Wybcke Meier (age 50) was appointed CEO of TUI Cruises in 2014. The qualified travel agent started her career at Fischer Reisen, where she held various positions with managerial responsibility for marketing and sales. After Fischer Reisen was sold to Condor Flugdienst GmbH, she was at the helm of the integration process of the tour operator into  the  newly  established  C&N Touristic AG. In 2000, Wybcke Meier became head of sales at Vía 1 - Schoner Reisen online travel shopping channel in Hamburg, a position she held for two years. Following this, she headed sales and marketing for eight years as an authorized signatory and member of the Management Board at tour  operator Óger Tours. Most recently, Wybcke Meier was Managing Director at Windrose Finest Travel and OFT.

Richard J. Vogel’s professional career is strongly linked to the tourism industry, in particular cruises. Consequently, he has a perfect knowledge of both the features of the sector and its major players.

In July 2016 Vogel was appointed as the new President & CEO of Pullmantur Cruceros, a cruise line company with more than 15 years of experience at sea and focused on the Spanish and Latam market.

In the recent past, he worked for the TUI Group, where he was instrumental in the establishment of TUI Cruises – a joint venture between TUI AG and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. From its founding in 2008 until the end of 2014, he was responsible for TUI Cruises as its Chairman & CEO and under his leadership it became a prominent company within the cruise sector in Europe.

Prior to joining TUI, Vogel was responsible at Deutsche Seereederei for building up, orientation and distribution of the brand AIDA. In 9 years at AIDA Cruises as MD and SVP Marketing & Sales, he played a significant role in developing and establishing the brand.

In between, he also worked as an independent consultant for the travel and cruise industry. From May 2016 to March 2018, he served as a Non Executive Director for Saga Cruises, underlining once again his extensive expertise in the cruise sector.

In 2014 he was awarded by the German Travel Industry Club for “Travel Industry Manager of the Year”.

Chris has worked for TUI, after joining on the graduate programme, for the last 18 years in various roles across the European businesses and was appointed Managing Director for Marella Cruises in 2017.

Prior to that, Chris held a number of senior management roles with TUI including leading the short-haul and long-haul product teams for TUI UK where he oversaw major growth in the long-haul programme. Chris also worked in France and Russia for TUI to help develop a clearer Product strategy for these businesses.

Chris joined Marella Cruises in 2015 and initially led the Commercial team in all key activity in regards to yield management, planning, ancillary and on-board revenues, cruise procurement and key supplier management.

Chris became Managing Director of Marella Cruises in 2017 and has overseen the launch of the latest ship to the fleet, Marella Explorer 2, in March this year.

Marella Cruises has launched 4 ships in the last 4 years and now has a fleet of 6 ships. Chris also recently announced the launch of TUI River Cruises with the launch of 3 ships planned for next spring.

Emre Sayin serves as CEO of Global Ports Holding since 2016. After graduating from the Department of Industrial Engineering, Boğaziçi University, Emre Sayın completed his postgraduate degree in Systems Engineering at Rutgers and Princeton Universities. He started his carrier at Unilever in 1992 and worked at high level positions in marketing for seven years.  Following Unilever he moved to Microsoft Turkey where he headed Marketing for the following three years. He continued his career as the General Manager of Kodak until 2005.  From 2005 to 2007, he worked as Chief Marketing Officer at Evyap. Emre Sayin worked at C level positions such as Chief Sales & Marketing Business Officer and Chief Consumer Business Officer for the leading telco operator Turkcell for seven years. Before joining GPH he worked as Chief Business Development Officer at Vimpelcom, and Senior Advisor to the CMO at Verizon, New York.

He is in charge of leading the departments of Hotel & On board revenue; Ports and Ground operations; Shorex; Fleet marine operations, as well as Operations efficiency costs and On board revenue control.

Since he joined Pullmantur Cruises, in September 2017, Benny has been very focused on developing initiatives oriented to improve guest satisfaction and operational efficiencies. He has also been leading various strategic projects that are aligned with all departments of the company.

During his entire professional career, Benny has held different positions of responsibility not only on board, but also on land, allowing him to have a global vision of the business.

He has also demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit and a strong commitment to innovation, bringing his valuable experience in various areas (Hotel, Marine, dry dock and revitalization projects) and a 25-year professional career in the cruise industry.

In the recent past, Benny has worked for Royal Caribbean Cruises for more than 20 years.

Maite Casas is head of Pullmantur Cruceros’ Port Operations and Ground Handling at a global level.

Casas is in charge of directing and organising all ship operations in embarkation, debarkation and layover ports. She maintains a close relationship with the various port authorities to ensure that all services are carried out in accordance with the company’s standards and policies.

She also negotiates procedures with the main airlines and manages agreements with ground transport companies to facilitate guest transfer between terminals. Her motto is to keep on improving the passenger experience.

