University (SMU) as a guest lecturer and the Founding President of the SMU Travel and Hospitality Alumni Group (SMUTH). She is currently a Fellow with the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) Company of Good programme. Shyn Yee is a proud mother of a prolific pre-schooler and a zen baby. In her free time, she consumes books, adds on and removes items from her bucket list, and attempts to learn more foreign languages.

Michal Hubschmann
CEO and Founder  - Vdroom

Michal Hubschmann is an Israeli entrepreneur who was an professional athlete all her life. Her biggest achievement was winning an European championship in long jump. After her sport career and serving the Israeli army, she studied hotel management and worked in several significant hotels in Tel-aviv and London. She founded her first company, Easytobook.com – an online booking reservation system, in 2004 in the Netherland. Michal sold this first company in 2011 to one of the largest travel companies in the world- BCD Travel. At that time, the company had 80 employees and a turnover of EUR 100 mil.

After 2 years full of challenges and research and development, she set up her second company in August 2014, called RelevancyData.com, based in the Netherland, where she was selected for a startup accelerator program – Starupbootcamp.org. Her experience within the entrepreneurial world encouraged her to strive to inspire more women to actively take part in the startup environment.
In 2015, Michal successfully presented RelevancyData in several pitching contests such as MIP-TV in France, TechCrunch – Disrupt in USA, Polar Bear pitching in Finland and Festival of Media Global in Italy.

Michal Is one of the International Circle of Influencers at Start up Delta. Start Up Delta is a governmental initiative to support the Dutch government to improve the start up ecosystem .
Mission Statement Special Envoy Neelie Kroes for StartupDelta: Europe’s best connected and largest ecosystem

Jeannette Ho
Vice President, Raffles Brand & Strategic Relationships -AccorHotels Luxury Division

Jeannette Ho is the Vice President, Raffles Brand & Strategic Relationships for AccorHotels Luxury Division, and will lead the Global Brand Strategy for Raffles Hotels & Resorts, and play an active role as brand ambassador with our owners, development teams, luxury media and luxury sales. Under Strategic Relationships, Jeannette is responsible for building collaborative partnerships with other luxury hospitality companies, such as Banyan Tree. Jeannette joined Raffles in 2005, and has held leading roles in Brand Marketing, Customer Analytics, Distribution and Revenue Management with Raffles and FRHI. As VP Marketing for Raffles, she played an instrumental role in the transformational openings of Raffles Dubai, Raffles Beijing during the 2008 Olympics and Raffles Le Royal Monceau in Paris. Previously, she held various key senior positions across commercial areas in product development, revenue management, distribution, digital marketing and CRM, in international companies such as Singapore Airlines, Banyan Tree and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Jeannette holds a 1st class honors degree from the London School of Economics, University of London, and was awarded both the British High Commission’s Award and the prestigious Singapore Airlines Scholarship. Over the years, Jeannette has co-authored several papers on revenue management with leading services and revenue management professors from Cornell University and National University of Singapore. And is an active speaker at hospitality and pricing conferences, and guest lecturer at various universities in Singapore.

Fran Hughes
Director - International Tourism Partnership

Fran Hughes is Director of the International Tourism Partnership (ITP). ITP is a global industry organisation, bringing together the most powerful hotel companies in an alliance focused on a single ambition: to lead the industry through example with clear and quantifiable commitments to improved sustainability. ITP believes that the hotel industry can be a force for good and make a positive contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to the COP21 climate agreements and that bigger impacts can be achieved faster through the industry working together at scale. ITP’s collaborative work focuses around four critical goals on carbon, water, youth employment and human rights.

ITP works with its members to drive continual improvement through promoting and sharing best practice through its online magazine www.greenhotelier.org, offering a range of practical products and programmes, such as the Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) – developed in partnership with the World Travel & Tourism Council; and setting the agenda on sustainability through collaborative working groups and issues management. ITP’s award-winning youth employability programme, the Youth Career Initiative has helped over 4,000 disadvantaged young people start careers in the hotel industry. Fran has over 25 years’ experience in the tourism industry and holds a Master’s in Environmental Strategy.

