New Deal Europe Forum and Destination Presentations 2024

Director of Insight and Business Improvement, ETOA

Rachel works with a range of partners to provide and comment on tourism data and statistics. She runs the ETOA Insight Hub, a one-stop centre for industry insight and thought leadership. Prior to European tourism association, she worked in consumer analytics and educational travel.

Founder and CEO of Charitable Travel and Sustainable Journeys

Melissa Tilling, veteran of 37 years in the industry launched her unique social enterprise travel company Charitable Travel in 2020, with a commitment to a social purpose replacing shareholder value with philanthropy. In November 2023, in pursuit of #travelforgood, Melissa launched a new tour operator. Sustainable Journeys creates amazing holidays in the most sustainable way possible: rail enabled from the UK where possible, utilising EV self-drives and in-destination rail travel, offering locally owned and sustainably certified places to stay, spreading the wealth of tourism to secondary and tertiary destinations, and minimising the negative impacts of tourism.

Head Of Research - World Travel & Tourism Council 

Nejc Jus is originally from Slovenia, but based in London. At WTTC he is responsible for shaping, leading and implementing the research agenda. The research is a key pillar of WTTC’s advocacy and is used to guide work in the organisation’s strategic priority areas. Nejc is also responsible for building and maintaining relationships with WTTC’s research partners. 

Managing Director and Founder - 

Past & Present Journeys

One of the first travel companies set up by the new generation which emerged after the fall of communism in Albania.

Dritan worked for some of the largest Internationals before starting his own travel company in 2008 with the goal of making it one of the finest of its kind in and beyond the Balkan Region.

Dritan holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Bled School of Management.

He particularly enjoys spending time with his kids & travelling around the world. 

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Head of the Economic and Commercial department in the Embassy of Republic of Bulgaria in London

Krassimir Kiriakov has a longstanding successful career in international economic development. He has managed large development projects in cooperation with the World Bank, USAID amongst others. As a leading international expert in commodity based financing he implemented projects in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. For fifteen years he was President of a very successful project management consultancy, based in Sofia. 

Krassimir has served two times as a senior government official; Deputy Minister of Education and Science, and Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry of the Republic of Bulgaria. 

Since 2022 he has been following a diplomatic career as Head of the Economic and Commercial department in the Embassy of Republic of Bulgaria in London.

CEO, ABTA - The Travel Association 

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Acting Director - National Tourism Organisation of Serbia

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Head Of Research - World Travel & Tourism Council 

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Senior Manager - G Adventures

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Business Development Manager - Mabrian

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 Jennifer Tombaugh is President of Tauck, the family-owned US-based tour operator serving all seven continents with more than 170 guided travel experiences and events for culturally curious travelers on land, small ship and river cruises. Jennifer oversees Tauck’s Worldwide Operations, Brand Management, Reservations, Guest Relations, Global Sales, and Digital & Direct Marketing teams.  

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 Andrea Godfrey has worked for Regent Holidays for a total of 22 years starting in sales after graduation, and after a break working in Ukraine, returned to a General Manager role. In recent years, her role has involved mostly product and contracting in a wide variety of destinations from Iceland to Russia, including Ukraine and the Balkans.

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Dominic Burke, Managing Director of Travel Centres has 40 years' experience in the travel agency sector in Ireland.. Travel Centres is Ireland's largest grouping of independently-owned and managed professional travel agents. 

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Antonia Urlic is the Executive Director of Croatian upscale hotel brand, Stories Luxury Hotels. She has previously held senior marketing and promotions roles at Valamar Hotels and Croatian Airlines and was the director of the tourism sector at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce.

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 Alp Ozaman is an accomplished airline executive with 18 years of travel industry experience and has been the Regional Marketing Manager for Turkish Airlines in New York for the last 11 years.  His role also encompasses tour operations and corporate sales. In addition Alp is a lecturer in the Hospitality Department at the School of Professional Studies, New York University. More info. 

 Lee Hayhurst has been one of the leading figures in British travel trade journalism over the last 14 years. As the Editor and Executive Director of Travolution, he is at the forefront of the technology and digital revolution in travel. Lee is a regular contributor to the UK’s leading trade magazine Travel Weekly and has covered various travel sectors including cruise, travel agents and tour operators. He regularly moderates both Travolution and partner events and conferences.  

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