Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys – The Travel Technology Consultancy

Paul Richer is Senior Partner of Genesys, a management consultancy that has built a worldwide reputation for its knowledge and experience of the application of e-commerce and online distribution technologies to the travel industry.   Clients include many of the best known names in travel.

Paul has co-written several reports examining the impact of technology on the distribution of travel, including “Distribution Technology in the Travel Industry”, originally published by Financial Times Retail, and “Marketing Destinations Online – Strategies for the Information Age”, published by the World Tourism Organization. 

He holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management and is a member of the Institute of Travel & Tourism and the Chartered Institute of Marketing.   Paul is married with three children.   His leisure interests include gliding and power flying.  More information at http://www.genesys.net

William Bakker, Director, e-Business for Tourism British Columbia 

William Bakker has been with Tourism British Columbia, Canada since 1999.  He is responsible for the development of strategies to help the BC tourism industry compete in the increasingly important and ever-evolving world of online marketing.  

His key projects include the development of Tourism BC's social media strategy and consumer web platform that serves as a foundation for market websites around the world.  Before moving to Canada, William lived and worked in the Netherlands.  He shares his thoughts about e-tourism on his blog www.wilhelmus.ca  

Rodney Harrex, Regional General Manager, Europe for Tourism Australia

Rodney Harrex, is currently Tourism Australia’s General Manager for Europe, bringing 20 years of tourism industry experience to the role.  As General Manager, Rodney is responsible for managing Tourism Australia’s operations across twelve markets: the UK, Ireland, Nordic, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Italy and South Africa.  The European region is the most important inbound tourism territory for Australia, accounting for around $5.5 billion in economic value to Australian economy annually.                                                         

Key responsibilities in this role include driving marketing initiatives and programmes for this region, as well as managing regional operations in Europe to ensure integration and alignment between Tourism Australia and its State tourism partners. 

Relationships with industry partners in the region are particularly important given the role the industry plays in helping Tourism Australia to achieve increased visitor spend, dispersal and length of stay.  Rodney’s experience with Tourism Australia and its predecessor, the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC), has included managing strong relationships with TA’s partners.  In his time with Tourism Australia and the former ATC, he has held a number of management roles across the organisation, based in Sydney, the United States, New Zealand and Europe. 

Before this role in Europe, in Sydney, he had the role of GM International Operations which involved working strategically with Tourism Australia's global office network and closely with the Australian States and Territories, industry partners, government stakeholders and airlines. 

Helena Egan, TripAdvisor 

Helena Egan joined TripAdvisor in December 2008 as the first dedicated tourist board specialist in Europe after the successful launch of TripAdvisor's US tourist board programme.  

Her key responsibilities include working and developing relationships with tourist boards based in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia (EMEAA).  This involves designing and creating bespoke marketing opportunities on TripAdvisor’s media group websites, and advising tourist boards on how they can become part of the web 2.0 travel experience. 

Helena brings over 13 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry.  She joined TripAdvisor from Travel Weekly, US and has also worked for Visit Britain and numerous cruise lines.  For the past 10 years she has lived in London, and before that, in six countries across Europe and in the US.  She holds a MA from the University of Helsinki. 

Andrew Pozniak, Google 

Andrew Pozniak is Google's Head of Travel and Retail for emerging markets, and works with companies and their agencies to drive uptake of digital media, best practice and effective investment. 

Andrew joined Google in 2006 and, as Head of Industry Marketing, was responsible for defining and presenting Google's offerings to the travel industry across Europe. 

Before joining Google, Andrew was Director, e-Commerce Worldwide for the upmarket hotel group Le Meridien, where he drove the growth of the chain's online business.  He has also worked for ZS Associates, a leading US-based sales and marketing consultancy.  Andrew started his career in marketing with Thomson Travel (TUI), Europe's largest tour operator. 

Andrew holds a degree in Geography from Cambridge University and a MBA from London Business School.

Jared Salter, co-founder of Joobili.com

Joobili.com is a website launched in February 2009 that offers date-specific travel inspiration.  You say when, Joobili says where.   

For tourism organisations and event organisers, Joobili offers a range of free and paid promotion tools that help travellers discover and attend your event. Joobili.com was recognised as a leading European startup by Seedcamp and was recently voted among the top 100 websites of 2009 by PC Magazine. 

Jared holds an MBA from Central European University and when he's not travelling, he can be found in his adopted hometown of Budapest practising his Hungarian vowel pronunciation.