Ender Jiang
Founder - Hiverlab

A futuristic storyteller, techno-philosopher, and life explorer, Ender has always been exploring how to create unique storytelling experiences via cutting-edge technologies. During his extensive career in the creative industry, Ender has made short films about urban lifestyle, social challenges, and concepts of future cities. Using various technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), Holographic, and mapping projection, he has developed his philosophy behind each technical solution, so as to create meaningful interactions through his professional work and personal experimental projects. Ender is the founder of ifcity.org., an independent project aiming at sharing visions of change-makers from various industries and cultivating collaborative evolution of the cities, and more recently, Hiverlab, a local start-up he founded which focuses on VR storytelling experiences.

Hunter Johnson
Director – Sabre Global Consulting Asia-Pacific

Hunter Johnson is the Director of Sabre Global Consulting Asia-Pacific, the professional services offering of choice for leading travel companies looking to take their business performance to the next level.

Hunter believes independent assessments performed by subject matter experts with knowledge of industry benchmarks and best practices are an invaluable management resource. These assessments drive strategic recommendations that improve financial performance through operational cost savings and incremental revenue opportunities. His breadth of experience includes advising senior leaders from over 25 different countries.

Hunter holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas and began his career as a consultant at Deloitte Consulting and IBM Global Business Services.

Grace Kang
Managing Partner - Greenview

Grace is managing partner of Greenview, a sustainability consulting and research firm providing hospitality organizations with their strategy, programs, and reporting, and hospitality industry with industry insight, trends and benchmarks. She oversees Greenview’s Asia operations as well as co-develops the company’s business plan and growth strategy. She successfully rolled out the Greenview Portal 2.0, a software as a service online sustainability data management platform that makes tracking, measuring and improving in areas of sustainability and social responsibility easy and seamless. She leads a software development team and manages the continuous development of the Greenview Portal and industry benchmarking studies including the Green Lodging Trends Report, benchmarking sustainability operational best practices.

She has a focused background in the hotel industry with over 15 years of experience in various functional roles, particularly in driving business through data analysis, reporting and strategic programs. She brings corporate perspective from working at top global hotel brands such as Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Marriott International. At Starwood, Grace optimized the sales organization in underperforming markets by redesigning customer coverage models to drive revenue and gain market share, and managed and liaised with cross-functional teams to ensure that newly opening hotels have successful opening performances. At Marriott, she led the lodging business plan for select service properties to quantify future investments and profit contribution of new openings, and conducted investment analyses to structure various transactions. In addition to her hotel background, she gained Asia experience working at Samsung Card in Seoul, Korea. At Samsung Card, Grace designed a new premium customer experience strategy for Samsung Card VIP segment across all key servicing touch points to drive incremental revenue, developed the company’s first international online affiliate program as a vehicle to expand into the international market, and partnered with global hotel companies and luxury travel networks to provide differentiated and high-end travel benefits to the top tiered members.

Grace earned two degrees from Cornell University, a Bachelor of Science from the Hotel Administration School and Master of Business Administration from the Johnson Graduate School of Management. Cornell is where she found her passion for the hospitality industry and teaching fitness. On her spare time, she continues to teach group fitness programs.

Abhineet Kaul
Director,Public Sector & Government Asia-Pacific - Frost & Sullivan

Abhineet Kaul is a Director with the Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Public Sector & Government Practice. He covers a broad range of areas, leveraging domain knowledge and relationships with senior executives.

Since joining Frost & Sullivan, Abhineet has completed several consulting projects on with government agencies across Asia Pacific His areas of expertise are Industry Trend identification, impact assessment, Infrastructure development support, Tourism policy development, and sector productivity improvement.