After a brief stint at the Ferrovial Group, she joined the Strategy Department of Pullmantur Cruceros in October 2010 where she acquired extensive knowledge of the cruise sector.

Subsequently, she joined the Port Operations & Ground Handling area in March 2011 where she was appointed Manager in December 2015.

After completing her studies in Business Administration and Management at the University College of Financial Studies (CUNEF) in Madrid, her career has mostly been linked to Pullmantur Cruceros which has provided her with a deep knowledge of the cruise line and the sector as a whole.

Spyros Almpertis was born in Piraeus, Greece .Graduated from the Hellenic Naval Academy of Piraeus, Greece. Spyros Almpertis has been working for the last 20 years in the cruise industry in many cruise lines handling important positions under Hotel, Finance, Marine Department, on board and ashore  Spyros started with Silversea Cruises in 2010 under Financial department on board, moving after 2 years ashore as Project Manager and then under Port Operation team.

As Senior Director of Worldwide Port Operations for Silversea Cruise is today in charge of all port operation worldwide for the Silversea ships, handling aprox 980 ports and 300 agents/sub agents around the world.

Massimo Brancaleoni, aged 51, born in Genoa, is Senior Vice President World Wide Sales of Costa Cruises. He has grown a considerable experience in the company, developing multiple skills in finance, sales & marketing and strategic management. Massimo joined Costa in Paris as a Controller in 1997 and was subsequently tasked with Inventory Control and Yield Management in Genoa. In 2005 he was appointed Vice President of the newly established Pacific Asia Operations (PAO) Division, with the ambitious objective of launching Costa in the Far East, with focus on China, a global “first” for the cruise industry.   After successfully completing the start-up of Costa in Asia, Massimo was appointed VP of World Wide Sales Services at the Genoa headquarters in 2009, while in April 2013 he was appointed General Manager of Iberocruceros and Costa Cruises in Spain.

Kevin Bubolz has been appointed Managing Director Europe of Norwegian Cruise Line in March 2017. In this position he assumes responsibility for all sales, marketing and public relations activities of Norwegian Cruise Line in Continental Europe, Scandinavia as well as Finland and reports directly into Harry Sommer, Executive Vice President, International Business Development, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

Bubolz has a successful track record in the travel and cruising industry and is a passionate crusader himself. He started his career in 1997 working as a travel agent at TUI Leisure Travel GmbH in Kiel and soon transitioned into the cruising industry by joining Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. In 2005 Kevin Bubolz moved on to Norwegian Cruise Line‘s European branch office in Wiesbaden, Germany, where he has since worked in various marketing, sales and revenue management positions. Most recently before being appointed Managing Director of the international cruise line, Bubolz served as Vice President Commercial and Business Planning at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, the umbrella company of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Kevin Bubolz was born and raised in the German port city Kiel, right at the Baltic Sea. He is married and has two daughters, who both share his passion for travels and especially for cruising.

Olga is responsible for managing Intercruises’ overall strategy, and leads the business and growth worldwide. She has over 25 years of experience in aviation and port operations, including a thirteen-year tenure at British Airways. She joined Intercruises in 2003 as Operations Director, later assuming the role of Managing Director in 2016. Olga completed her International MBA at the University of Ramon Llull in Barcelona, and holds several other business titles from ESADE Business School, Manhattan College and Oxford Brooks University.

With over 18 years of experience in the cruise industry, Adam Sharp is Head of Business Development, Destination Development for RCCL and is responsible for Strategic Destination Projects.

Adam’s in-depth knowledge of ports and infrastructure worldwide is garnered from ten years’ worth of experience in Port Operations. Prior to this, his most recent role was Strategic Projects Manager, Port Operations responsible for introducing world first technology to increase performance and understanding of RCL global operations. Adam has also completed a year as Head of Sales for the UK & Ireland.

Passionate about promoting the benefits of the cruise industry to destinations around the world, Adam also Chaired CLIA Europe’s Port & Destination Committee, from 2013 to 2016; representing the business and wider industry to a host of EU, International and national agencies across the EMEA region.

Sander Groothuis has been with Carnival UK since June 2019 as Director Port Operations. In this role, he oversees the Southampton port and shore operations. He further manages the operational support to the Carnival UK fleet in all ports the ships call at.

Prior to Carnival UK Sander had a brief involvement in the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection as the Director Marine Operations to develop a strategy and processes for oversight of the marine and technical operations.

From 2009 to 2018 Sander worked with Windstar Cruises as Director Marine Operations. He also sailed as Captain on their sailing vessels.

Prior to Windstar Cruises, Sander spent fifteen years with Holland America Line on her vessels.

