UNWTO 2012 - Speaker Biographies

UNWTO 2012 - Speaker Biographies

Amos Bien Global Sustainable Tourism Council Amos Bien is a population ecologist by academic training and administrator, and works in the field of the sustainability of tourism and standardization. He currently works for the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) as technical director, and recently for the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) on sustainable tourism issues, where he coordinated the projects for establishing a Global Sustainable Tourism Partnership and the Sustainable Investment and Finance in Tourism (SIFT) initiative. He was the lead consultant in developing the “Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria”, author of the “Tourism Sustainability Scorecard” for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), member of the ISO Technical Committee on Tourism, author of the “Guide for Tourism: Instrument for Environmental and Social Management” (IUCN) for the environmental authorities of Central America and the Dominican Republic, and lead consultant for the study “Policy elements for the sustainability of cruise tourism in Central America” (IDB and INCAE). He is a founding member of the GSTC and is the founder and CEO of Rara Avis Rainforest Lodge and Reserve, one of the first ecolodges and private reserves in Costa Rica. He has also worked as a university professor, and in business administration, environmental auditing, and construction. He is the president of the Tropical Science Center, Costa Rica’s oldest environmental organization, and was the founding president of the Costa Rican Private Nature Reserves Association, president of the Costa Rican Youth Hostel Association, treasurer of the Federation of Costa Rican Environmental Organizations, member of the National Biodiversity Commission, and a country representative to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development.

Mike Colby USAID Mike Colby has 26 years of experience in the field of strategic planning and policy for sustainable development, environmental and natural resources management. He has served with the International Joint Commission of US and Canada, the World Bank, US Treasury Department, USAID, and EPA. He has a BA in Ecology from Dartmouth College, and a PhD in Social Systems Sciences from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mike is currently Senior Natural Resources Economics Advisor to USAID’s Economic Growth, Education, & Environment Bureau. He also manages USAID’s Natural Resources Management & Development Portal, which hosts the 9 online courses on Sustainable Tourism developed by GWU, UN-WTO, and the Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance. In addition to studying in Kenya, Costa Rica, Panama, and Germany, Mike worked in Egypt for 3 years as a USAID contractor, much of it focused on sustainable tourism and conservation finance for Egypt’s Red Sea Marine Parks. He helped design, write, and deliver USAID’s first Sustainable Tourism Training, held in Tanzania in 2006. He also managed a 2 year program with the World Economic Forum on the application of their new 125 country Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index in USAID-supported countries.


Charles Conconi International Executive Service Corps Charles Conconi, Vice President of the International Executive Service Corps, is a management consultant who has spent his career trying to adapt what he learned about what makes a competitive, successful business to facilitating enterprise growth in the emerging markets. He is passionate about the ability of well-designed tourism products and approaches to transform lives and attitudes. Charles led major tourism cluster and competitiveness initiatives in Sri Lanka, Croatia and Bulgaria and managed a historical boutique hotel property in Sri Lanka for a season. The unique arc of Charles’ career spans from its beginnings in management consulting with A.T. Kearney; to government contracting with Nathan Associates; to hotel management; to a stint running his own investment in Sri Lanka, and finally to senior management at a non-profit -- IESC. Charles is a graduate of Columbia University and has a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Curt Cottle Office of Travel and Tourism Industries International Trade Administration U.S. Department of Commerce Curt joined the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2009 as a member of the Office of Travel and Tourism Policy and Planning team. In that capacity, Curt works to promote policies that foster the competitiveness of U.S. travel and tourism industries in collaboration with the private sector and federal agencies. The team was responsible for developing the National Travel and Tourism Strategy in 2012 as part of the President’s Executive Order. Implementation of the National Strategy is the purview of the Tourism Policy Council, for which Curt serves as the Secretariat.

Prior to joining Commerce, Curt had a private consulting practice in South Carolina with a specialization in tourism planning, marketing and cultural heritage tourism. Before becoming a consultant, Curt served as director of heritage tourism for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, which included development and management of a national heritage area, the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor.

Curt was graduated from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard with a master’s degree in public administration. He also holds an MPA and a BA in journalism, with honors, from the University of South Carolina, for which he has served as adjunct faculty for both programs.


Jim Dion National Geographic Society James Dion is a Sustainable Business Development Associate for the Maps Division at the National Geographic Society. His work involves linking the world’s most important tourism destinations to the design capabilities of NG Maps to create innovative maps and interactive websites to increase knowledge about sustainable tourism and foster destination stewardship of cultural, historic, and natural resources. Prior to joining National Geographic in 2005, he directed international ecotourism programs for conservation NGO’s in Mexico, Central America, and Asia, and he has lectured at the Technical University of Graz in Austria. James’ interest in linking tourism to conservation and community development is an outgrowth of his over 15 years of experience as a professional river and wilderness guide/outfitter. He founded and developed locally run sustainable, tourism businesses in Europe and North, Central, and South America.