He has also worked on several studies related to Tourism sector in the region, working on engagements dealing with regulatory environment, future technology roadmaps, infrastructure development, and capability development.

Abhineet has been a speaker in Industry forums on topics related to mega trends, trade development and manpower development issues. Some of his talks include:

•Speaker at the Singapore MICE Forum
•Speaker at SPRING Standards Council Strategic Planning Session
•Speaker at ICCA Bidding Seminar in Thailand, organized by TCEB
•Speaker at Intermodal Asia focusing on trends in logistics
•Speaker at session on mega trends for a session organized by SHA
•Facilitation of the session on Mega Trends and the impact on Tourism

Benjamin Lephilibert
Founder
LightBlue Environmental Consulting

Benjamin is the founder of LightBlue Environmental Consulting, a regional auditing, capacity building and consulting firm supporting organisations willing to improve profitability and minimize their social and environmental footprint. He worked across Asia with various prestigious partners from the private sector (Hilton, Accor, ClubMed), governmental agencies (TCEB) as well as from International Organizations (UNILO, EU, WWF).

Benjamin has been a pioneer on the topic of Food Waste Prevention. With his team he has developed The PLEDGE on Food Waste, one of the most comprehensive standard to date, integrating implementation of a food waste monitoring system, online data tracking, behavioral change and revision of SOPs at critical food waste generation points.

Benjamin is as well an international guest speaker, guest lecturer, a judge for International Sustainability Awards and an active member of several sustainable tourism working groups (GSTC).

Full profile can be viewed here.

Michael Levinson is the co-founder and CPO of Gamitee Ltd, a co-browsing plugin that makes online shopping social. As an IAF Cpt. (res.) Michael has significant operational and managerial experience leading in high stress and high output situations. Michael studied Physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as Cognitive Sciences with an emphasis on theoretical neural networks.

Liu Xi Louis
CEO - FOMO Pay

Mr. Liu Xi, Louis is the founding member and CEO of FOMO Pay Private Ltd, the first Chinese payment aggregator in South East Asia based in Singapore to provide one-stop online / offline Chinese payment modes (like WeChat Pay, Baidu Wallet, China UnionPay) for local merchants to facilitate payment collection from China market and Chinese tourists. It saves time & space for merchants to connect to all mobile Chinese payment modes at one time with FOMO Pay, and brings more convenience to consumers and tourists. FOMO is also the first authorized WeChat Pay, Baidu Wallet, and China Union Pay partner in South East Asia, and awarded as Top 100 company by Red Herring, selected as Top 100 Asia Company by E27 in June 2016, and Top 8 DBS FinTech Startup in Jul 2016.
FOMO Pay’s clientele includes telecom (StarHub), publication press (SPH), hotel(MBS), tourist attractions(Singapore Flyer), F&B(TWG), retail (Lacoste) etc. It aims to use their expertise on mobile payment to contribute to Smart Nation and unified POS project by MAS.

Tony Menezes
Vice President, Industrial and Distribution Sectors - IBM Asia Pacific

Tony is Vice President, Industrial and Distribution Sectors, IBM Asia Pacific, responsible for establishing and growing relationships in all our client segments across IBM’s entire portfolio of industry solutions, software, services and platforms.

Prior to this, Tony was Vice President, Cognitive Solutions, Asia Pacific, responsible for business development and sales of Cognitive Industry solutions, based on IBM Watson, engaging clients across all industries – publically announced clients include ABOF (India), Deaken University (Australia), DBS (Singapore), Hong Leong Bank (Malaysia), Lotte Group (Korea), National Australia Bank (Australia), and Woodside Energy (Australia).

At every turn of Tony’s career, he has been responsible for delivering client value and leveraging IBM’s globally integrated enterprise model to drive client centric outcomes. His experience crosses the globe – he has been the Managing Director on CEMEX – a global cement industry client, headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, and operations in over 50 countries; and held senior leadership positions across IBM Services units for IT infrastructure, Application Management and Business Process services, working in USA, Japan, China, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa.

