Takuya Aoyama

Vice President Acquisitions & Development, Hyatt International (EAME) LLC

Takuya is responsible for expanding Hyatt’s portfolio of brands in the markets of Russia & CIS, Central & Eastern Europe.

Prior to joining Hyatt in 2008, he worked as Assistant Vice President Acquisitions & Development for Japan, Korea and Micronesia with Starwood Hotels & Resorts based in Tokyo (2002-2007). Takuya’s career in the field of real estate / hotel development dates back to early ‘90’s, and he held positions with companies including Saison Group (1989-1995, Moscow/Tokyo), Holiday Inn Worldwide (1996-1999, London / Vienna) and Andersen (2000-2002, Budapest).

Takuya has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs.

Nikola Avram

CEO, Alpha Hotel Management

CEO with extensive experience in hospitality industry.

With 20+ years of hotel and resort industry experience including renowned international and regional groups in SE Europe such as Valamar Hotels & Resorts, Vienna International, Adriatic Luxury Hotels and MK Group hospitality, he brings know-how to all phases of hotel property management from concept and development to operational execution and long term planning.

Nikola Avram is from 2019 a founder of Alpha Hotel Management and currently serves as CEO.
He is responsible for the company vision, business development and operational execution.
Delivering exceptional guest service, aligned with the standards and requirements of international partners for each represented brand using a deep knowledge of the local market combined with Marriott International certificate, guarantee that both property owners and international partners get the highest value from each project – from the conceptual phase to the hotel operations.

Nikola Avram has joined MK Group in 2010 as the CEO of MK Mountain Resort and since then he has played a key role in designing and executing the company strategic plans with the aim of strengthening the Group’s Brand Strategy. He has been responsible for initiating the company’s commercial transformation in accordance with digitalization and innovation of the hotels’ products and services.
He was managing a number of acquisition processes in order to position MK Hospitality Division as the leading regional hotel company in the Western Balkans.

Werner Bilgram

Managing Director, Family Select Hotels, Austria

Mr. Werner finished University of applied sciences. He began his career 1984 as junior consultant at Reppel Unternehmensberatung where he was working on Tourism master plan for Baden-Württemberg and several marketing concepts for communities, destinations and regions in Germany. 1985-1999 he was he was at the Touristik Union International, started as a trainee, ended as vice president. 1999-2001 he was managing director at Frosch Touristik International (FTI) with a turnover responsibility over 500 million Euros.

From 2001 to 2010 he has been working for two companies: Horwath i Horwath Consulting Zagreb d.o.o. as managing partner and Kärnten Werbung Marketing & Innovationsmanagement GmbH as managing director. From 2010 untill 2016 he had 100% ownership over Europäischer Reiseservice GmbH. In mean time, from 2013 untill 2015 he was freelance managing director of Haindl Reisen. From 2012 until this very day he is managing director of Family Select Hotels and Kinderhotels Europe GmbH located in Austria.

During his opulent career his field of interest was mainly focused around tourism. Making Strategic marketing plans, operational marketing plans, destination management, tourism master planning, coaching and training in hospitality industry, competitiveness in tourism, tourism master plans, event organization are just some of many Mr. Bilgrams activities and responsibilities.

Branko Bogunovic

Partner, Hotel & Destination Consulting

Branko Bogunović is a partner in Hotel & Destination Consulting, consulting company specialized in tourism and hospitality projects.

Over the last 13 years, he has managed more than 60 and participated in over 150 projects in hotel and tourism industry. His project references include managing the conduction of tourism master plans and strategies for the number of countries and tourism regions in SEE and CIS including some of the leading tourism regions and destinations (Istria, Dubrovnik-Neretva, Coastal part of Montenegro, Kopaonik). His expertise also covers regulatory documents in tourism (coastal areas spatial plans, transformation of regulatory framework for regional and local tourism management and tourism related taxation) as well as analytical, strategic and conceptual contributions to numerous hotel and resort projects. His key points of expertise are in tourism economy, strategies, project concepts, and quantitative analytic methods.

Branko has earned his MBA from Staffordshire University (UK) and PhD degree in tourism economy from Faculty of Economics and Business Zagreb. He is an active contributor to international scientific and professional publications on various tourism subjects.

Milena Brajovic

General Manager, voco™ Podgorica

Milena is currently the General Manager of voco™ Podgorica, she has over 9 years of Hotel Management accross different brands. Her expertise includes Hotel preopening and setting up different levels of organisation. Milena has also been previously been awarded 'The Best Director/Manager of a tourism company in Podgorica' by Tourism Organisation of Podgorica.

Ivana Budin Arhanic

Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Affairs, Valamar Riviera

Ivana Budin Arhanić graduated with a degree in Economics from Middleburry College in the USA in 1999. After finishing her studies, she spent three years as a strategy management consultant in Boston and in New York. In 2003, she joined Lura d.d. in Croatia where she led the acquisition and restructuring of Somboled d.d. into the Lura group and held the position of Vice President on Somboled d.d. Supervisory Board.

In 2007 she received her MBA from Harvard Business School and joined Valamar group where she was appointed to the Management Boards of Valamar group d.d., Valamar Adria holding d.d., and Valamar Riviera d.d. as a member.

As of June 2015, Ms Budin Arhanić holds the position of Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Affairs and is in charge of acquisitions and expansion, strategic development through digitalization and innovation, corporate social responsibility, service quality management, corporate communications and relations with industry associations and the public sector.

Visar Bytyqi

Advisor to the Board of Directors, HIB Corporation

Visar Bytyqi is a licensed auditor in Kosovo and a Fellow Member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (UK). He is the co-founder and CEO of Kosovo’s first private document management company, member of the Board of Directors and chairman of the audit committee of a commercial bank in Kosovo and advisor to the Board of Directors of Kosovo’s largest taxpayer HIB Corporation. He is professional lecturer in a professional accountancy body in Kosovo in subjects of accounting and audit & assurance.

Mr. Bytyqi started his professional career in Deloitte and continued in Grant Thornton where he gained irreplaceable experience of providing financial analysis, process improvements, audit and assurance services to Kosovo’s largest pension funds, international and domestic financial institutions, numerous international organizations, corporations, public institutions, public enterprises and others.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of Kosovo’s oldest Insurance Company and a Member of the Kosovo’s Council for Financial Reporting, the state regulatory body in accounting and auditing in Kosovo.

James Chappell

Global Business Director, Horwath HTL

James Chappell is the Global Business Director of Horwath HTL, the worlds oldest and largest Hospitality Consulting Brand and is responsible for 50 offices in 39 countries around the world.

Horwath HTL is famous for their expertise in the hospitality sector having written the first uniform standard of accounts, and for having the most experienced local experts in the business.

Originally from the world of advertising, James started in the hotel business in the best possible way, by accident, and has never left. James did a three-year management trainee course at the famous boutique hotel, Lydmar, in Stockholm before leaving to join consulting firm Overlook Hospitality Management with a brief to develop new products for the industry.

One of these became The Bench, which revolutionised the way performance data was collected and used in hotels. James was Managing Director of The Bench for five years before becoming Managing Director of STR Global, the company formed by the merger of The Bench, Deloitte’s HotelBenchmark and Smith Travel Research.

A regular speaker at conferences and on television, James has appeared on CNN, The BBC, Bloomberg and others talking about the industry.

Izzat Dajani

Chief Executive, IMCapital and Member of the Board of Jordan Ahli Bank and Humania Capital

OVERVIEW

A business leader, seasoned banker and investment professional with more than 25 years of experience in banking, Investment Management, Corporate Advisory, Private Equity and Direct Investments across countries in the Middle East, the Balkans, Turkey, Australia and East Asia with transaction history in excess of USD20 billion across different sectors.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

IMCapital 2014-Present

Chief Executive

The company operates a strong Corporate Advisory and Strategy practice to its clients. IMCapital works closely with partners for business & investment strategies across multiple economic sectors in a number of countries, particularly Kosovo and Albania.

Goldfeld Capital 2019-Present

Member of the Board

Currently developing and seed funding a large scale and strategic investment initiative in the financial services sector in Kosovo.

Jordan Ahli Bank 2019-Present

Member of Board of Directors

Chairman or Member of board committees. Bank was founded in 1955 in Jordan with presence in Palestine & Cyprus.

Alternatif Bank 2013-2019

Member of Board of Directors

Chairman or Member of board committees. Also Chairman of the fully owned subsidiary, Alternatif Lease.

United Arab Bank 2017-2018

Advisor to the Board of Directors

Advice the board on critical direction & strategic initiatives particularly capital, optimization, and operational efficiencies.

Citibank N.A. Qatar 2011–2013

Chairman & CEO

Grew top line and net returns substantially, and established strong market penetration and brand dominance in country.

Goldman Sachs International 2007–2011

Head, Key and Priority Clients, Investment Management Division IMD

Managed and delivered substantial business growth through some of the largest transaction in IMD in the region.

Government of Ras Al Khaimah, Investment & Development Office 2003-2007

Chief Executive

Led major investments of this Sovereign Wealth Fund, streamlining and concluding multi-billion dollar investments & strategic initiatives. Also, chief Oil & Gas negotiator and spokesperson on economic affairs and investments.

Rasmala Investments / Start Consult 2000-2003

Senior Vice President / Director

A Private Equity Fund with Deutsche Bank as the anchor investor, focusing on the wider Middle East and GCC countries.

Union Trust 1998-1999

Head

Boutique investment bank which led some of UAE’s key IPO’s including EMAAR.

Gateway 1994-1998

Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

Led the investment activities and management of East Asia region for the Sydney-based investment company.