Barbara Muckermann is Chief Marketing Officer of Silversea Cruises. Prior to returning to Silversea Barbara held strategic marketing positions at Loro Piana and NCL and was Chief Marketing Officer of MSC. Prior to that she worked at Silversea as SVP Global Marketing and European Sales. She has also been Chairwoman of the Reputation Committee of CLIA managing the association’s reputation. Barbara is a Doctor in Political Sciences an

d Economics and holds a joint MBA from Columbia and London Business School and teaches Branding and Strategy.

As Vice President of Newbuilding and Refurbishment, Trevor Young is currently coordinating the 13 new building projects that are currently part of MSC Cruises’ fleet expansion plan. He  also coordinates all refurbishment projects in the Company’s existing fleet.

Trevor’s career started with him earning a Diploma of Business / Hospitality Management along with a Certificate in Hotel and Catering Management which lead him to the cruise industry in 1996.

Trevor joined Star Cruises in 1996, working onboard the Superstar Gemini. In 1997 he took the role of Director Newbuilding Owners Supply based in Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany. In 2000 became Star Cruises’ Senior Director Hotel Operations, overseeing the day to day operations for their fleet and developing and implementing new statagies over a number of departments.

In 2002, he moved to Miami, joining Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings as Vice President, Hotel Newbuilding & Refurbishment. In this position, he oversaw the building team and the construction of all areas onboard. Five years later, Trevor was promoted to Vice President Newbuilding Design & Outfitting based in Saint Nazaire, France where he managed many new building projects, including that of Norwegian Epic.

In 2008, Trevor moved to Dubai as the Owners Representative of the Queen Elizabeth 2’s redevelopment into a 7 star hotel, private club, luxury spa, entertainment venue and residences.

In 2010 he became a consultant for JMMY Group based in the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

In 2015, Trevor returned to Genting Hong Kong as Senior Vice President New Ship Building Product & Delivery, where he was responsible for the overall design, construction and delivery of new ship building in Papenburg, Germany and future projects in MV Werften.

Luca Pronzati is the “Chief Business Innovation Officer” of MSC Cruises. He reports directly to Mr. Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC Cruises. He oversees the overall company’s ongoing “Digital Transformation and Innovation Program”, supporting the company’s long-term vision strategy from MSC Cruises headquarter in Geneva (Switzerland).

Mr Pronzati is responsible to outline the big picture vision to spread the culture of innovation inside the company, to enable the disruption of current business models, to leverage on emerging technologies (such as Digital Channels, Wearables, IoT, Bots, AI & Robotics, AR&VR, etc.) to accelerate the transformation and to keep the company competitive in the market.

He is successfully spearheading the launch of a 10-plus years investment plan of digitalization, with the adoption, on new next-generation mega cruise ships, of “MSC for Me”, the industry-first digital innovation program designed to elevate on-board customer experience by enhancing the way guests interact each other, with the ship and the crew members (https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Discover-MSC/MSC-for-Me.aspx). To further enrich the MSC for Me ecosystem, Mr. Pronzati and the Business Innovation Team introduced in March 2019 Zoe, the industry-first virtual personal cruise assistant, powered by artificial intelligence, developed in partnership with HARMAN and Samsung Electronics.

Mr. Pronzati holds a Masters’ degree in Electronic Engineering. He holds further degrees in Financial, Business and Marketing trainings attended at SDA Bocconi and other top-class institutes.

Mr. Pronzati began his career in the 2000s at Siemens. In 2002 he took on the position of International Business Development Manager of Postel. He joined Carnival Corporation & Plc in 2003 as Manager, Management Advisory Services. In 2008 he took over the responsibility as Senior Manager Continuous Improvement, Business Development, Revenues Enhancement & Cost Optimization of Costa Crociere. In 2012 joined MSC Cruises, recruited by the Chairman, to orchestrate the “MSC 3.0 Enterprise Transformation Program” targeting millions of euro of investments optimization and consolidation.

In his current role as “Chief Business Innovation Officer” of MSC Cruises Mr. Pronzati heads a team of more than 50 internal professionals and more than 100 FTEs externals around the world, including but not limited to, strategic partners such as Samsung Electronics International, Harman Kardon, Deloitte Digital, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and others who are focusing on disrupting the cruise industry going through a significant digital transformation, building smart ships and setting a new standard of digital excellence at sea.

With nearly 20 years’ experience in digital innovation and in the cruise industry, Mr. Pronzati has a finely developed experience in boosting productivity and extensive knowledge in senior executive leadership.

Tony Roberts is the vice president of Princess Cruises UK and Europe and has worked for the cruise line for almost four years. Before this, Roberts worked for Princess’ sister brands within Carnival UK for 16 years in a variety of roles covering customer services, sales, finance and IT. During this time, Roberts initiated and launched a number of major projects alongside the commercial and digital teams.

Leading a team of over 80, Roberts is responsible for the sales, marketing, PR and commercial functions, as well as guest services for the UK & European Princess offices.