Andy Drumm Sustainable Tourism Consultant Drumm Consulting Andy is a sustainable tourism and ecotourism specialist with over 20 years international experience in private, public and non-profit sectors, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean region. He has coordinated multi-sectoral alliances, created award-winning ecotourism businesses, developed strategies and methods to maximize tourism’s contribution to the financial sustainability of protected area systems and improve the well –being of indigenous people and reduce tourism-related threats. He has ample experience of providing technical assistance and training to national park systems, businesses and NGOs to develop technical capacities in many aspects of sustainable tourism management and development including community based tourism initiatives, impact management and financial sustainability. Andy lived in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands for 11 years before moving to Washington to work as Senior Ecotourism Specialist for TNC. Andy has produced many studies, articles and publications which are used around the world in multiple languages. He is fluent in Spanish and French.


Ahmed Eiweida World Bank Ahmed Eiweida is a Sector Leaded in the World Bank responsible for the Sustainable Development Program in the South Caucasus Region (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan). Ahmed is an Egyptian national and has 23 years of professional experience on urban and regional development. He entered the World Bank in 2000 as a Young Professional and has since been working in 12 countries in East Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. He is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia. Ahmed is specialized on urban sector strategies, city development strategy (CDS), local economic development (LED) through tourism and cultural heritage development, municipal finance and infrastructure, housing and urban renewal policies. He assisted a large group of cities in preparing CDSs/LEDs and design schemes to finance their high priority infrastructure and municipal service projects. He has recently designed with the Government of Georgia an innovative regional development program to support sustainable tourism development in the Kakheti and Imereti regions, including US$ 90 million from the World Bank to finance priority action plans. Ahmed holds MSc. and Ph.D on Urban Development from University of Glasgow, the UK.

Dr. Nuno Fazenda Expert-Coordinator, Regional Tourism Plan for the North of Portugal/ Douro Valley Tourism Plan Commission of Co-Ordination and Regional Development of the North of Portugal Dr. Nuno Fazenda has a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the Technical University of Lisbon [Thesis: Territorialisation of a National Tourism Policy – the case of Portugal]; a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management Policies at the University of Aveiro, [Dissertation: Integration and articulation of policies for an environmental sustainable tourism]; and a Licentiate degree in Tourism at the University of Algarve, Portugal, during which he also attended one semester at the University of Wales Institute – Cardiff, Wales. With over 15 years’ professional experience in the tourism area, both in the private and in the public sector, he is presently the Expert-Coordinator of the Regional Tourism Plan for the North of Portugal and of the Douro Valley Tourism Plan, at the Commission of Co-Ordination and Regional Development of the North of Portugal, a decentralised body of the central government of Portugal. His responsibilities include, namely, conceiving and developing strategies for the tourism sector, within the Regional Development Plan for the North of Portugal and the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013 (European Union Funds). Since 1999 he has lectured several courses in the tourism field of studies. Presently he is Professor at the Portuguese Catholic University.


Ed Hall Bureau of Indian Affairs Edward Hall joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Division of Transportation in January of 1992 as a Transportation Specialist. His role is to manage programs related to economic development and technical assistance and training. He is the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ coordinator for the National Scenic Byways Program, Tribal Technical Assistance Program, National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration, Southeast Tourism Policy Council, and the Western States Tourism Policy Council. He has provided leadership and input in the development of the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on American Indian Issues, the Intertribal Transportation Association, the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, and the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council’s Circle of Tribal Advisors (COTA) of which he is an ex-officio member. He has contributed to the development of intertribal tourism organizations at the state and regional level such as the Montana Tribal Tourism Alliance, and the Alliance of Tribal Tourism Advocates, (ATTA) in South Dakota. Mr. Hall works as an intergovernmental coordinator connecting other federal, state and local governments together with tribal governments to further communication, partnerships, project development and planning. Over all he believes the involvement and leadership of tribal governments and communities is central to providing guidance and perspective on policy decisions. He is a member of the Arikara and Hidatsa Nations, enrolled on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota.

Dr. Donald Hawkins The George Washington University Dr. Hawkins is the founder of the Tourism Studies Program at The George Washington University. He is the author or editor of more than 100 articles and books including: Tourism in Contemporary Society, and Ecotourism Planning and Management. Dr. Hawkins is internationally recognized for his leadership role and research in tourism development and planning. In recent years, he has undertaken major projects in Mozambique, Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Jordan, Egypt, Jamaica, Venezuela, Argentina, Bermuda, Panama, Philippines and Miami-Dade County, Florida. Dr. Hawkins’s research interests include: ecotourism development, tourism policy analysis and strategic planning, post-secondary hospitality and tourism education, destination competitiveness, integrative tourism marketing, economic development and foreign investment promotion. Dr. Hawkins is an Eisenhower Professor of Tourism Policy, a Professor of Tourism Studies, and Research Professor of Medicine. He received a B.A. from King's College in Pennsylvania in 1958, an M.A. in 1960 from Lehigh University, and an Ed.D. in 1967 from New York University.