He has a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degrees from New Jersey Institute of Technology (USA). Tony and his wife are from the USA, but have lived and worked in Shanghai, China; Tokyo Japan; Monterrey, Mexico; Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and are now based in Singapore.

Sharon Meng
Singapore Country Manager- Mobike

Sharon Meng is the Singapore Country Manager of Mobike. She spearheads Mobike’s business growth and expansion plans in Singapore, the first international city outside of China. 

About Mobike: Mobike is the world’s first and largest smart bike-sharing company that recently launched the service in Singapore.  Using specially designed bikes equipped with GPS and proprietary smart-lock technology, Mobike enables users to find a bike near them and unlock it easily. The company officially launched its service in Shanghai in April 2016 and has since expanded to 130 cities globally. 

Rajat Nagpal
Vice President, Global Supply & Data Aggregation Strategy & APAC Sales - Mystifly

As the Vice President, APAC Sales & Global Supply and Data Strategy for Mystifly, Rajat is responsible for managing the Sales for Mystifly Suite of Products, Commercial Conversations with Partners & Customers, Supply Relationships and Data Strategy for global growth. Rajat is a dynamic and data-oriented leader and brings more than 20 years of travel industry experience. He joined Mystifly from Expedia where he led APAC Commercial Sales & Strategy Operations. During his 8 years at Expedia, he launched the brand in 14 countries, participated in a couple of M&A within the region and managed entire Air operations. Prior to Expedia, Rajat has worked with MakeMyTrip for 6 years and was the head of Global Corporate Sales, managing the complete P&L of the Business Travel. Rajat got his start in travel with JustFares and a boutique inbound tour operator based in New Delhi, India.

Rajat graduated from Delhi University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics & Business Management and has completed his Post Graduation in Sales from National Institute of Sales. Rajat has also done various Management Development Programs from ISB, IIM-B, and SMU among others. When not working, Rajat enjoys spending time with family, shopping, traveling and mentoring startups. Rajat also runs his social venture “Thread Shelter”, a global community to help households donate their used goods, clothes, shoes etc. to the people in need in developing and underdeveloped economies.

Girish Nair
Founder, Executive Director  - TravelSpends

Girish Nair has over 20 years of professional experience in the sectors spanning Media, Information Technology and Aviation with a focus on business development, brand management, and strategy. He is a business leader with relentless drive for innovation, carried out through a highly collaborative mind-set. His strengths emerge from his ability to focus on long-term strategic ideas and industry predictions. The last fifteen years of this overall experience was spent in the Aviation Industry specializing in airline and airport business; driving dynamic growth, aligning business turnarounds, launching new global ventures and building focused sales & marketing organization.

His last professional assignment was with Go Airlines as their Chief Commercial Officer. He also held the position of Assistant Vice President, Head of Airline Marketing and Aviation Contracts, with Bangalore International Airport Limited and Sr. General Manager – International Projects with Jet Airways India Limited where he worked for long 10 years managing different roles in the commercial team. His last assignment was heading Africa operations based out of South Africa, Johannesburg. His core responsibility was aviation business development and formulating aero marketing strategy.

In his career Girish has worked very closely with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the state departments in various core groups led by the Govt. for the growth of aviation industry in India. He was a core member of the group which worked on the “Hub Development Policy” for Indian airports and also contributed from the policy development perspective in the areas of air cargo / MRO and Ground Handling business.
Currently he is working on a start-up idea as the founder of “TravelSpends” in the domain of corporate travel management and aviation technology. The company specializes in Analytics, Audit, Technology and Consulting for enterprise business with core focus on corporate travel & entertainment fucntion.