Since joining Princess, Roberts has overseen a number of large scale projects and initiatives including ITV’s documentary ‘The Cruise’, and launching Ocean Medallion – providing guest experiences unavailable anywhere else in the world. More recently, Roberts was appointed as the new chair of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) where he will serve until May 2020, acting as one of the main spokespeople of the UK cruise industry, as well as attending key events and initiatives on behalf of CLIA.

Jacqui Nobile is the Senior Destination Services Operations Manager for Marella Cruises. Jacqui started her career with TUI (previously Thomson Holidays) over 25 years ago, after graduating from the University of Bournemouth with a degree in Tourism Studies. Following a number of years working overseas, she boarded her first cruise ship in 1997 and fell in love with the sea!  Having spent a few years working onboard, she returned to the UK and moved into the TUI head office. Since 2004, she’s been an integral part of the Marella Cruises team investigating and setting up new homeports in addition to the end to end delivery of the shore excursion programme. Now labelled Destination Services her main focus remains on the contracting, product, promotion and operational delivery of this department, in addition to itinerary planning and port selection for the Marella Cruises fleet in all deployment areas.

Alessandro Carollo was born and raised in Venice, started his career in the maritime industry back in 2000 as port agent for several Italian and international agency service providers, starting in the Greek ferry business (former Strintzis Lines, connecting Venice to Greek ports), then moved to the maritime Hub Agency Services business, where he was responsible for the port operations port calls worldwide, across cargo, oil, cruise and navy businesses, for some of the global oil and cargo majors and a small cruise line based in Germany.

He joined RCL in early 2014 as Manager, Med Port Operations; in his capacity he was responsible, together with the Port Operations team, for delivering the historic first season of an Oasis class ship in the Mediterranean.

Alessandro represents RCCL at CLIA Europe’s Ports and Destinations Advisory Council.

Achille Staiano is MSC Cruises’ Vice President, Global Sales. Based at the Company’s global Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, his main task is that of enforcing MSC Cruises’ commercial strategies worldwide.

With the unprecedented €11.6 billion investment plan encompassing 14 next-generation cruise ships coming into service between 2017 and 2027, his role covers an increasingly expanding market of opportunities for the Company.

Mr Staiano reports to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Gianni Onorato, making sure that commercial strategies are aligned with the Company’s strategic growth.

Born in Italy, Mr Staiano has been with MSC Cruises since 1994. He spent the first 11 of these years working for MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, before transiting to MSC Cruises. Having joined the Company in Naples when the Company was solely focused on the container shipping business, he soon developed crucial commercial skills that empower him in his role today.

In his years with the Company, Mr Staiano has worked across several MSC offices across the world. From Naples to New York and Geneva, where he was one of the key establishers of the Headquarters in 2009. He helped secure a smooth transition of power from the Company’s original Headquarters in Naples. Mr Staiano is married, with two children.

Helen Beck has worked within the travel industry for over 30 years with the latter half being spent in the cruise segment. Since February 2016 as Vice President, International Sales and Marketing, she has been overseeing the International marketing and sales activities to support Crystal’s expansion across the world’s oceans and rivers with Crystal Cruises, Crystal River Cruises, Crystal Yacht Cruises and Crystal Expedition Cruises.

Having grown up in the hospitality industry, Beck continued into the travel industry working with a variety of different companies including tour operators, an incentive house, a hotel group and most recently cruise companies. All of which have grown her knowledge and experience across various segments of the travel industry. During her career, she has worked across many International markets around the world developing a strong commercial understanding enabling her to grow these markets with targeted and relevant activities. This has also enabled her to understand the need for developing global strategies which support regional and individual market level differences and needs.

Having studied languages and having spent many years working in several European countries, Beck speaks and understands several European languages and is most proficient in Spanish, French and German. She is British and resident in the UK.

Tine Oelmann worked in the shipping business for more than 20 years. Starting working for ferry lines she changed to the German premium cruise line Peter Deilmann in 1993. After 10 years work experience in Sales & Shore Excursion department she changed to one of Germanys leading port agencies for cruise lines, Sartori & Berger. As Manager Groundhandling & Shore Excursions she developed and expanded the business continuously in 4 years handling nearly all cruise lines calling Germany. In April 2008 she joined the start up of the new branch TUI Cruises from the very beginning and is now Director Destination Management & Operations.

A successful entrepreneur and start-up founder, Gene Meehan leads the development and execution of the Company’s long term strategy, with attention to building value and delivering on the brand promise. Gene’s 30+ years of experience as owner/operator of multiple health and wellness facilities, from multi-sport clubs and boutique gyms to resort spas, includes project funding of up to $50M. Before launching Blue World Voyages, Gene founded and was president of the Downtown Athletic Club, the largest commercial health club serving executives in the Downtown Miami market. His company, Miami Health & Fitness, owned and operated the health club, with Gene designing and supervising a $1.6M, two-year renovation of this facility. With his dedication to sports and wellness, leadership skills and proven ability to generate million-dollar revenue streams, Gene is leveraging his expertise to create a new direction in cruising that integrates sports, fitness, spa and wellness with ocean travel.