ACADEMIC

• · Graduated with an MPA from Harvard University. 1990
• · Completed Executive Management Program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. 1993
• Graduated with BSc in Pharmacy from Liverpool School of Pharmacy. 1978

APPENDIX – ADVISORY AND BOARD REPRESENTATIONS

Goldfeld Capital

• Member of the Board 2019-Present

Goldfeld Capital is an Abu Dhabi registered company and licensed by Abu Dhabi Global Markets. Related financial products or services are only available to Professional Clients, as defined by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (ADGM).

Goldfeld Capital is currently developing and seed funding a large scale and strategic investment initiative in the financial services sector in Kosovo, supported by local and regional investors and partners from GCC and other countries in MENA.

Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Kosovo

• Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister 2019

Overseeing the development of the strategic plans and incentive schemes for attracting Foreign Direct Investments FDI’s and strategic investors across multiple economic sectors to support economic development and country positioning and branding. Focus on three core sectors: Real Estate, Hospitality & Leisure; Energy, Mining & Minerals; Agriculture & Water.

Jordan Ahli Bank 2019-Present

• Member of Board of Directors
• Chairman of Board Nomination and Remuneration Committee
• Member of Board Credit Committee
• Member of Board Corporate Governance Committee

Alternatif Bank

• Member of Board of Directors 2013-2019

• Member of Board Executive Committee 2016-2019

Most strategic, planning and financial issues are discussed and approved by the Executive Committee prior to Board discussions. A very active member of the committee, working closely with its Chairman.

• Member of Board Remuneration Committee 2016-2019

Instrumental in putting best practice and modalities of deferred bonus payments, aligning the best interests of management with those of the shareholders. Also set KPI’s to integrate deliverables with performance indicators.

• Chairman and Member of Board Audit Committee 2016-2019

Committee Member since 2016 and Chairman in 2017. This covers both Financials and Internal Systems.

• Member of Board Risk Committee 2014-2017

Extensive involvement in establishing strong controls culture at the bank.

• Chairman of Board Corporate Governance Committee 2014-2016

Led the process for best in class corporate governance structure, which is also compliant with central banks and regulators in both Turkey and Qatar.

• Chairman of Clients and Markets Committee of the Board 2014

I chaired this specific committee set up by the board to analyse bank clients in terms of concentration, industry, and profitability. Loan book analysis with recommendations for policies on sector & single obligor limits, and collaterals.

Alternatif Lease

• Chairman of Board of Directors 2016-2019

United Arab Bank

• Advisor to the Board of Directors 2017-2018

Provide a strong link between the board and key management of the bank. Led the process for different capitalization strategies (Rights Issue, AT1, T2) and concluded the process of $180 mn rights issue. Worked extensively on business drivers, revenue growth, provisions, and IFRS 9 implementation. This required attending all board and committee meetings of the bank in addition to regular engagements with management.

Humania Capital

• Member of Advisory Council 2018-Present

Humania is an investment platform dedicated to healthcare opportunities in the Middle East and emerging markets. Humania makes significant contributions by seeding the investment vehicles and offering superior risk-adjusted returns. Humania makes acquisitions and provides growth capital for further investments in the healthcare sector.

Citibank N.A. Qatar

• Chairman & CEO 2011-2013
• · Chairman of Country Coordination Committee 2011-2013
• · Chairman of ALCO Committee 2011-2013
• · Chairman of Business Risk and Controls Committee 2011-2013

Country Rating Committee for RAK Government

• · Chairman 2006-2007 Representing the Government of Ras Al Khaimah, I implemented the strategy and engineered the process to rate the Emirate. Both Standard & Poor (S&P) and Fitch assigned RAK its long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit rating of 'A'. Appointed Standard Chartered Bank as Lead Advisor, Programme Arranger & Sole Book Runner.

RAK Education Company - EDRAK

• · Managing Director 2005-2007

This is a $400 million investment initiative in education development based upon internationally renowned and highly experienced strategic international partnerships with RAK Government. Also secured 22 million sq. ft. of land for free from the government as an endowment for setting up an exceptional education regional hub of world-class standard.

George Mason University, USA - RAK Campus

• Chairman of Board of Governors 2005-2007 A strategic partnership between the Government of RAK in UAE, and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, USA to establish a RAK Campus for George Mason University. This is seamless and fully interlinked with the US Campus, creating long-term synergies, advancing education, enriching research and facilitating exchange programs.

Friedman School of Nutrition & Policy, TUFTS University, USA – RAK Campus

• · Chairman of the Board of Governors 2005-2007

A strategic partnership between the Government of RAK and Friedman School of Nutrition & Policy, Boston, USA. This is one of the leading global institutions in Nutrition education and research. The program was designed to use technology to assess nutrition ailments through a nutrition centre directly linked to US campus.

The Methodist Hospital, Houston, USA – RAK Multi Specialty Hospital

• · Chairman of RAK Board of Overseers 2005-2007

An $80 million company structured with a strategic partner, Methodist International (Member of Methodist Hospital out of Houston, Texas, USA) to provide premier healthcare by one of America’s best facilities.

RAK Petroleum PCL

• Member of Founders Committee 2005-2006 As Chief Executive of the Investment & Development Office, I was appointed as Lead Manager to raise $800 million in capital for this now publicly listed company. Led extensive gas negotiations with governments and multinationals, engaged technology partners, developed a $1.8 billion downstream project for petrochemicals, and E&P activities.

RAK Properties PJSC

• Chairman of Founders Committee 2004-2005

Representing the Government of Ras Al Khaimah I led the process to successfully raise $250 million founders’ capital. Thereafter, Lead manager for the $550 million IPO, which was Ras Al Kkaimah’s biggest ever public offering. This IPO was oversubscribed 57 times. The company was then listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange.

Damir Davidovic

Secretary of State, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of the Republic of Montenegro

Damir is a Secretary of State in the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism responsible for implementation and supervision of polices in the field of tourism. Prior to joining the Ministry, Damir worked in private sector in the field of international trade and project implementation in Montenegro. He began his career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Montenegro, later worked as Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, after that also as Chief of Cabinet to Mayor of the Capital City of Montenegro, before being appointed for two terms as Secretary General of the Parliament of Montenegro. Damir holds M.Sc. in European Affairs and B.Sc. in International Management.

Marc C.A. de Ruijter

General Manager, The Chedi Lustica Bay

OBJECTIVE

To continuously reinvent and add value to the luxury hotel experience as a General

Manager with a dynamic hotel organisation and destination.

PROFILE Solid background in hotel operations, marketing and revenue management.

A proven track record in improving revenue streams, customer service and dynamic

team development and GOP. Passionate about social media tools and concept

integrity for new builds, renovation hotels and rebranding.

EDUCATION

• Associate Degree in Tourism & Hotel management - MTRO, NL, 1991-1994

• Royal Dutch Navy, Communications Specialist, 1989-1991

• School for interpreting, Maastricht, NL, 1987-1989

CAREER HISTORY
Oct 2017 - Present

The Chedi Lustica Bay, Tivat, Montenegro, General Manager
• Opening of the hotel, marina and 17 retail units in July 2018
• 180 Employees, 111 Rooms, 60 Rental apartments
• Close collaboration with Lustica Bay to establish an integrated destination strategy
in terms of marketing, events and overall destination management
• In charge of current 2nd resort concept planning and future 5 hotel additions
• Awarded with Best Hotel in Montenegro in 2018

Feb 2017– Aug 2017

Sofitel Jumeirah Beach, Dubai UAE, General Manager
• GOP from 43% to 46.6% forecasted in 2017
• 355 Employees
• 437 Rooms
• 4 dining venues, 2 Bars & Lounges, Conference Center with Ballroom and 5 break out rooms

June 2014– Feb 2017

Sofitel The Palm, Dubai UAE, Hotel Manager
• 41% GOP
• 850 Employees from 34 different nationalities
• 546 Rooms - 237 Luxury Rooms; 124 Suites; 182 Serviced Apartments,
• 4 Exclusive Private Lodge Villas.
• 7 exquisite dining venues - 8 Bars & Lounges - State of the art ballroom and 5
meeting rooms
• Multiple Award Winning 'So Spa' with 22 treatment rooms, Hair & Beauty Salon
• Dedicated Kids Club with 2 pools and playground
• State of the Art Fitness centre with 300 members
• Winner of Global Best Practice Award Accor Hotels & Resorts 2016
• Winner of Best 5* Resort in Middle East 2016 at Middle Eastern Hotel Awards
• Best Guest Satisfaction and Social Media Reputation in Accor Middle East in 2015
• Winner of Middle Eastern Sustainability Awards in 2015 & 2016
• Winner for 2015 & 2016 World Travel Awards for Leading Themed Resort &
Leading Green Resort

Oct 2011– May 2014

Le Touessrok [LHW], Mauritius, Resident Manager

Apr 2010 – Oct 2011

Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai UAE, Executive Assistant Manager

Oct 2009 – Mar 2010, Apr 2008 – Sep 2009

The Grand Mauritian, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Mauritius, Acting General Manager / Executive Assistant Manager

Sept 2005 – Mar 2008

Le Meridien Montparnasse, Paris, France, Director of Food & Beverage and Conference Centre

Aug 2002 – Aug 2005

Brussels Marriott Hotel, Brussels Belgium, Director of Food & Beverage

Aug 2000 – Aug 2002

Renaissance Cologne Hotel, Cologne Germany, Director of Food & Beverage

Feb 1999 – July 2000

Amsterdam Marriott Hotel, Amsterdam The Netherlands, Director of Restaurants

Dec 1995 – Dec 1998

Cafe Tu Tu Tango, Orlando Fl, USA, General Manager / Sales & Marketing Manager

OTHER AWARDS

• Best Hotel Management Team in Middle East in 2011 with Jumeirah Beach Hotel
• Le Touessrok voted Best Performance in 2011 with Leading Hotels of the World

INTERESTS

• Endurance Sports, Golf, Music
• Foreign languages & Cultures

Evgenios Dendrinos

Real Estate Director, TEMES - Costa Navarino

Evgenios Dendrinos holds the position of Real Estate Director in TEMES since 2013, responsible for the development, marketing, sales and construction of the private residential properties in Costa Navarino. Evgenios has led the strategy and implementation of Costa Navarino Residences from the onset of the project.