Jens Oreel
CEO - Octotrip

By the age of 14, Jens already managed several gaming websites and organized LAN-party’s for hundreds of people in Belgium and the Netherlands. At the age of 19 he won the title of Young European Entrepreneur Of The Year. After his first startup at the age of 20, Jens traveled around the world and wanted to combine his travel passion with his passion for entrepreneurship. He saw an extremely competitive landscape and decided to partner with everyone instead of competing. In 2015, Jens and his Co-Founder Jappe landed in Singapore and founded octotrip.com focusing on the millennial business traveller.

Vivian Qin
Co-Founder & COO - Hunan Mengtu Travel Technology

Vivian Qin is COO of Hunan Mengtu Travel TechnologyCo., Ltd who is responsible for our operation. Vivian was once the most active TV producer in one of China’s most famous TV station, Hunan Star TV. She worked there for around 10 years and then started her 8-year life in Canada. During that time, she also worked as a part-time photographer for National Geographic and traveled all around the world seeking for the beauty of nature.

Jaime Roseburgh
Market Leader Singapore and ASEAN - American Express Meetings and Events

Jaime currently holds the position of Market Leader Singapore and ASEAN with American Express Meetings and Events, part of Global Business Travel. With over 20 years experience in organizing Events globally she has been based in HK, London and presently Singapore. She has held positions with Informa, Deutsche Asset Management and more recently as Vice President, Corporate Meetings and Events at J.P. Morgan. Her experience includes a wide ranging portfolio from boutique hospitality focused events and incentive trips through to large-scale conference and exhibition production.

Chinmai Sharma
Chief Revenue Officer - Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris

Chinmai currently heads Taj Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris as their Chief Revenue Officer. Chinmai is responsible for building and strengthening the entire Taj group portfolio globally and his responsibilities include Marketing, Digital Platforms, Loyalty programs, Public Relations, Customer Analytics, Global Sales and Revenue Management. He is also a knowledge partner across the Tata/ Taj Group.
Chinmai is a seasoned industry professional with nearly two decades of progressive hospitality experience in the fields of Strategic Marketing, Revenue Management and Electronic Distribution. In 2015, he was named as one of the ‘Top 20 Extraordinary minds within Sales, Marketing and Technology’ by HSMAI Europe.

Before joining Taj, Chinmai was with Starwood Capital Group, based in Paris as the Global head of Revenue, Distribution and eCommerce for Louvre Hotels Group’s entire portfolio of six hotel brands with 1,100 plus hotels spread across 45 countries. He has also held leadership roles with companies like Wyndham Hotel Group in New Jersey, Joie de Vivre Hotels in San Francisco and with Expedia.com in Seattle.
Chinmai is a Hotel Management graduate and holds a joint MBA from IMHI/ESSEC Business School, Paris and Cornell Hotel School (M.M.H), New York.

Christina Siaw
CEO - Singapore Cruises Centre Pte Ltd

Christina Siaw is a travel and tourism veteran with more than 30 years of experience having established an impressive track record with growing some of Asia’s top brands like Cathay Pacific, Zuji Enterprises and macau.com. Since taking the reins as CEO of Singapore Cruise Centre  in early 2011, Ms Siaw has led her team to implement several new initiatives to promote Singapore as a cruise  hub.  These  initiatives include setting up Cruise 360, a collaboration with best-in-class service providers to cruise ships, the leadership and official launch of  ACTA  (Asia Cruise Terminal Association), a regional alliance to develop the region as a world-class cruise playground and a partnership with a leading educational institution to develop Singapore’s first academic programme to train manpower to meet the industry needs.

Guldeep Singh Sahni
President - OTOAI

Guldeep Singh Sahni is the President of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India(OTOAI) and Managing Director of Weldon Tours & Travels Pvt. Ltd., an outbound IATA accredited travel agency in New Delhi.
Graduating in BSc from Hindu College, Delhi University, he began his career with his family business (Weldon Inks) till 1988. Later on, he started his own travel firm Weldon Tours & Travels Pvt. Ltd. Guldeep has been in the travel industry for over 24 years. He held various positions of the Trade Association from 1984 till 1990.