Matt Humke Solimar International Over the last fifteen years, Matt Humke has pioneered an approach to building community-based tourism enterprises that directly support biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation efforts in protected areas throughout the developing world. First working with Native American communities such as the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, next as Rare Conservation's Senior Manager of Enterprises in Latin America & the Caribbean, and now managing Solimar's small business development projects around the world.

The community-based tourism enterprises Matt has helped to establish, such as "La Ruta Moskitia" in Honduras, have generated more than $5 million for local economies over the last ten years. The success of these enterprises in conservation and poverty alleviation has resulted in a number of the industry's top honors, including a Tourism for Tomorrow award, a Responsible Tourism award, and inclusion on both Condé Nast Traveler's "Green List" and National Geographic Adventure's "Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth".

David Krantz Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) David is the Program Director for the Center for Responsible Travel’s Washington DC office, where he leads a variety of the center’s projects and research. Krantz has over eleven years’ experience in tourism and hospitality, including a strong focus on sustainability and corporate responsibility. His background includes work in hospitality management at a DC hotel, and experience in adventure and ecotourism in the developing world as he backpacked and volunteered his way through South America, Eastern Europe, and Southern and Eastern Africa for over 2 ½ years. Prior to joining the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST), David coordinated environmental conservation initiatives in the tourism industry with Conservation International’s Center for Environmental Leadership in Business. There, much of his work was focused on the conservation organization’s engagement with the cruise industry, and attempts to reduce the environmental impacts of wastewater from ships. His work contributed to the placement of sensitive marine zones on cruise ship navigational charts.


Dr. Kristin Lamoureux The George Washington University Ms. Lamoureux specializes in sustainable tourism, volunteer tourism and planning and development of sustainable tourism projects. She has been involved in several IITS research projects both nationally and internationally. Ms. Lamoureux is presently completing a Ph.D. in Business Administration/Strategic Management at The George Washington University. Her latest publication is a chapter in the Ecotourism Encyclopedia, entitled "Global Growth and Magnitude of Ecotourism" which she coauthored with Dr. Donald Hawkins. Dr. Lamoureux is currently a visiting Assistant Professor of Tourism Studies at George Washington University and Director of the International Institute of Tourism Studies. She received an A.S. from Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, in Ibarra, Ecuador, a B.A. from Johnson and Wales in Providence, Rhode Island, an M.T.A. from George Washington University in 1998., and a Ph.D from George Washington University in 2009.

Donald Leadbetter National Park Service Donald Leadbetter works as a commercial services analyst for the National Park Service, where he has responsibility for administrative and budget management processes and provides oversight for the management of concessions franchise fees. He is currently working on a detail to the Department of the Interior, formulating recommendations for the implementation of the National Travel and Tourism Strategy. Donald joined the Park Service shortly after earning his Masters in Tourism Administration from the George Washington University. Prior to grad school, Donald spent a decade working on the front lines of the tourism industry, mostly at sea in the small-ship adventure travel sector. Donald also worked as a tour guide throughout the U.S. and Canada and at a remote lodge in Wyoming.

Stephen Lubkemann The George Washington University Dr. Lubkemann is Associate Professor of Anthropology, International Affairs and Africana Studies at GWU. He is the Int'l Coordinator of the African Slave Wrecks and Diaspora Heritage Project, co-founder of the GWU Diaspora Research and Policy Program, and Int'l Director of the Diasporas in Societies in Crisis Project. He is the author of the awarded book Culture in Chaos (Chicago 2008), co-editor of three volumes, and has authored numerous articles, reports, and book chapters. His research focuses on diasporas, development and aid, heritage, and displacement in Africa. His research has been supported by the MacArthur Foundation, H.F. Guggenheim Foundation, the US Institute for Peace, the Ford Foundation, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, USAID, IDRC, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Carter Center.