Prior to joining TEMES Evgenios spent 3 years in renewable energy project development bringing to fruition more than 60 MW of Photovoltaic Projects in Greece. Among those the largest photovoltaic project in Greece with a capacity of 12 MW.

In 2003, Evgenios joined Siemens AG based in Germany for a total of 6 years, 3 of which with the Medical Division as Product Marketing Manager for Interventional Radiology systems worldwide. He then joined Siemens Management Consulting, consulting the top management of Siemens AG, where he worked for a further 3 years as Senior Consultant on several projects. Evgenios has advised on major restructuring projects for the Siemens IT sector, reorganization projects for the Siemens Industry Sector and Merger & Acquisition projects for the Siemens Telecommunication sector.

Evgenios holds an MEng (Mechanical Engineering) and an MSc in Bioengineering from Imperial College, London. He is married with two children.

Hrvoje Dolenec

Chief Economist/ Head - Macroeconomic and market analysis, Zagrebačka banka d.d. UniCredit Group

Hrvoje Dolenec is an economist with extensive experience in economics and banking as well as with expertise in European Union’s development funds, including both pre-accession instruments, and the EU’s cohesion and structural policy.

He started his career in central bank but also served for four years in Croatian civil service in leading management position as a state secretary and head of of the government offices during EU accession negotiations. He spent as well 20 years in the field of economic research, economic consulting and banking, with experience in managerial positions too, as a Chief Economist and Head of Research of the largest Croatian banks. Mr. Dolenec studied Economics in graduate and postgraduate program on Zagreb Faculty of Economics and different international programs of education.

Starting from June 2012, he took over the position of Chief Economist in Zagrebačka banka d.d., member of UniCredit Group.

During whole period, he attended a number of conferences and seminars and he was additionally educated in the field of economy and finance, statistical and econometric analysis, EU funds and EU policies. He was a co-author of various economic and scientific empirical studies and articles, studies with regional focus which included quantitative and qualitative methods. Mr. Dolenec also produced a number of commentaries, articles and expertise on economy and EU policies in the Croatian newspapers and other media. At the same time, he was active as a lecturer, speaker and moderator in numerous conferences, roundtable meetings and lectures focusing on economy, finance and EU development and cohesion policy.

He is married with kids, fan of sports (climbing and skiing), nature and mountains sharing his time among his family, business career and free time activities.

Martin Edsinger

Principal, KSL Capital

Martin joined KSL Capital in May 2016. Martin most recently worked as an Investment Manager with ARLE Capital Partners and previously worked as an Experienced Associate Consultant with Bain and Company and an Economic Analyst with NERA Economic Consulting. Martin graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), where he holds a degree in Accounting and Financial Management and MSc in Economics and Business.

Thomas Emanuel

Director, STR

Thomas Emanuel is a Director at STR. He is based in London, and leads a team focused on driving business with Industry Partners.

He has spent his entire career in the hotel industry, beginning in 2000 with Miki Travel, before joining Hyatt Hotel & Resorts, where he gained experience in corporate sales at both the worldwide sales office and at property level. Thomas then led the corporate sales function for Hazlitt’s Hotels, a group of independent boutique hotels in London.

In 2006, Thomas joined the Deloitte HotelBenchmark team, where he was responsible for creating and leading the department’s business development function. He held this role until the formation of STR in March 2008, and had since focused on overseeing STR’s rapid expansion outside North America. Throughout his time with STR, Thomas has gained a wealth of experience working with hotels, investors, developers, consultants, banks, governments, destination management companies and many others.

Thomas has been a guest lecturer at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, and been invited and participated in the OECD's high level meetings on tourism policies.

Travelling extensively, Thomas has worked in over 45 countries across 6 continents and regularly speaks at major hospitality conferences around the world. He is also frequently interviewed for his insights on the hotel industry by news outlets including CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, as well as various tourism and hospitality publications.

Gregor Famira

International Partner | Hotels & Leisure, CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz

Gregor Famira is a partner at CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz in Vienna. He founded the CMS offices in Zagreb (in 2003) and Ljubljana (in 2008) and also heads both offices.

Gregor coordinates the law firm’s activities in the field of real estate in CEE. He has been active in the CEE region for 20 years now, during which time he has overseen numerous corporate and real estate transactions in the region.

Gregor Famira specializes in the asset classes hotels and commercial, advising owners, financiers and operators/retail businesses on transactions, rent and leasing contracts, franchise and hotel management contracts as well as real estate development projects. Gregor is a member of ISHC – International Society of Hospitality Consultants.

In addition to that, he has focused on supporting mostly Austrian start-ups since 2005.

Marc Finney

Head of Hotels & Resorts Consulting, Colliers International

Marc has more than 30 years’ experience in the UK and international hotel business and is a recognised specialist in hotel and resort development. He offers clients a full suite of services from concept and feasibility to operational advice to investment negotiation and corporate finance structuring.

Marc has been with Colliers since 2008 and has directed in excess of 400 consultancy and project finance assignments. He is highly valued by each client for his expertise, guidance and experience across a vast array of project types and requirements and his ability to devise practical and implementable solutions.

Projects include stand-alone hotels of all standards, hotels as part of mixed-use and redevelopment schemes, and resorts. He works across the UK, Europe, Africa, Russia and CIS, and the Caribbean.

Few leading advisers have the depth and breadth of experience within the Hospitality industry as Marc Finney. A consummate professional, he has a thorough understanding of hotels both as real estate assets and as operations, enabling him to ‘translate’ between the two for the parties involved and deliver the best solutions for the project and his clients.

Marko Gajski

Executive chef, Lesic Dimitri Palace

Born on 12th of April 1984, graduated from college as an IT engineer who developed strong passion for cooking. Within couple of years, made it to the executive Chef position at Restaurant DiVino in Hvar (2011-2014). His next big thing was his second position as an executive chef at Restaurant Perivoj (2015-2016) and in the meantime spent some time staging at Gauthier (London, 2013), Bar Boulud (London, 2013), Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester (London, 2014). Now, executive chef for restaurant Lešić Dimitri (2017).

”My life philosophy is that whatever I do, it has to leave some sort of an impact on people. I am applying the same philosophy on cuisine. Cooking is not work, cooking is a lifestyle. Just as life itself, food needs to have character, it has to be exciting and tell a story. Inspiration is all around us, it's just a matter of surrounding yourself with the environment and focus on what mother nature provides us with each season.

The type of cuisine I am mostly focused on is traditional croatian with modern accent. My main inspiration is croatian gastronomy which is highly influenced with italian, french, turkish, and austrian cuisine. For me gastronomy is a moment, a moment in which we're capable of forgetting everything and let all of our senses enjoy the perfect blend of taste, smell and atmosphere. My mission as a Chef is to make this moment for my guests come true.

Tonci Glavina

State Secretary, Ministry of tourism - Republic of Croatia

Work experience

Board member/director, Eklata, Split, Croatia; 2007. – 2017.

Member of the board/director of tourism destination management company (tour operator and hotelier) specialized for children and youth tourism

Director, Poduzetnički inkubator Klis, Klis, Croatia; 2014. – 2017.

Director of Business Incubator, organization founded and owned by Municipality of Klis responsible for development strategy of the municipality and its implementation with emphasis on tourism and destination management, project management and application of projects for external and non-refundable funds and entrepreneurship development

Assistant area community builder – Project manager, Heritage Building Group, Jamison, Pennsylvania, USA; 2005 – 2007

Regional project manager for the residential development building company with responsibilities for marketing, sales, construction, finance and strategic management

Residence director, Wesley College, Dover, Delaware, USA; 2003 – 2005

Responsible for the management of the student residence hall and team of twenty assistant managers

Marketing and management Intern, Mills Corporation, Dover, Delaware; 2002 – 2003

Intern for the international corporation that manages large shopping centers/malls

Education

Masters of Business Administration, Executive leadership concentration

Wesley College, Dover, Delaware; May 2005

Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, marketing concentration, management minor

Wesley College, Dover, Delaware; May 2003

County councilor for the Split-Dalmatian County (July 2017 – present)

Member of the presidency board of Croatia Democratic Union for Split-Dalmatia County (2016 – present)

President of the Entrepreneurship Association of Croatian Democratic Union for Split-Dalmatian County (2014 – present)

Chairman of the Tourism committee of Croatian Democratic Union for city of Split (2014 - present)

Member of the National Board for Tourism of Croatian Democratic Union (2012 – present)

Member of the board of Croatian Chamber of Commerce for Split-Dalmatian County (2016 – present)

Co-founder and Vice president for National Hospitality Association (2011 – 2016)

Group 100, member of the board – organization that promotes direct investments in Croatian economy (2004)

Croatian American Association (CAA), member of the board – political organization that lobbies for Croatian interests in American Congress and Senate (2004 – 2006)

Political activities and memberships

Elias Hayek

Partner and Head of Global Hospitality and Leisure, Squire Patton Boggs

Elias Hayek leads the global Hospitality & Leisure Group at Squire Patton Boggs, a premier international law firm with 1500 lawyers in 46 offices across 21 countries. He is a widely respected lawyer with over two decades of cross-jurisdictional professional experience in complex commercial transactions, with specific focus on the hospitality, leisure and entertainment sector, including in sector specific corporate and commercial transactions; management, licensing, franchising and service agreements; hospitality M&A and joint ventures; hotel project leasing agreements; mixed use and branded residential developments; sale and lease / manage back transactions; and food and beverage, restaurant and health and wellness management and licensing agreements. His clients include multi asset owner / developers, private equity funds, brand owners and third party operators. To date, Elias has closed over 380 transactions in 45 cities across Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, with underlying asset and transaction values in billions of dollars.