Passionate about the outbound travel industry always, Guldeep took the initiative, along with a group of like-minded and concerned individuals, to form the Outbound Tour Operators Association – OTOAI, in December 2011; the focus being towards having the only platform in India for purely outbound operators and getting industry status for them, besides promoting integrity, professionalism and trust between the members.

Guldeep has worked tirelessly for this throughout as President of OTOAI. They say the journey is more important than the destination and for Guldeep and OTOAI it has been one challenging ride! In the short span of five years, OTOAI has strenuously worked on the above blueprint and today, thanks to the immense efforts of President Guldeep Singh Sahni is a force to be reckoned with. While there is no licensing or permissions required to set up and Outbound Tour company in India, OTOAI has a strict criteria one has to meet to become an active member.

Guldeep has regularly won industry recognition and awards and is a frequent speaker at industry forums like ETOA, OTM, IITT, SATTE, Vkonect, PLG Travel Show, Sizchuan Tourism, Yunnan Tourism, Rwanda Tourism, Thai Tourism, Visit Britain, Visit Scotland, Hilton Hotels, Starwood Hotels, and is highly looked up to for his experience and upstanding reputation in the Indian travel industry.

Jessie States
Manager of professional development - Meeting Professionals International

Jessie States, CMM, is the manager of professional development for Meeting Professionals International, where she delivers education in support of MPI’s global live event portfolio. She designs the interactive 1:1 and one-on-few experiences at MPI’s live events, showcasing unique learning experiences and personalized education, and she facilitates and designs sessions that help people engage. She works with MPI partners and sponsors to create industry-leading case studies and educational courses, sharing best practices from companies across the globe. She also works with the professional development team to create certificate programs for meeting professionals, specifically in the areas of determining business value, designing engaging experiences and creating a sense of place at meetings and events. Jessie has been a part of the meeting and event community since 2006, when she joined MPI as a storyteller for The Meeting Professional magazine. She has written hundreds of articles and blogs on meetings and events; penned the International Association of Venue Managers’ Business Barometer and the Cruise Line Industry Association’s Travel Agent Cruise Industry Outlook Report; and served as primary editor for MPI’s research initiatives on strategic meetings management, meeting design, corporate social responsibility, business value of meetings and virtual and hybrid events. Jessie earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Texas in 2001, and she has won several honors for her writing from the Texas Press Association, the Society of Business Publication Editors and APEX.

Eugene Tan
General Manager - CTM Singapore

Joining CTM Singapore in May 2016, Eugene Tan is responsible for the overall management of the Singapore operation. He started his career in 1999 as Support Account Manager in a software house providing training and onsite support for the company’s suite of Payroll and Accounting software packages. Eugene foray into travel, first started with Abacus International Pte Ltd. Since then, he has accumulated more than 15 years of experience in the travel and GDS industry, operating in various divisions across the Abacus organization from training, online solutions, product marketing to sales. Prior to joining CTM Singapore, he was with BCD Travel Asia Pacific managing the regional operations across 18 markets in the APAC region. He is a graduate from Monash University, Melbourne with a Bachelor of Business degree major in Banking and Finance.

Gino Tan
General Manager - Pan Pacific Singapore

A seasoned and results driven professional with 22 years accomplished career track in senior hotel positions. Was General Manager of hotels in Singapore, China (Beijing & Dalian) and London. Has strong sales & marketing background (Luxury tier and Upp Scale hotels) and known in the hospitality industry for delivering and exceeding revenue and profit gains. Strong communicator with consultative style, strong negotiation skills, exceptional problem.

Winnie Tan
Founder & CEO - TripZilla

Winnie is the founder and CEO of TripZilla, a leading digital travel media company in Southeast Asia, with a monthly reach of over 20 million.