Developed and managed as CEO of ResidenSea Ltd the first luxury residential ship concept with Norwegian investors. Built the luxury vessel “The World” and successfully sold residences to UHNW individuals.

A senior international executive with expertise in P&L management, operations, business development, start-up ventures and marketing and sales to high net worth individuals. Fredy is a decision maker with a strong corporate, start-up, turnaround and growth record. He is a leader who has successfully steered large multinational organizations such as The Hertz Corporation where he was and Executive VP and President of Hertz International, Burger King Corporation where he was the President International and Europcar International where he was the CEO.

He built, owned and managed start-up operations, most recently TheGenieLab LLC, a leader in app development, tools, and custom API integrations.

He has extensive expertise in the cruise industry that includes founding and serving as CEO for Navis Star Management LLC, a management and investment company specialized in the development and launch of niche cruise lines in new markets. Previously, as CEO for Ocean Star Cruises, Fredy spearheaded the development and launch of Ocean Star Cruises, a Mexican domestic cruise line. He also owned, and served as CEO for Bloomsbury Properties International, a sales and marketing organization representing the World’s finest resorts.

Through a combined experience of many years in the luxury resort industry, Fredy and his team developed a network of partners specializing in the development, planning, engineering and management of resorts.

Clare Ward has been with Fred Olsen since October 2012. Currently she is Director of Product and Customer Services. Her role encompasses all direct guest touch points off the ship including itinerary planning, shore tours, port operations, air and land services, reservations, guest services, and customer relations. The breadth of the role means no two days are the same which is the thing is enjoys most about the job. With a husband as a wine trainer Clare rarely drinks the same bottle of wine twice!

Douglas Ward was educated in the south of England near the resort town of Bournemouth - his father a mechanical engineer - his mother a concert pianist.

He has been sailing aboard the world’s ocean-going cruise ships since 1965, and is the author of the annual BERLITZ Cruising and Cruise Ships - the world’s most authoritative cruise guidebook, first published in 1985, and BERLITZ River Cruising in Europe and the USA, first published in 2014.

It was his love of geography, and music, that later took him to ships, and his travels have taken him to over 1800 ports around the world. After 17 years working at sea aboard some of the world’s most famous ocean liners and cruise ships (for 8 different companies), and fulfilling a number of roles, including those of Shore Excursion Manager and Cruise Director. He began writing about ships for consumer members of a passenger organisation in the USA, where he lived for 20 years, and founded and published the magazine PORTHOLE (which he sold in 1996). "I've learned the cruise industry from the inside out," says Ward.

He has received worldwide praise for his Berlitz Cruising and Cruise Ships (presently in its 34th year of publication, the book is not sponsored and does not have any advertising support) and is considered the world's foremost independent authority on cruising and cruise ships. He continually strives to promote better standards within the industry.

In 2018 Berlitz Cruising and Cruise Ships was awarded First Prize at the Travel Media Awards ceremony in London.

He is typically "at sea" or in cruise industry meetings (and gives occasional speeches and presentations), for up to 200 days each year. He is married, and met his wife – guess where? Aboard a cruise ship!

Arnaud Le Joncour is the Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, responsible not only for guiding the strategic and innovative sales for the shipyard, but also for providing account management to Chantier de l’Atlantique’s two key customers, MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Arnaud received his degree from Ecole Centrale, where he specialized in mechanical structure and FEM calculation. Arnaud began his career in R&D, but quickly found his home at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, where he has worked in a variety of positions, including naval architect, project manager, cost estimating manager, design coordinator and, for the last 20 years, head of sales and marketing in the field of passenger vessels.

After spending nearly his entire career working at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Arnaud knows what truly drives the shipbuilding industry. He has helped secure the yard’s record orderbook, which includes orders through the next 10 years based on Oasis, Edge, Meraviglia and World class series.

With an unprecedented orderbook, you will find Arnaud continuing to explore new cooperation agreements locally and abroad, building upon new and existing client relationships and representing the shipyard in various global organizations, keeping Chantiers de l’Atlantique at the forefront of the shipbuilding industry.

Sam Gratton spent 10 years working as an executive director in investment banking in London before moving to Madrid with his family to start up a language and communications consultancy. He currently advises CEOs and senior directors of Spanish companies on all aspects of communication skills. He also designs and runs public speaking workshops throughout Spain and is currently a guest lecturer of Leadership English at ESAME Business School in Madrid. Sam has a degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh and an MBA from IESE Business School.

Ian started life in the cruise industry as an IT manager over 20 years ago. In 2007 he set up TheICEway with Conor Byrne, which in the last 12 years has become the leading specialist technology consultancy and managed service provider in the cruise and travel industries.