Elias is the current Co-Chair of the Leisure Industries Section of the International Bar Association (IBA) representing more than 80,000 individual lawyers and more than 190 bar associations and law societies spanning over 160 countries; He is charged with leading the hospitality and leisure initiatives for the IBA. Elias also held several other leadership positions with the IBA: as vice-chair of the Leisure Industries Section (2016-2020); vice-chair of the Corporate Counsel Forum (2014-2018), and as an officer of the Legal Practice Division (2012-2016). He is also the former Chair and President of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Middle East chapter, a position he held from its predecessor formation in 2010 until 2017.

Prior to joining the firm, Elias worked for 17 years at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, a leading Fortune 500 international hotel brands owner and operator, where his last role was as Vice President, Legal – Europe, Middle East and Africa Division.

Elias is also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award awarded by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Global Board, the global association of corporate lawyers representing 40,000 members in over 85 countries.

Ruzica Herceg

Partner, Hotel & Destination Consulting

Ružica Herceg holds a Partner position in Hotel & Destination Consulting - boutique consulting firm specialized for hospitality and tourism projects with long-standing experience and international credentials of its partners and associates.

Ružica has over 25 years of experience in hospitality markets in the region, allowing her to gain broad industry knowledge and to manage and coordinate the most outstanding and complex projects. Working with the leading and largest hospitality companies in the region, global investors and first tier hotel operators, Ružica has gained valuable market recognition.

Prior to joining consulting business, she started her career in banking sector (Zagrebačka banka – Unicredit group), where she obtained significant experience on financing and financial matters. She gained the operational experience working for the Croatian Hotels and Resorts as an operational analyst, and also held a Senior Partner position, for 10 years, in a consulting practice (Horwath HTL).

Given such a background and passionate interests in hospitality, Ružica’s focus is primarily directed towards various hotels and resorts projects– from best use concepts, feasibility studies, valuations, asset management, support in mergers and acquisitions, management contracting

Clive Hillier

Consultant, Colliers International

During a career spanning more than 22 years in hospitality Clive has been at the forefront of the sector, managing major international investment and development projects and providing valuable advice to prospective investors and asset owners. Clive is regarded as an authority on hospitality asset management and as such he is a frequent speaker at international conferences.

In 2001 Clive founded Vision, a consultancy formed to offer specialist and independent advice to investors within the hospitality sector. After more than 15 years Vision joined Colliers International in 2017 and continues to lead the market in supporting individuals and businesses in their investment, operational and development decisions.

Nicolas Horky

Transactions Manager Europe, Principal Real Estate Europe

Nicolas started his career in the Czech Republic in 2005 working alongside ORCO Property Group’s hotel division Managing Director on CEE hotel investments and the group’s operations. After a successful acquisition of an 8-hotel portfolio on the island of Hvar in Croatia he relocated to Split in 2006 to follow up on the implementation of a 5-year business plan that included a €100m+ renovation plan, as well as its financing. After a 3-year period covering hotel investment and development in CEE and the Balkans, as well as other asset classes, Nicolas relocated to Paris to work with ORCO’s top management on strategic projects.

He later set up a real-estate business based in Prague (SNH Consulting) covering the CEE region and mainly providing consulting and asset management services to real estate investors and developers in the region.

Nicolas joined Principal Real Estate Europe hotel team in 2015 and spent the first 3 years working on portfolio and asset management. He is now Transactions Manager covering all major European markets.

Nicolas holds a Master’s in international development from NEOMA Business School in France.

Nikolett Huszak

Senior Retail Marketing Manager, Budapest Airport

She started her career in 2005 at Budapest Airport and since then she gained experience in Retail, Airline and Property marketing. From 2019 she returned to Retail again with this knowledge gives her a wider view on different areas of the airport and within the aviation and travel retail industry.

Nikolett is currently leading the Retail marketing team which is supporting retail partners with marketing activities in order to increase their sales, brand awareness or strenghten their brand amongst the passengers traveling through the airport.

She holds a Bachelors degree in Economics and a Masters degree in Marketing.

Nikolett used to be a professional handball player, which mentality and ’can do’ attitude is reflected in her work. She accomplished several half-marathons and she completed her first full marathon in 2017 .

She believes in life-long-learning and continous self-development so she completed a certified coach course in 2019 which mindset and toolkit is very essential in her leadership.

Lucija Ivas

Director, Forel projekt

Lucija Ivas holds the position of director in Forel projekt, company for supervision, design and consultancy since 2007. Through leading a team of civil engineers, she focuses on professionalism, responsibility, accuracy and lifelong learning, both in the technical field and in the field of project management.

She graduated from University of Zagreb, Croatia, Faculty of Civil Engeneering with a Master od Science in Construction Management and Economics. Within couple of years she managed to got a MA in Executive business administration from Cotrugli Business School in Zagreb and became a member of IPMA International Project Management Associaton with Level C/Certified Project Manager. She worked as visiting assistant professor, project manager, supervisory and static engineer before becoming director of Forel projekt.

The company is project-oriented and each project is delivered to the client with agreed goals (in terms of time, money and quality), and with value-added services which deserve excellent reputation within the profession. In order to successfully perform complex tasks, Lucija requires the interaction of all employees and using the knowledge and experience of each individual which is realized by permanent contact.

Membership in professional bodies like CAPM (Croatian Association for Project Management), HKIG (Croatian Chamber of Civil Engineers) and years of experience helped her to be recognized as a civil engineer with knowledge and exceptional motivation in projects.

David Jenkins

Vice President Business Development, Radisson Hotel Group

In Moscow since 1995, David Jenkins joined the Radisson Hotel Group in 2015 as Vice President Business Development for the region covering Russia, Baltics, CIS, Ukraine, Georgia, Balkans and Israel. This followed on from a 10-year period as one of the most respected hotel consultants in the Russian market with JLL, Cushman & Wakefield, DTZ and Horwath. Prior to consulting, David spent 8 years with Interstate in Moscow working for the Marriott properties. David has a degree in Hospitality Management and now has over 25 years of experience in the industry from operations, consulting and development.

Josipa Jutt Ferlan

CEO Zagreb City Hotels and cluster manager for Hilton hotels in Zagreb

Josipa Jutt Ferlan is a dynamic high-performance hotel executive with a 20-years accomplished career track. She began her career in 2000 at the Zagreb Esplanade hotel. She then moved to the position of Sales and Marketing Director of Jupiter Adria and Director of Hotel Palace Zagreb. In 2015. Josipa became CEO & General Manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton Zagreb. Aside from running the hotel, Josipa also runs the development of new hotel projects under the Hilton brand – Canopy by Hilton and Garden Inn and is CEO of the Zagreb City Hotels company as well as the cluster manager for Hilton hotels in Zagreb.

Josipa holds Masters degree in Hospitality management from University of Rijeka.

Igor Kanjuh

Head of RE Department, Erste&Steiermärkische Bank d.d., Croatia

Igor Kanjuh is Head of RE Department in Erste&Steiermärkische Bank d.d. since 2018.

Erste is, alongside with ZABA and PBZ, is a leading financing institution in Croatia.

Erste Group is also a leading financing institution in CEE region, has strong focus on RE industry providing tailor made solutions for the Investors and Developers.

Igor has over 10 years of experience in RE markets in the region, allowing him to gain broad industry knowledge and to manage and coordinate the most outstanding and complex projects. Working with the leading and largest RE developers in the region, global investors and first tier hotel operators, Igor and his Erste Team has gained valuable market recognition.

After collage Igor started his career in Erste where he obtained significant experience on financing and financial matters.

His working experience includes several positions over the last 12 years in Erste:

2007-2008 – Account manager in SME Department

2008 - 2013 – Key account manager in RE Department, Housing financing group

2013 – 2018 – Head of Housing financing group; RE Department

2018 – present – Head of RE Department

Given such a background and passionate interests in RE, Igor’s focus is primarily directed towards various RE projects– from best use concepts, feasibility studies, valuations, asset management, support in mergers and acquisitions, management contracting etc.

Dejan Knezovic

Partner, Knezovic & Associates

Dejan Knezovic is practicing lawyer in North Macedonia, member of the Macedonian Bar Association. He is founder and managing partner of the Law Firm Knezovic & Associates. The Law firm is specialized in corporate and commercial law and has remarkable records in mergers and acquisitions, project financing as well as real estate development projects. The Law Firm is part of Adriala legal network as a full scale leading practice in South and East Europe covering nine jurisdiction of Adria region.

Mr. Knezovic started his professional career in esteemed corporate related law firm and founded own Law Firm in 2000. For past twenty years he has gained profound experience in providing corporate consultancy to high level management, took part in management of local entities with participation of international companies, as member of Supervisory Boards.

He has been advising the acquisition of five-star hotel facility in Mavrovo Area, acts as local counsel of Marriott Hotels, assigned by international law firm and advises local chain of hotels Alexander in the course of project development and project financing for two out of three locations in Skopje capital.

Goran Kovacevic

Pre-opening General Manager, Viceroy Kopaonik Serbia

Goran Kovacevic is the pre-opening General Manager at Viceroy Kopaonik Serbia, Viceroy’s first hotel to open in Europe.

He started his career in Cyprus in 1998, as a F&B department trainee, and over the next three years on the island was exposed to operations of all hotel departments. He spent the following 11 years in the UK, working as a chef and head chef in some of London’s finest hotels, including Claridge's and the Westbury, as well as in one of the country’s largest contract catering companies, Elior UK. Upon his return to Serbia in 2010, as an executive chef, he was part of the team that open Belgrade’s most renowned hotel, Square Nine, a member of Leading Hotels of the World. In 2013 he was promoted to the managing director position. In 2018 he joined Viceroy Hotel Group, and at the moment is managing the team that will open Serbia’s most luxurious resort, Viceroy Kopaonik Serbia, an investment by Royal Group UAE.