A “doer” by nature, Winnie is passionate about pulling limited resources together to create something of much greater value. She enjoys making things happen and constantly moving her business forward. Having built and sold off two businesses, she understands the importance of building a sustainable business – one with real users, paying customers and a clear revenue model. With TripZilla, she continues to focus on building a useful product, selling and growing.
As an entrepreneur and startup founder, she has been involved in many functions within the business, including product, finance, HR, business development, marketing and sales. Developing new opportunities and the ability to sell TripZilla’s vision and products are her strong suits.

Having conceptualized and developed the sites, Winnie continues to provide leadership and vision to the company by developing strategies and setting goals for the business.

Terence Teo
Group Managing Director - Anewtech Systems Pte Ltd

Council member and Vice President with the Singapore Industrial Automation Association since 2013. Represented SIAA as a management committee members for IOT Asia conference and Exhibition since 2015 to current.

Terence had in the past presented IOT solutions for cellular and mobile in a Regional Industrial Networking conference organised by Singapore Polytechnic. Terence had attended the IOT solution day as speakers for IOT showcase in transport and mobile application in the Digi International IOT wave conference in China for 2013 and 2014 sharing experience for IOT use case with different groups of participants from Europe, US and Asia Pacific. Had presented as speakers for smart retail application with intelligent digital signage and customers survey solutions. Represented Qihan to speak on the application of social robots for Multi-Platform Systems in EDB service robot visit program.

More than 30 years’ experience in the Industrial Automation and M2M projects. Work as a Systems Design engineer In Panasonic for 6 years and leading team of sales engineers with a local SME for 6 years before starting Anewtech Systems in 1999 and grew the company from 3 persons to a team of 40 currently with Headquarters in Singapore and regional branch offices in Malaysia and Vietnam; During the past 15 years had implemented various projects in transportation, Semicon Machine automation , RFID solutions, embedded systems and digital signage and customers survey across different market segments.

Maunik Thacker
Senior Vice President – Marketing -Marina Bay Sands Pte. Ltd.

Maunik joined the pre‐opening team at Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd, Las Vegas Sands’ premier Integrated Resort development in Singapore, in December 2009 as the Vice President for Revenue Optimization. In this role, he was responsible for the property’s Revenue Management as well as Gaming Optimization needs, leading a team of 20 highly motivated and analytically driven team members. His primary responsibilities included the development of the systems, practices, analytical capabilities and processes to drive total revenue and profitability for the property, which today is the single most profitable casino resort development in the world. Since 2013, he leads the marketing organization at Marina Bay Sands. His key focus has been on developing a strong brand positioning and alignment of the service culture for Marina Bay Sands, and through the development of technology and use of analytics, to provide a personalized, relevant, seamless and consistent customer experience across the destination. A lot of his time is also spent refining the resort wide loyalty program value proposition to ensure high engagement levels and incremental spends across the property. Prior to working at Marina Bay Sands Pte. Ltd., Maunik worked with Las Vegas Sands’ properties in Macao, The Venetian Macao and Sands Macao, for three years, starting with the pre‐opening team, overseeing the Revenue Management function for the company in Macao. He started his career in Revenue Management and Distribution in 1999, with Taj Hotels in India, before moving to the Middle East in 2001, to work for Le Meridien Hotels (part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts) in Dubai and Bahrain for over 5 years. Maunik holds an MBA in International Hospitality Management from IMHI in Paris, a program jointly administered by Cornell University, USA and ESSEC, France. His personal interests lie in travel and he has always had a desire to live and work in different parts of the world, learning about different cultures. He also serves on the HSMAI Asia Pacific Marketing Advisory Board and has been involved with the organization for several years.

Thorleifur Thor Jonsson
Senior Manager Trade Delegation - Promote Iceland

Mr. Jonsson has been active in the Icelandic Tourism industry for over 30 year holding several managerial positions. He is currently the principal coordinator and primary contact for the Asian market at Promote Iceland. He holds a M.Sc degree in Tourism from University of Surrey. 