ICE have offices in Miami, throughout Europe and Melbourne, Australia and they provide unbiased technology guidance, project management and 24/7 outsourced infrastructure support.

More recently Ian has been the driving force behind the CLIA Executive Partner Technology Initiative which brings cruise lines and vendors together to collaborate on the major issues facing our industry and provide technology solutions to address them.

Marta Blanco holds degree in Business Administration from Autónoma University of Madrid and Executive MBA at EOI. She has been a member of the State Trade Analysts and Economists Division since 1992.

She has almost 27 years' experience in the public sphere, notably as Director General of Tourism for the Region of Madrid, Director General of Tourspain at Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, Head of Cabinet at Secretary of State for External Trade, Deputy Director at Interamerican Development Bank (Washington D.C.), Director of Promotion at ICEX, Deputy Director for External Debt and Deputy Director of the European Union Trade Policy.

She is a former member of the Board of Directors of companies such as AENA, ICEX, PYMAR (Small and Medium-sized private Spanish shipyards), Expansión Exterior and CESCE (Spanish Export Credit Agency).

As President of CEOE International and President of CEOE Tourism, Culture and Sport she is responsible for developing proposals to support CEOE interest related to those working areas.

Ignacio Barrios, CEO of Kido Dynamics. MSc in Civil Engineer, Ignacio spent 10+ years as international project manager in the transportation industry, which brought him to 3 different continents, including a role as Technical Interface Manager in Oran Tramway (Algeria), partnering with Alstom. His vision about the pressing need of good quality travel both to portray existing situations and to help identify problems related to the operation of today’s increasingly complex mobility systems, made him join forces with Alberto Hernando to fund Kido Dynamics. Before joining Kido Dynamics, we undertook an MBA at IMD Business School, and worked as investment manager in the VC industry in Switzerland.

Carla empezó su carrera profesional portuaria en el Puerto de Barcelona en 1992 y desde el año 2003 está trabajando en el ámbito de los cruceros.

Desde 2003 hasta 2006, ejerció de Secretaria General de MedCruise (la Asociación de Puertos de Crucero del Mediterráneo). En 2006 fue nombrada Cruise Manager de la Autoridad Portuaria de Barcelona y en 2010 Directora de Cruceros de Barcelona.

Ha ocupado posiciones en distintos consejos de Administración, en Creuers del Ports de Barcelona, en Cruceros Málaga y en MedCruise. En septiembre del 2014 fue nombrada presidente de MedCruise. Involucrada en esferas europeas, fue también miembro del Comité de Pasajeros de la ESPO (European Sea Ports Association).

En febrero del 2016, Carla empezó un nuevo reto profesional en Global Ports Holding, el mayor operador de puertos de cruceros del mundo.  Actualmente, el grupo gestiona 15 puertos de cruceros que acogen 7,5 millones de pasajeros en más de 3,000 escalas. Como Directora de Marketing de Cruceros, Carla es responsable de la comercialización y Promoción de los puertos y da soporte a la continua expansión de la compañía.

Adam Coulter is the Managing Editor of Cruise Critic UK (www.cruisecritic.co.uk), the leading cruise reviews and news site, which hosts the world's largest cruise community. 

Adam has covered the cruise industry extensively working for trade and consumer publications, and was previously editor of Cruise International. He can offer excellent insight into the cruise industry, current trends and issues impacting cruisers.

Adam has written articles or provided comment about cruising for a number of national newspapers, including:  iNews, Daily Mirror, The Times, Daily Mail and Daily Express, and was recently featured on BBC’s Rip Off Britain to give consumer advice about cruise holidays that go wrong.

An avid traveller, Adam has explored the world extensively, by land and by sea, and took his first cruise over twenty years ago. He now travels with kids in tow, introducing a new generation of cruisers to the thrill of a holiday at sea.

Esther leads Intercruises’ global IT team and is responsible for all IT infrastructure, including the development and maintenance of Intercruises’ in-house systems such as QUARS, KAIROS and SafeAshore™. She also manages the flow of IT communication between all offices while also handling Intercruises’ server and equipment needs worldwide. Prior to joining Intercruises in 2011, Esther worked in business intelligence and management consultancy. She holds two Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Networks and Telecommunications Engineering, as well as a Master’s in Business Intelligence from the University Pompeu Fabra.

Dick de Graaff is Passenger Terminal Amsterdam’s director since January 2019. He previously was the terminals commercial director for 13 years. He holds degrees in hospitality management and has a master’s degree in organizational behavior and communication. Before that, he worked for InterContinental Hotels Group as Account director for the Benelux. Dick holds board positions in various organizations, cruise and non-cruise related.