Goran is a guest lecturer at The College of Hotel Management in Belgrade, a college where he graduated in 2000. He also holds an MBA degree from the London School of Commerce since 2012.

Frederic Le Fichoux

Partner - Head of Hotel Transactions Continental Europe, Cushman & Wakefield

Frédéric Le Fichoux is a partner at Cushman & Wakefield. He is leading the hotel transactions’ teams in Continental Europe and supporting the hospitality team in Central & Eastern Europe and South Eastern Europe.

With over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Fred has an extensive knowledge of the hotel real estate sector and is a recognized expert in the European market. Since 2007 he has focused in managing and growing the hospitality team for the CEE and SEE regions at Cushman and Wakefield. Since 2015, he is in charge of hotel transaction advisory and brokerage services, supporting buyers and sellers across the entire Continental European region.

Fred has advised on the acquisition and disposal of over EUR 2 billion of hotel transactions in Europe, over the past years. Some of his recent successes include the acquisition of the Intercontinental Prague for R2J and the sale of the Morland project in Paris that includes a So Sofitel to TH Real Estate. He is currently involved in the sale of one of the largest resort asset in Europe: Porto Carras, located in Thessaloniki.

Fred holds a MBA in Hospitality Management from Cornell University and ESSEC Business School. He has a Postgraduate Diploma in Property Investment from Reading University and is also Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) since 2010.

Markus Lehnert

Vice President International Hotel Development, Marriott International

Markus Lehnert started his career in hospitality more than 35 years ago, and he has been with Marriott International for the last 20 years. As Regional Vice President of International Hotel Development, Markus is responsible for the development of all limited-service brands across Europe, as well as all brands in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia. Before joining Marriott, Markus was a hospitality consultant with PKF in London for three years, and before that held operational positions for 13 years at various world-class hotels, among them the Breidenbacher Hof in Düsseldorf and the London hotels The Berkeley, Claridge’s and the The Lanesborough. Markus lives in Switzerland.

Nicola Lichtenberg

Senior Manager Hotel Acquisitions & Transactions, Aroundtown SA

With over 10 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Nicola is responsible for Aroundtown’s hotel acquisitions across Europe as Senior Manager Hotel Acquisitions and Transactions. Together with its subsidiaries, Aroundtown currently owns € 17.9 billion of commercial properties and its hotel portfolio is valued at over € 5.8 billion. In the last 24 months, numerous new hotel properties and portfolios were acquired, demonstrating an unrivalled track record.

Having graduated from Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne with a Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management, Nicola started her career in hospitality real estate consulting and before joining Aroundtown, she worked for Aareal Bank, closing hotel financings in excess of € 2.1 billion within Europe.

Mojca Lozar

Global Brand Director, voco™ hotels, IHG

Originally from Slovenia, Mojca has moved to the UK to join IHG in 2013 and has worked on several brands within IHG, the latest (and her favourite) being voco™. She is now responsible for rolling out the brand globally, ensuring the brand can move quickly and takes into consideration guests’ as well as owners’ needs.

Prior to IHG, she honed her brand management and marketing skills at Procter&Gamble in Budapest.

Alan Mantin

Managing Director Development, Southern Europe, Hilton

Alan Mantin is Managing Director, Development, Southern Europe and is responsible for the development of Hilton’s brands in 11 European countries. Alan works closely with owners and development partners to bring new hotels to: Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Israel and Cape Verde.

Having joined Hilton in 2001 as Regional Marketing Director for Italy, Alan’s role grew to cover Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean and in 2006, he joined Hilton’s rapidly expanding development team to oversee the company’s growing development pipeline in Southern Europe.

Ivona Meissner

Director Hotel Development, Regional Office Vienna, BWH Hotel Group Central Europe

As of January 2018, Ivona Meissner has been the Director of the Hotel Development of BWH Hotel Group Central Europe in Vienna. In this role, she ensures the growth of the three global brand families with 17 hotel brands including Best Western Hotels & Resorts, WorldHotels Collection and SureStay Hotel Group for the region covering Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia.

She has been working for Best Western Hotels Central Europe since 2007 in various management positions. As Chief Operation Manager and Authorized Officer from 2010 until 2012, Ivona Meissner was in charge of reaching the targets of the business policy as well as the economical organization, strategy, development of concepts and controlling.

In her position as Chief Executive Officer, she was a delegate in all European and International Best Western Hotels & Resorts committees from 2013 until 2015.

From 2016 until 2017, as Director of the Regional Office of Best Western Hotels Central Europe in Vienna, she and her team would support affiliated hotels, customers, cooperation partners, associations and other institutions. At the same time, she was responsible for the hotel development in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Ivona Meissner not only has more than 30 years of experience in the hotel and tourism sector in Austria and CEE, but she is also an enthusiastic hospitality expert in managing sales/marketing, revenue management, quality assurance, consulting and hotel development related affairs.

She is fluent in German, English, Slovak, Czech and speaks Italian as well.

Owing to her expertise, Ivona Meissner has frequently been a speaker/lecturer at national and international events and in schools.

The BWH Hotel Group^® is an international hotel group headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and the umbrella brand for the three global brand families including Best Western Hotels & Resorts, WorldHotels Collection and SureStay Hotel Group with a global network of approximately 4,700 independent hotels in over 100 countries and territories worldwide.* BWH Hotel Group offers a total of 17 hotel brands worldwide that suit the needs of hotel developers and guests in every market: Best Western®, Best Western Plus®, Best Western Premier®, Executive Residency by Best Western®, Vīb®, GLō®, Aiden®, Sadie®, BW Premier Collection® and BW Signature Collection® as well as WorldHotels® Luxury, WorldHotels Elite and WorldHotels Distinctive. SureStay®, SureStay Plus®, SureStay Collection® and SureStay Studio^SM complete the group's brand portfolio.** BWH Hotel Group offers hoteliers operational services, sales and marketing support, multiple award-winning online and mobile booking options as well as the customer loyalty programs Best Western Rewards® and WorldHotels Rewards^SM with more than 40 million members.

BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH, formerly Best Western Hotels Central Europe GmbH, based in Eschborn, supports a total of around 300 hotels in ten countries, including Germany, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

* Numbers are approximate, may fluctuate, and include hotels currently in the development pipeline.

** All Best Western, WorldHotels and SureStay branded hotels are independently owned and operated. In Europe, SureStay Hotels are managed with the brand Sure Hotels.

Brennon Nicholas

Sales & Marketing Director, Porto Montenegro

Brennon Nicholas was born and educated in Cape Town South Africa, which he left in 1996 to settle in Southern Spain and at which time he embarked in a career of Sales & Marketing in residential real estate development. Brennon has more than 25 years of experience within the International and European residential real estate market. Throughout his career, Brennon has held senior management positions in both real estate agencies and development companies across Europe and the GCC region. Brennon is currently the Sales & Marketing Director for Porto Montenegro where he has held the position since starting in September 2019.

Milovan Novakovic

Managing Director, Colliers International

AREA OF EXPERTISE

Joined Colliers International in 2007and has started as an ICAS Officer.

In 2009 took the role of Senior office representative and was coordinating all activities of the Montenegrin office together with SEE Regional director.

At the end of 2010, officially becomes General Manager of Colliers International, Montenegro.

Specialized in Real Estate Management Services and has successfully undertaken different type of investment advisory studies related to all types of property, such as hotels & resorts, industrial premises, office &retail blocks, land parcels and residential properties and was directly involved in all big projects that Colliers has done in Montenegro. Certified appraiser and LEED qualified. Currently President of the Board of Directors of the Green Building Council of Montenegro and Colliers is the Co-Founder of that Organization. From December 2014 member of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

BUSINESS AND EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Has graduated at the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica and before joined Colliers International worked as Computer Designer, Research Assistant, and Advisor for Marketing, Financial Officer, Marketing Manager and free entrepreneur.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Through activities of GBC Montenegro, which founder he is, educating society how important is to have balance between ecology, society and economy.

Joep Peeters

Senior Vice President Franchise & Owner Relations EMEA, Radisson Hotel Group

Fluent in German, French, English and Dutch.

November 2014 till today: RadissonHotel Group

Senior Vice President Franchise& Owner Relations EMEA

Over 130franchised hotels under 5brands (84 hotels end 2014) spread over more than 30 countries. Fee based income up by nearly 50% over past 4years.

Role was created to extend the franchise portfolio, whilst installing (change process) a franchise business model at Radisson Hotel Group EMEA.

Setting up of an organisation V2.0 that operates in a different way than our competitors.

Engaging with existing owners to develop new opportunities, achieve more commitment on key brand standard implementations that are guest experience focused and enhance the engagement (Guest Online Satisfaction Scores average 86 %).

New hotel development is now a key element of my job, taking up 50% of my time with full responsibility on existing portfolio and major interaction with the CDO and his team.

Other elements include Contract negotiations, Openings, Exits, Service, Facilitation with Areas, Legal issues.

Took on additional responsibility since2018 on Owner Value Proposition for RHG EMEA for leased, managed and franchised owners together with the CDO.

May 2006 –October2014

Managing Director Westbridge Europe, a division of Westmont Hospitality.

Responsible for all day-to-day activities of the portfolio which consisted of different ownership structures and a variety of brands involving Intercontinental, Hilton, Radisson Blu, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Mercure & Holiday Inn Express; at its peak (2011) I managed 25 hotels under eight different brands, from three to five stars, in nine countries and managing 1500 employees.