Rob Torres
Managing Director of Advertising and Marketing – Google

With over 20 years of travel industry experience, Rob Torres serves as Google’s Managing Director of advertising and marketing for the travel sector. In this role, Rob oversees the strategy development and profitable growth of integrated marketing campaigns. His group serves some of the largest travel brands in the US.

Prior to joining Google, Rob was Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Expedia.com. During his seven year career at Expedia, Rob managed a team that had Global responsibility for 30 strategic accounts, generating gross bookings in excess of $2 billion.

Rob is active in the hospitality industry and community affairs. He currently serves as the vice chairman of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association (HSMAI) and is on the board of directors for the Association of Travel Marketing Executives (ATME), the US Travel Association, Fareportal, Regatta Solutions, the Adventure Travel & Tour Association (ATTA), Sustainable Travel International (STI) and the Washington Leadership Council for the American Lung Association. Twice Rob has been listed among HSMAI’s Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing.

Rob holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a Masters of Business Administration from Georgetown University.

Sean Treacy
Managing Director, Asia Pacific - Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd

Sean Treacy is Managing Director for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s operations in Asia Pacific. He oversees all commercial and operational activities for the company’s brands, Royal Caribbean International and Azamara Club Cruises in the region.

Having been with the organisation since 2006, Treacy has held a variety of roles within the company, with a focus on Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises in the areas of revenue management and global deployment. His last position is Regional Commercial Director Asia Pacific, overseeing revenue, deployment, sales, marketing and PR across Australia and New Zealand. Prior to his time at Royal Caribbean, Treacy has worked for United Airlines where he held numerous roles in Sales and Revenue Management. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in Finance and Spanish Literature.

Idan Udi Edry
CEO – Trustifi

Idan Udi Edry is the newly announced CEO of Trustifi, a cybersecurity company specializing in email encryption services and security. Edry is a distinguished veteran in the fields of information technology and data security, as well as an experienced leader driving innovation and execution at scale. Formerly the CEO of Nation-E, a leading company in cyber security for critical infrastructure, Edry spearheaded the organization’s efforts to build technologies that enable the next generation of industrial infrastructure and smart grid environments. 

Prior to his time at Nation-E, Edry gained significant industry experience as Head of Data and Security for Pelephone, Israel’s leading cellular operator. He led special strategic projects for numerous governmental agencies and organizations, working closely with high-ranking officials. His career trajectory at Pelephone allowed Edry to establish himself not only as an expert professionally but also as a customer-facing business leader.

Edry had the opportunity to gain unique skills and expertise while serving as an Air Force Officer for over eight years, reaching the rank of Captain. During his tenure, he led hundreds of professionally trained military personnel, building and operating advanced information systems. Mr. Edry has mastered multiple disciplines and has accumulated 13 formal certifications from the world’s most renowned IT and Telecommunications institutes.

Riccardo Vittoria
Co-Founder, President - 30SecondsToFly

Riccardo is the Co-Founder and President of 30SecondsToFly, the team behind Claire — the ultimate A.I. travel assistant for SMBs. Riccardo is the mind behind the artificial intelligence and the business development of the company.

Before 30SecondsToFly, he had two businesses in New York and Rome, and conducted research in Machine Learning applied to finance as well as Mathematical Optimization regarding airport operations in SUTD (Singapore). Riccardo has a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Sapienza University and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study at New York University where he got his M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering.

Min Yoon
Founder & CEO - Tidesquare

Min Yoon is the CEO and founder of Tidesquare, one of South Korea’s leading OTAs. An online travel agency synonymous with premium travel, Tidesquare is partnered closely with one of the biggest credit card companies in South Korea.

Passionate about nurturing potential in the online travel industry, TideSquare is also the majority shareholder of several other successful travel related startups in Korea.

Prior to Tidesquare, Min Yoon worked for international brands such as Samsung, Korean Air and Hyundai Card. He specializes in hospitality services of operations and marketing, premium marketing, new business development and new media marketing.