Patricia Palacios is Under - Secretary of Markets, Investments and International Relations, Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador, an institution wich has the objectives to ´promote the country and its attractions internationally in coordination with other public or private institutions”.

She has more than thirty years of experience in the tourism industry, which includes several positions at executive-level in the aviation sector (Eastern Airlines, American Airlines), including the regional management of SAETA Ecuadorian airline. Among her duties, Patricia has represented Ecuador as a member of several tourism associations and airlines, most notably (IATA ad BSP).

Currently, the strategies that are being implemented are focused on attracting tourism investment, development of connectivity and international relations, for which, among its responsibilities are to attract tourism investments and increase air and sea international connectivity.

Carlos H Reyes is widely recognized as one of the most seasoned professionals in the development, planning and design of cruise ship projects around the world.

As Managing Partner of Tomas Tillberg Design International (TDI), Carlos is responsible for long term and overall running operations for one the firms with the richest legacy in cruise industry interior design. Since partnering with Mr Tomas Tillberg 11 years ago, they have successfully developed among many others, 3 major projects in places of the world without the experience or infrastructure to build or refurbish passenger vessels, putting together the required resources, processes, supervision etc. in addition to the design itself.

He is also the President of Tillberg & Reyes Group Co. Ltd (TRG), a Company formed 3 years ago in China as a commercial arm of Tomas Tillberg Design International. After only 1 year of operation, TRG closed the first contract for an international passenger vessel ever built in China, a contract for 10 vessels in total. TDI is the Company in charge of the interiors of the entire vessel.

He also owns Design Support Team and The Reyes Group. DST is fully dedicated to support design and development for architecture and interior design firms mainly in hospitality, commercial and marine projects.  The Reyes Group is dedicated to the development of hotel and real estate investment, both for company owned and third party investors.

After getting his Bachelor Degree in Architecture from La Salle University, he worked for Bilkey Llinas Design, one of the top hotel planning and design companies in the world for 5 star hotel projects. He has also taught Design, Structures, Drafting, Methods and Materials, as well as Ethics, at College Level.

After his experience working on hotel projects, he joined Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines for almost 10 years, where he was responsible for concept design development, functional analysis, budget, and material selection, as well as coordination with ship builders for both newbuilding and refurbishments. A tangible milestone and example of his contributions to our industry is the concept and co-development of one of the most comprehensive outfitting project management systems at that time, that encompasses the work of designers, estimators, logistics, finance, purchasing, outfitting and management. His achievements have been published in many Countries and publications.

Since 2005, Dr. Alexis Papathanassis is a Professor for Cruise Management and e-Tourism at the Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. Alexis is the Dean for the Faculty of Management and Information Systems, Co-Director of the Institute for Maritime Tourism and Chairman of the Cruise Research Society.  He is also visiting Professor at the Bremen University of Applied Sciences and the Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, and a member of the German Tourism Research Society.

Alexis’ publication activity mainly focuses on the cruise sector and comprises over 100 contributions to textbooks, peer-reviewed scientific journals and conferences.  He also acts as an academic reviewer for high-ranked tourism journals (with 106 reviews to date), including:  Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Tourism Review and Intl. Journal of Tourism Research.  In 2019, Alexis ranked amongst the top Web-of-Science reviewers in social sciences and cross-fields.   In 2016, his paper: “Papathanassis, A. &, Knolle, F. (2011). Exploring the adoption and processing of online holiday reviews: A grounded theory approach. Tourism Management, 32: 215–224”, was listed amongst the most cited articles in Tourism Management.  He also received the Emerald Literati Award for his paper: “Papathanassis, A. (2017).  Cruise Tourism Management: State of the Art. Tourism Review, 72(1):  104-119”.  Alexis’ research work has been downloaded over 24.000 times.

Besides being an advisory partner for Deloitte Consulting (Germany), he regularly acts as an independent consultant to numerous tour operators and cruise companies, working on numerous M&A and business development projects. Over the last years, Alexis has also participated in various national and international publicly-funded projects, aimed at cruise tourism development (e.g. European TEMPUSX programme – Development of Cruise Tourism in the Black Sea Region).  Prior to joining fulltime academia, Alexis pursued a career at TUI, Europe's leading tourism group. Joining the group as a management trainee in 1999, Alexis was appointed project manager & process engineer in 2001. In 2003, he became a business unit manager at TUI Contracting AG and was accountable for the company's business interfaces and operations support areas. Upon his departure from the group as a business development manager with TUI Infotec, Alexis had already participated and successfully led various systems integration projects s in six TUI subsidiaries around Europe.