• Member of the executive committee that decided on acquisition, exits, brands and strategies with highest ROI outcome for our investors.
• Maintaining relationship with brand owners in order to maximize the value we gained from the fees paid.
• A director in most of the legal entities; involved regular board meetings as well as statutory reporting and strategy setting.
• Westmont representative at the IHG Owners Association (see below details)

Key Achievements:

The setup of Westbridge Europe as an organisation from scratch, ie management team, policies, structures, systems, sales, brand relations, capital investments and re structuring the hotels over 2006 and 2007.

Group profitability improved significantly over the years resulting in a healthy EBITDA and Cashflow which lead to a very profitable exit in April 2014

Turnover 250M and All Portfolios combined value of 1B at peak.

Hotels exited as single units as well as portfolios due to various investment setups with Private Equity and Funds.

During my tenure as Managing Director, I was also highly involved with the IHG Owners Association.

As a major IHG Franchisee I held a senior role in the IHG Owners Association (non-compensated) thus being able to influence at the highest levels on strategies to improve the returns for all stakeholders:

• Chairman IHG Owners Association EMEA 2010-2011 (two-year term)Together with CEO IHG EMEA Ichairedquarterly meetings with key owners of IHG branded hotels, main focus on setting strategies to build stronger brands, gaining market shares and improved profitabilty of hotels
• Global Board Member IHG Owners Association 2010-2012 and member Global Executive Committee Bi-monthly global meetings with Owners Association Board and Executive Committee interacting with IHG Global Executive Committee focusing onstrategies such as Brand Values, Brand Positioning, Engagement, Owner ROI.
• Board Member Europe IHG Owners Association (2007-2014)
• Chairman Owners Association EMEA Sales & Marketing committee(2007-2009)
• First Non-US Committee member IHG Rewards Club Loyalty Program (2008-2010)

January 2005-April 2006

IHG Director of Operations Germany

Main objective was to continue operations of these hotels whilst they went on sale and setting upa new franchise relations structure from an owner perspective in Germany.

Key achievement: A successful transition in April 2006 from IHG owned and managed hotels into a new company Westbridge Europe fully franchised.

October 2003-December 2005

IHG Director of Operations Southern Germany (seven hotels, 4brands)

Key achievement: The re-branding of Forum Hotel Munich City Centre to Holiday Inn within 6 months of my arrival as well as the major refurbishment (€30M) over 2005 in order for IHG to be able to sell the hotel.

Coach and Guide the GM of the Intercontinental Berchtesgaden (now Kempinski) for the opening early 2005 with extreme media attention due to its historical background.

December 2002-November 2003

IHG Area General Manager East Anglia

Appointed to lead this challenging cluster as a free-standing Area General Manager, transformed the areas perception as well as their results.

October 2000 –November 2002

General Manager Holiday Inn London Kensington-Forum

Managed the re-branding of the Forum Hotel into the largest Holiday Inn in the world with a full refurbishment of the hotel (UKP 30M) and achieving budget in 2002 despite ‘Foot & Mouth Crisis’ and 9/11 which impacted business.

May 1992 -October 2000

During this period, I was General Manager at four hotels of growing complexity and revenue in Belgium and Holland.

December 1981 –April 1992

Various operational roles with Holiday Inn in Belgium and France.

Professional development: I am a strong believer in the necessity for continuing professional development and have attended numerous courses, conferences, coaching sessions and workshops covering all aspects of leadership.

Personal Coach over the past 12years to support my continuing development.

Leisure Time: Family, Golf, Ski, Reading, Food, Cigars and Wine.

Gustaf Pilebjer

Director of Food and Beverage for Europe, Marriott International

Gustaf Pilebjer is the Director of Food and Beverage for Europe at Marriott International overseeing Restaurant & Bar development projects across the Marriott brand portfolio.

Prior to joining Marriott, Gustaf worked as a consultant with Gorgeous Group, specializing in concept development and project management of F&B projects for international hotel brands as well as independent operators.

In 2015, Gustaf co-founded the London-based creative hospitality agency Rebel, acting as Creative and Projects Director.

His expertise spans concept development, brand programming, interior and operational design development, positioning and marketing, service and operational support.

Renata Pindzo

Deputy Minister for Tourism, Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia

Renata Pindžo, PhD, is Associate Professor at the FEFA, Belgrade. Also, she holds lectures at the College of Tourism, Belgrade. Since July 2008, she has been in charge of the Tourism sector while working as Assistant Minister in the Government of the Republic of Serbia. Since 2013, she has been a member of the National Council for the Development of Tourism in the Republic of Serbia. Ms. Pindžo graduated from the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade, where she obtained a Master’s degree in 2003. In May 2011, she obtained her PhD degree.

Her experience includes more than 13 years in management consulting and financial advisory services. She has gained knowledge by providing consulting services to many domestic and international companies, including financial institutions and local municipalities during her employment at Deloitte. Also, as consultant, she was engaged in the World Bank`s projects related to restructuring and improving competitiveness of the Serbian economy. At the Economics Institute, Dr Pindžo participated in research, market analysis and strategy development projects. She has cooperated with many international institutions (USAID, EAR, EBRD, DFID, GIZ and SDC) on complex projects of restructuring the Serbian economy. She is author more than 70 scientific papers.

Frank Reul

VP Development, Accor Eastern Europe

Frank is currently the Head of Development for Orbis – the partner of AccorHotels in Eastern Europe. He has an extensive experience in hotel management and operations. He started his career in 1988 in Brussels and Bruges in Belgium in senior operational roles at AccorHotels. He quickly got promoted to Director of Food and Beverage at the Novotel Sheremetyevo-2 in Moscow, Russia in 1992.

After spending three years in Moscow he moved back to London to and begun his ten years long career in the United Kingdom at AccorHotels. He started at one of the busiest airport’s Novotel, at the Heathrow as an Operations Manager. He then held several General Manager positions across the United Kingdom: Novotel Preston, Novotel Southampton, Novotel Milton Keynes, Novotel Bristol Centre. In 2006, he moved to Turkey, where he directed and managed one of the key hotels in Istanbul, the Novotel Istanbul. He then spent two years as a General Manager at Novotel Trabzon.

After more than 20 years of service at AccorHotels he had been appointed to Area General Manager for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, then from 2014, to the Area General Manager for Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia where he oversaw of operations and development including development in the South Eastern Europe. From September 2017 he has been appointed to Head of Development of Orbis & AccorHotels Eastern Europe.

He is fluent in Dutch, English, French and speaks German as well. He is an avid fan of history, wines and the Arsenal.

The Orbis Hotel Group is the largest network of hotels in Eastern Europe. Orbis comprises more than 130 hotels and is the sole licensor of all AccorHotels brands in 16 countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. It offers a total of almost 21,000 rooms. The hotels operate under the brand names Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery by Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, ibis, ibis Styles and ibis budget. These brands, recognized throughout the world, provide a quality of service to various standards, ranging from luxury 5-star to budget 1-star hotels.

Orbis’ strategic partner is AccorHotels.

Phillip Rietz

Portfolio Strategy and M&A Support Junior Manager, TUI Hotels and Resorts

Phillip Rietz is an expert for TUI Hotels & Resorts growth Strategy worldwide with a special focus on market entries in new destinations such as South East Asia or Africa. Despite only being 2,5 year in the company, Phillip has been part of the foundation of two successful Joint Ventures between TUI Hotels & Resorts and its partners. Further, he supported the Portfolio growth from 380 to more than 400 hotels as of FY19 end. Besides the pure Portfolio growth Phillip also worked in projects to optimize TUI Hotels & Resorts portfolio in terms of financial performance.

Before working for TUI Hotels & Resorts, Phillip successfully studied for a Masters degree in Marketing and Distribution Management at Goettingen University and worked for IBM in the Business Operations department.

Jordi Sanchis

Development Director South, East and Central Europe, Melia Hotels International

Jordi Sanchís is Development Director, where he is responsible for growth in South, East and Central Europe. Development include corporate or asset acquisitions, joint venture partnerships and negotiation of Management and Lease contracts. He has significant experience around the Europe in hotels Development. Melia Hotels International is a leading hotel company firm with more than 350 hotels across the world.. Since joining Melia Hotels International in 2016, he has completed various engagements in the Spain, Portugal, Cape Verde, Montenegro, Italy, Malta, Albania and Greece.

Prior to joining Meliá Hotels International, he worked as Development Manager for different Hotel companies under a Spanish Company focused on South Europe region. Formerly, he worked at Horwath HTL where was the manager of advice to different real estate and hotel companies in their management and development of their hotel assets.

Dilek Sezer

Director of Development South Eastern Europe region, Accor HotelServices

Dilek who fell in love with hospitality during her engineering studies started her hospitality career with Accor in 1988 in Turkey and than moved to the UK where she held a large number of management positions including Multi-site General Manager and Area General Manager for Ibis and ibis budget UK, both in London and the wider UK regions; her most recent position in the UK was Operations Project Manager where she successfully lead the transfer of 22 hotels to different new owners.

Dilek, who is a graduate of IHMP- International Hotel Management Program by Accor Academy – ESSEC – Cornell has passionately been involved in various projects over the years; the Finance & F&B Finance Module Trainer of ADP, Quality Committee, Planet 21 or Fastcom Relay Group are just a few to mention. Dilek in her spare time enjoys reading, flying, mentoring young talent, raising funds for charity, discovering different cuisines, gardening and always looking learning something new!.

Dilek is a British citizen and speaks fluent English and Turkish.

Reuel Slonim

CEO, Arena Hospitality Group

Reuel Slonim joined Arena Hospitality Group as Executive Director in 2008. His previous role was as Vice President of Operations & Development and board member of Isrotel Hotels and Resorts, one of Israel’s leading hospitality companies. Prior to that, Mr Slonim was Vice President Marketing & Sales after having served for ten years as General Manager of 5-Star resort hotel. Since joining Arena Hospitality Group in 2008, he has led a programme of major transformations which include the renovation, upgrading and rebranding of twelve properties, acquired and successfully integrated the German and Hungarian operations, thus creating the first Croatian international hospitality Group, and led the groups 2017 IPO which raised EUR 100 million in equity proceeds , the proceeds are designated for further development and growth. Moreover, the Group continues to expand in the CEE region through the addition of new properties in Zagreb and Belgrade. Under his tenure, Arena grew from a local company with an EBITDA of €4 million in 2008 to a truly international player with an EBITDA exceeding €30 million in 2019. During these years the group introduced highly professional management procedures, updated all IT systems and refined a training and development culture, all of which has solidified recognition of Arena Hospitality Group as a leading hospitality company in Croatia.

Ardiana Sokoli

Vice President, Real Estate Business & Board Member, Balfin Group

Responsible for overall Real Estate investments of the Group. Direct supervising RE and hospitality segment; Managing a portfolio of more than Euro 250 Mio investments (being that in residential and hospitality)

Outstanding management and executive experience in Banking, Financial Management and Risk Advisory services and Governance.

Whilst deeply rooted in the banking and financial sector, has worked intensively with both private and the public sector, be that in the form investments, of shares acquisition or privatization or management consulting.

Involved since in the early years with management of foreign aid; donor coordination and projects,

Last but not least marvelous experience as:

• · Board member of Adaptation Fund (project and programme review Committee) which finances projects and programs aimed at helping developing countries to adapt to effects of climate change; and also
• · Board member of REC for the Senior Program focused in assisting civil society organization in their precious role.
• · UNFCC focal point for the country for more than 4 years (2014-2018)

Always trying to keep a position that utilizes her management and financial background, leadership and interpersonal skills in a challenging environment.

Eva Stravs Podlogar

State Secretary, MEDT Slovenia

Since May 2015, she has been employed at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (MEDT) and has extensive experience in tourism, on local, regional and national level.

Previously, she was, for almost 15 years, the director of Turizem Bled, Tourism Promotion Institute, where she was responsible for the institute’s management and the strategic development of Bled as an extremely important Slovenian tourist destination. In this position, she headed the Regional Destination Organisation of Gorenjska from 2011 to 2015. During her time working in the economy, she also gained experience as the Assistant Director of Elan Commerce.

In September 2016, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia appointed her as State Secretary at the MEDT, in October 2018 she was reappointed as State Secretary of the MEDT.

Kristian Sustar

Chief Development Officer, Uniline

Director of Development – Chief Development Officer at Uniline Travel Company, one of the leading destination management companies in southeast Europe.

Until May 2018. CEO of Dubrovnik Riviera Hotels Inc. and Member of the Board of HUP Zagreb. HUP Zagreb is a company whose business is to dictate trends in the development of national tourism, and it is positioned in a way that assumes the role of managing the transition model of tourism development by determining the direction of change, initiating and stimulating the development of quality projects, and educating destinations in which it operates through the introduction of new trends. By the 2011 CEO of Maistra d.d., part of the Adris Group, the largest national investor in the tourism industry.

Years of experience, mainly on management positions within the tourism companies in constant expansion (during career, often served multiple functions simultaneously within individual companies). Besides Croatia, experience gained in several international projects.
For many years active in local and national tourism community, as member of the Council for 8 years and presently Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Croatian National Tourist Board. From December 2009 to April 2016 President of the Association of Employers in Croatia, a national association of hoteliers. From 2011 Lecturer at VERN University of Applied Sciences.

Alessandro Tedesco

Chief Operating Officer, Febc International

Alessandro is the Chief Operating Officer, a strong leader, great communicator and negotiator and an analytical mind capable of taking on the toughest challenges. Responsible for leading all global procurement efforts across global offices.

Implementing daily operations, aligned with the company’s strategies and policies. His individual role is to maintain control of diverse business operations. Driving supply analysis, drafting operational strategy, setting suppliers identification, sourcing execution (“tendering”), contract negotiation. Managing delivery process from planning to monitoring, purchase execution, until ongoing performance management and the overall improvement.

Alessandro is the company’s second-in-command and responsible for the efficiency of business. Collaborating with the CEO in setting and driving company's vision, operational strategy, and hiring decisions. Also he oversees company operations and employee productivity, building a highly inclusive culture ensuring team members thrive and other organizational outcomes are met.

Elvis Toci

CEO and Founder, ADXA Property

Elvis Toci is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of hands-on experience in construction and real estate development in Albania and Romania. Through his privately-owned real estate company, ADXA Properties, Mr. Toci specializes in medium- to large-scale residential real estate development in Tirana and the rest of Albania, and is experienced with owning and operating leisure properties, including hotels, in both countries.

ADXA Properties specializes in Portfolio Management, Smart Investing, Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Business Development, with clients that range from small businesses to multimillion-dollar multinationals. He is well known as one of the first developers of residential villas in Tirana, continuing to develop other compounds in Tirana. Along with ADXA Architecture and ADXA Manpower, Mr. Toci’s group of companies offers a full-range of additional services, from architecture, engineering and project management services to providing project-specific manpower, from site managers to construction workers.

Mr. Toci received his MBA from the University of Bucharest in Romania. He has also been Honorary Consul of Romania in Korce and the President of the Albanian Ski Federation. He is fluent in Albanian, Romanian, Italian and English, and has a working knowledge of several other European languages.

Sinisa Topalovic

Managing Partner, Horwath HTL

Siniša Topalović is managing partner at Horwath HTL. He has been involved in more than 150 projects within Horwath HTL network, working with high-profile clients and shaping today’s tourism industry landscape in well-established but also emerging destinations worldwide.

His fields of expertise include strategic and operational advisory in tourism and hospitality sector, including but not limited to strategies and master planning, market expansion strategies, hotel and resort development (highest and best use concepts, feasibility studies, etc.), transactional market advisory, management contracts negotiations, project financing (IFI’s, commercial banks, development banks), tourism marketing and branding planning, product development. Thus, the professional profile of Siniša Topalović is well-rounded and comprehensive in the hospitality, tourism and leisure arena.

Siniša is regularly publishing articles in global tourism media, industry reports and columns relating to tourism and hospitality in domestic and international publications (Hospitality Inside, HNN, Hotels Magazine, etc.) and is invited as speaker or moderator to prominent international conferences (ITB Convention, International Hotel Investment Forum Berlin, Hot.E London, Mediterranean Hotels and Resorts Conference, etc.).

On behalf of Horwath HTL, Siniša is managing cooperation with UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and is Management Board member of Horwath HTL International. Moreover, Siniša is member of International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), world’s greatest source of hospitality expertise and counsel, represented by just over 200 of the industry’s most respected professionals from across six continents.

Juraj Toth

Managing Director, AviaDev Europe

Juraj is a passionate avgeek who believes flying is a force of good. He worked for Košice Airport, Slovakia for 7 years. He built the marketing department from scratch and was responsible for creating and implementing marketing strategies that totally re-positioned the airport. Juraj played a leading role within the airport team focused on air service development that managed to bring several new airlines to Košice. Since June 2018 he´s been enjoying his new role with AviaDev. In May 2019 he was appointed as Managing Director for AviaDev Europe which represents a unique networking platform for European regional airports, airlines, tourism authorities and suppliers.

Stefan Trienen

Head of Vertical Search Travel DACH/ EasternEurope/ Middle East/ Africa (Head of Sales) at Google

Driving business + partnership opportunities with accommodation partner.

Go-to-market strategies for Google´s Travel products. Market analysis and partner segmentation.

Head of Business Development - Google Travel Products EMEA

Partnerships Development in EMEA for Google´s largest Travel Partners for:
- Google Hotel Search / Google Hotel Ads
- Alternative Lodging + Packages
- Book on Google / Payments
- Google Flight Search incl. B2B
- Google Destinations
- et al.

Negotiating strategic deals for Google in Travel.
Lead new products and features launches and hand them off upon maturity.
Revenue and partner development strategies for top tier partner.
Market + opportunity analysis.
Thought Leadership.
Keynote speaker …

Industry Head, Travel (Sales Lead)

Managing high performance Sales Team.
Driving digital growth for largest Online Travel companies in Germany.
Digital strategic consulting on C-Level.
Team and career development, coaching and recruitment.
Leading business planning, business strategies, account planning, and business processes.
Leading team to outperform challenging sales quotas.
Focus: AdWords, Branding (YouTube + DBM), Vertical Search.
Developing sales and digitalization strategies. …

Industry Sales Manager / Account Manager

Sales lead + partner development for Google largest partners (Travel, Agency and beyond).
Hitting challenging sales targets in a fast paced, international environment.
Digital strategy and transformation consulting.

Athlete in national selections and several teams in top leagues in Germany, Norway and USA.
Team Captain of professional Top 4 team in Germany.
Successes:
- Norwegian Champion and Cup Winner

Oleg Uskokovic

CEO, Auctor

Oleg Uskoković, LL.M., is senior and managing partner in his law firm Uskoković & partneri d.o.o. with seat in Varaždin, and branch offices in Zagreb and Dubrovnik.

Over more than 20 years he has provided legal services almost exclusively to corporate clients, most of which were amongst the most significant companies in Croatia. With his versatile knowledge, analytical skills, attention to detail, innovation, project management and problem-solving skills he has successfully structured, executed and/or provided a complete legal support for numerous mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings, tenders, legal due diligences, corporate financing and stock exchange listings. With this experience, Oleg gained deep knowledge and understanding of the corporate culture in Croatia, as well as of obstacles and shortfalls of current legislation from the perspective of today’s fast-track businesses.

As legal consultant, he advised on the first ever corporate bonds that were issued in Croatia. Years after, he collaborated with investment company Auctor d.o.o. as financial advisor and agent. Within this collaboration, he was legal advisor for the takeover of tourist companies HTP Korčula d.d. and HTP Orebić d.d. as the part of insolvency process in those companies, for the joint venture SPV (participating financial investor and Auctor group company Laguna Novigrad d.d.)