Born and raised in a family of tourism entrepreneurs on the island of Rhodes (Greece), Alexis has internalised the daily specifics of incoming tourism and the challenges of destination management policies.  Alexis graduated with a degree in Business Administration at the University of Bath in 1996. He gained his MSc in Analysis, Design and Management of Information Systems with distinction from the London School of Economics & Political Science in 1997. Following a military service in Greece and parallel to his professional career, Alexis successfully completed his PhD in Economic Sciences at the Leibniz University (Hanover) in Germany.  His doctoral thesis focused on the post-merger management of information and communication technologies within the tourism sector. The corresponding doctoral dissertation was published by the Deutsche Universitätsverlag (DUV).  In 2016, he was awarded a honorary PhD by the University of Ovidius (Romania) for his contribution to the cruise tourism research.

Alexis spends his free time with his two daughters. In line with his tourism family tradition and early exposure to the holiday sector, Alexis loves travelling and takes particular pleasure immerging in the customs, traditions, history and language of foreign cultures. He is a dedicated scuba diver and enjoys catamaran sailing.

Licenciada en Historia del Arte por la Universidad de Barcelona (UB) y Master en Dirección y Gestión de Marketing por la Universidad de Barcelona (UB). Tras 10 años trabajando en el Área de Estrategia y Comercial del Port de Barcelona fue nombrada, en el mes de Julio de 2016, Responsable de Cruceros de la Autoridad Portuaria de Barcelona.

I am currently working for a leading Tour Operator & Ground Handler company in Italy, delivering Ground Handling Services and Shore Excursions Programs to the cruise industry.

I have a strong background in the Tourism field and a wide experience in the Cruise Industry with over 10 years of experience. My passion is traveling. I have been in many different countries such as Brasil , Mexico, United States, and most of the European countries. Traveling allows me to understand better the different cultures and being more open minded.

I love my job. I enjoy being involved in such a complex operation which demands a lot of focus in detail, high organizational skills and a continued need of innovation and market research. I love working in a multicultural environment because it allows me to have a better understanding of different cultures and management styles. I consider myself to be very pro-active and I like to focus in new ways to innovate. I also enjoy being involved in new projects which allows me to grow personally and professionally.

Virginia Lopez Valiente is the owner and CEO of Cruises News Media Group, a company dedicated to communication, marketing and promotion of the Cruise industry.

Cruises News Media Group edits the magazine Cruises News and organises annually the International Cruise Summit, the Cruise Excellence Awards, Cruise Forums and Cruise Trainings.

Virginia has spent most of her two-decade career leading departments of commercial, marketing and operations in international companies of various sectors such as transport, hospitality and consultancy.

Before founding Cruises News Media Group, she held various managerial posts in companies such as DHL, Panalpina Global Transport, Air Express International, Thomas International and IPS Consultants and was Director of Operations for Spain and Portugal at Hospitality Marketing Concepts, an American multinational of marketing and loyalty programs for luxury hotels and chains.

She has a degree in Business Administration, International Trade and Marketing and completed her executive program (PGD) in Marketing Management and Strategic Management at the British School of Management Sciences in London.

Virginia is also the publisher and Chief editor of Cruises News, the magazine.

The first time David moderated a panel of any kind was at the International Cruise Summit in 2012. Since then he has gone on to moderate panels and direct conferences across Europe, the USA, Canada, Russia and China.

His expertise is in itinerary planning and has run a number of general sessions for CLIA (Cruise Line International Association) at its Executive Partner Summits. He uses his expertise in his consultancy work with Travelyields Ltd. www.travelyields.com in producing cruise call volume forecasts for ports and investors seeking to make infrastructure investments for the future. In addition, he has a number of port and destination partners, with whom he works on marketing activity.

He was managing director of Thomson Cruises – now Marella Cruises – from 2000-2011. He lives with his family north of London, is a keen golfer and passionate to support the development of young adults with learning difficulties. He is very much looking forward to The International Cruise Summit as one of the Directors for the first time.

Tomas Matesanz is considered one of the most seasoned international Public Affairs, Branding and Communications expert in the cruise and tourism industries with international background experience in all facets of communication, branding, customer experience, crisis communication, public affairs, corporate marketing, reputation management arena as well as managing budgets and overseeing ongoing operations for different companies.

He was appointed in Brussels as European Executive Director for Corporate Marketing, Communication and Public Affairs for CLIA dealing with all type of maritime regulatory and legislative issues and bodies ahead of the EU, IMO, ILO, port authorities, port associations and mainstream media creating from the scratch a Pan European communication and public affairs management structure across Europe representing the interests of cruise lines.

Tom was also Global Executive director of Communications of Silversea Cruises. In his role and assisted with the development and execution of the new Company-worldwide central Communications function approach.

He was also appointed in January of 2018 as Advisor of the Month at WTTC Advisors Board of Directors. Prior to all these achievements he spent part of his career as a top senior consultant for top line strategic consultancies. Tom is a graduate of Eastern Michigan and Columbia University.

He currently assesses Cruises News Media Group as strategic and communication advisor and teaches at JSF Travel and Tourism Business School on Digital Emotional Branding and Crisis Communication.