In the last few years he advised in F&B, construction and tourist sector, lately participating himself as equity partner in acquisitions such as Hoteli Njivice d.o.o.

In 2019, with his financial partner JTPEG CI (part of J&T, Prague, Czech Republic) he acquired stakes in Auctor, currently specialised in business consulting and acting as holding company for several majority owned operational companies, leading in pharmaceutical wholesale distribution sector (Medika d.d.), financial sector (Auctor invest d.o.o. - operates with two investment funds) and tourist sector (Laguna Novigrad d.d. with operations in Istria and Pelješac/Korčula region). This acquisition positioned him as active investor in the region.

He held the position of the President of the Supervisory board in VABA d.d. bank Varaždin, Vice president of the Supervisory board of Slatinska bank d.d. Slatina, Atlanska plovidba d.d. Dubrovnik and many others. He is currently positioned (in few mandates) in several supervisory boards of notable Croatian companies such as Medika d.d., PBZ Invest d.o.o., Nexe grupa d.d., Glas Slavonije d.d., Laguna Novigrad d.d., etc.

Zivorad Vasic

Area General Manager, IHG

Živorad Vasić graduated from Boston University with two degrees, Hospitality Administration and Finance, both finishing with Magna Cum Laude. He got his MSc with the master thesis in the field of economic and financial indicators in hotel business. He is also a visiting lecturer in study groups of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade and Singidunum University.

In his early age, his profession in the USA took him from Boston to eight other U.S. cities and 11 hotels, with many prestigious positions. After 17 years in the United States, Živorad Vasić returned to Serbia and in 2008 began working for Delta Holding. Within only three months of his return and at the age of 31, he became the youngest General Manager in the history of the Intercontinental Hotel, then Continental, an iconic hotel with the greatest tradition in the region, operating since 1979. Today, he holds two positions. He is Senior Vice President for Delta Holding and Area General Manager for InterContinental Hotels Group, managing Crowne Plaza Belgrade, InterContinental Ljubljana, both owned by Delta Holding, but also InterContinental Bucharest, InterContinental Sofia and Regent Porto Montenegro managed by other owning groups. In addition, in Delta Holding, Mr. Vasić is responsible for DMD and DTS, which is one of the leading distribution and logistics companies. More importantly, Mr. Vasić is in charge of the complex hotel portfolio for Delta Holding managed by IHG, but also one of the decision-makers for Delta’s / IHG further hotel development in the region. Since 2017 he became the youngest AGM in InterContinental Hotels Group for Europe.

In his career, Živorad Vasić received many prestigious awards. He was manager of the year in Hyatt Corporation twice, in 2002 and 2005. He won the Manager of the Year Award for Serbia from the Serbian Association Managers in 2014, and also received Hotel Leader Award in 2018. From opening of Crowne Plaza Belgrade until today, under leadership of Mr. Vasić, Crowne Plaza Belgrade won over 25 awards, one of them is The Out in Front Club- Europe Top Performer for 2015. He is a member of the Serbian Association of Managers, Serbian Business Club “Privrednik” and on the Board of Directors for Junior Achievement Serbia.

Apart from Serbian as his native language, Živorad is also fluent in English and French and Slovenian. He is a passionate music fan, he graduated from the Belgrade music high school playing piano. American football is his hobby and New England Patriots and Red Star is his passion.

He is married to his wife Tamara and their son Petar is 8 years old.

Hylko Versteeg

Associate Vice President of Development Southern Europe, IHG

Hylko joined the development team of IHG in May of 2006 and has overall responsibility for the growth of the IHG portfolio in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Malta and the Balkans.

Prior to joining the development team in 2006, Hylko worked in the hotel sector with Hyatt and in several Hotel & Tourism Consulting roles in Spain and Latin America for an international consulting company and the CAF (Corporacion Andina de Fomento – the Andean Community Development Bank).

Hylko holds a bachelor degree in European Hospitality Management & Hotel Administration from The Hague Hotel School and has lived in over 10 countries throughout his life. He lives in Madrid with his wife and two daughters and his hobbies include tennis, kite surfing and motorbikes.

Borivoj Vokrinek

Partner and Strategic Advisory & Head of Hospitality Research EMEA, Cushman & Wakefield

Borivoj Vokrinek (Borik) is leading the Strategic Advisory & Hospitality Research for EMEA region at Cushman & Wakefield, which is one of the largest real estate services firms with approximately 51,000 employees in 400 offices and 70 countries. Borik has more than 20 years’ experience across Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific. Prior to joining C&W, Borik was Regional Vice President Feasibility & Development Finance for EMEA & South-West Asia at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. He also spent more than six years at Hilton Worldwide, where he was heading the Feasibility & Investment Analysis team in Europe & Africa region, based both at Hilton’s EMEA HQ in UK and in Istanbul. Borik’s exposure to Asia Pacific market include 2 years in Shanghai and nearly 3 years in Sydney (where he worked for Cushman & Wakefield and HVS). Borik gained his operational experience in Prague as hotel manager at Hidden Places, Residences & Boutique hotels. He holds 4 degrees including a Bachelor in Economics and a Master of Science in International Economic Relations from the University of Economics in Prague, as well as a Bachelor in Hotel Management from the Hotel School Sydney and an MBA from Bond University in Gold Coast, Australia. In addition to his professional career, Borik is also Lecturer of Hotel Development & Asset Management Specialisations at Glion Institute of Higher Education, Switzerland.

Daniel von Barloewen

Regional Senior Director – Mixed-Use Development Europe, Marriott International

Daniel von Barloewen is the Regional Senior Director, Europe of Mixed-Use Development for Marriott International. He is responsible for the development of branded residences throughout Europe, Russia and the CIS. With 14 out of its 30 brands available for branded residences, Marriott International has a global market share in excess of 27% of all hotel branded residences, more than its next 4 competitors combined.

Before joining Marriott in January 2018, Daniel spent 11 years at Savills, where he set up and ran the International Development Consultancy Department. A development surveyor by background, Daniel has particular expertise in market research, feasibility studies, financial appraisals, valuation, development consultancy, design consultancy, and marketing & sales consultancy.

Daniel is also a Major in the British Army Reserve, and has served in Afghanistan. He speaks 4 languages. He holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of Durham and a Masters Degree from CASS Business School.

Alexander Yakovlev

Head of Real Estate, Allea Group Cyprus

Alexander is responsible for the real estate development sector of the Group in Cyprus with its flagship mixed-use project on the Limassol seafront. Having joined the company in 2017 when the project was acquired, he has since taken on the planning, design and execution of the development. Before joining Allea Group Alexander had been working for 5 years for private Russian investment funds in Moscow and gained experience in the field of real estate development consultancy by working for DTZ and CBRE from 2005 to 2011. He is a member of RICS since 2010.

Jason Wischhoff

Managing Director EMEA, CEE & Asia, Benihana - part of Minor International

With nearly two decades of experience in executing hotel developments for a number of big hotel chains in Europe, my passion for dining & nightlife was the prime unique selling point in recent years anchored to hotel brands in the upper lifestyle/luxury sector.

Having joined Benihana Q4 2019, am thrilled to be overseeing the growth and operations for a group now in it’s 55^th year of operation globally outside the US, Caribbean & South America. For those new to Benihana, Minor International acquired a 75% stake of the group. To date, Benihana holdings has 19 locations across 12 countries with a solid growth trajectory of additional restaurants opening over the next few years.

Jonathan Worsley

Chairman & CEO, Bench Events

Jonathan Worsley, Chairman & CEO of Bench Events, is one of the founders and organisers of multiple leading international conferences for the hotel investment industry, including the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) now in its 15 year; the 10th annual Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) and the 3rd annual Saudi Arabia Hotel Investment Conference (SHIC). Bench Events entered the Latin America market in 2016 partnering with SAHIC on their South American and Latin Amerian events. Jonathan also branched out into aviation and F&B, through AviaDev inaugurated in 2016, and the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) now in its sixth year. Exciting new events are planned for Europe in 2020 which will be revealed soon.

In 1997, Jonathan co-founded the annual International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) in Berlin, a conference he subsequently organised for 19 years, which today attracts over 2,000 delegates. Earlier in his career, he worked for real estate consultants CBRE & Hotel Partners, hotel advisors PKF and hotel operator Forte & Holiday Inns.

Jonathan sits as a board director of STR Global (now STR), a global benchmarking company with over 60,000 participating hotels following the merger of The Bench, STR and Deloitte’s Hotel Benchmark. He sits on the board of Hotel Swaps, which allows participating members to swap empty hotel rooms with other members around the globe and is an investor in TripTease, the tech start-up that enables hotels to increase direct sales and aims to defeat rate disparity.

Jonathan sits on the Advisory Board for RAK TDA and is a Trustee of Future Talent, a charity that provides financial support to gifted young musicians in need of financial assistance to pursue their dreams and talent.

Enzo Zangrilli

Owner, 1Aviation Consulting Services

Enzo Zangrilli was born in Mirano (near Venice, Italy) on the 7th of May 1970.
After graduating from Venice classical lyceum and carrying out commercial law studies at the University of Bologna, he has worked in a number of countries for over a decade in the contracting and technical tendering management arena for large multinational companies, such as the Pilkington group, IMERYS and ABB.
In the Aviation Industry, Enzo has covered a multitude of roles as Senior Executive for easyJet, Alitalia, Menzies Aviation, Aviapartner and private aviation companies in the Middle East, being responsible for contracts, procurement of airport services and addressing the economic regulation in both Airlines and Airports alike.
After working for Trieste Airport as Commercial Director for the Aviation and non Aviation Development, Enzo has opened an International Aviation consultancy company working for Airport, Airlines and Ground Handlers. He is married to Vivien and father of baby girl Valentina.