Juan Luna-Kesler Juan Luna-Kelser made a career at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). In the last ten years of his career, he concentrated his efforts in the planning, designing, and managing of investment and sector loan projects, as well as technical assistance operations to improve the competitiveness and building capacities of the tourism sector in several countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Since his retirement from the IDB in January 2007, Juan has been advising and consulting for Solimar International and the Center for Responsible Tourism and continues to be engaged by bilateral and multilateral financial institutions, as well as NGOs for sustainable tourism projects in Albania, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, India, Panama, Mexico and Sicily. One of his most important contributions was the assembling and managing of the team of experts that worked on the development of the Global baseline Criteria for Sustainable Tourism, which is now being promoted by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Currently an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University’s School of Business teaching community-based tourism, Juan has also been an advisor, facilitator and co-instructor to the University’s School of Business International Consulting Practicum Study Abroad Summer Program, involving graduate students in a six-week real-life tourism consulting assignment (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic – 2009; Douro Valley, Portugal -2010; and Cusco, Peru - 2012). He holds a Master’s degree in Tourism Administration with a concentration in Sustainable Destination Management from George Washington University, as well as a Master’s degree in Political Science from Drew University, Madison, New Jersey. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California. Juan is originally from Mexico City and is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese.


Seleni Matus Sustainable Tourism Specialist Seleni Matus has more than 12 years of professional experience in designing and directing large-scale and multi-stakeholder initiatives that have mainstreamed sustainable tourism principles into key sectors of the tourism industry. She has worked in close collaboration with governments and private sector in tourism destinations throughout Latin America to develop and implement destination-level sustainable management plans and programs, in particular for the cruise sector, that have enhanced the quality of tourism products offered and helped to ensure the long-term health of natural ecosystems. In addition, Seleni has significant experience in developing a wide range of sustainable tourism planning and business-to-business tools. Examples of these tools include industry-level criteria and indicators for sustainable marine tours for the cruise industry, and practical tourism planning guides such as Linking Communities, Tourism & Conservation: A Tourism Assessment Process. She has also led cutting edge research on ecotourism and biodiversity and co-authored Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism’s Global Footprint. Seleni’s recently served as Belize’s Director of Tourism where she designed and executed an unprecedented and highly successful organizational change process in which the Belize Tourism Board’s strategic programs were recalibrated and resources reallocated to more effectively meet the demands of a fiercely competitive global marketplace. Seleni was instrumental in the establishment of the Mesoamerican Ecotourism Alliance serving as a founding member and its first President. More recently she also served on the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s Board of Directors.


Dr. Hannah Messerli The World Bank Hannah Messerli is dedicated to utilizing tourism as an economic development tool for emerging economies. As a Senior Private Sector Development Specialist in Tourism for the Africa region of the World Bank, Dr. Messerli supports government initiatives to develop private sector capacity in tourism across the 47 countries of Sub Saharan Africa. With more than 15 years of experience in the public and private sectors focusing on tourism planning and development, she has worked in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. As an analyst and tourism product development specialist, she has focused in particular on cultural heritage and nature-based tourism in emerging economies. Her professional background includes serving as a faculty member at New York University and operations consulting with hotel and tourism companies globally while based in Singapore, Australia, and Indonesia. Hannah has completed master’s degrees in hotel administration at Cornell University and tourism planning at The George Washington University. Her doctorate in tourism planning and development was also completed at Cornell University.

Aaron Mitich Emerging Markets Development Advisers Program (EMDAP) Mr. Aaron Mitich is the Senior Program Officer for the Emerging Markets Development Advisers Program (EMDAP). EMDAP is a cooperative activity between the Institute of International Education (IIE) and USAID to place graduate and post graduate fellows into economic development projects overseas. Aaron is responsible for the outreach to USAID missions and implementing partners, day-to-day management and oversight of all EMDAP fellows, candidate recruitment and placement, training and orientation, assignment monitoring and evaluation, cross-cultural counseling, and re-entry into the U.S. for networking job opportunities. Prior to his EMDAP assignment at IIE, Aaron worked with IIE’s Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program, where he gained valuable experience in the administration of capacity-building programs for professionals from the developing world. Aaron has engaged in research and development for college level student senate initiatives, participated in a group facilitator certification for adult students and has had extensive volunteer work with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Mr. Mitich obtained his M.A. in International Communication from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia and a B.A. in Communications from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/EMDAP

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/EMDAP


Stephen Morris National Park Service Stephen Morris has held a variety of positions with the National Park Service over the last 24 years. Since 2004, he has been the Chief of the National Park Service’s Office of International Affairs which coordinates NPS cooperation with overseas counterparts and is the agency’s primary liaison to the international conservation community. The office also serves as the staff office for the World Heritage program for the Assistant Secretary of the Interior. He joined the International Affairs Office as the World Heritage Program Officer in 2002 and has served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to World Heritage Committee annual sessions since that time. Previously, he was a Program Leader in the Washington Office of the NPS Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, which works with communities nationwide on local open space, river protection, and outdoor recreation projects. Earlier in his Park Service career, he was a historic preservation planner in the NPS National Register programs, including the American Battlefield Protection Program, and the national coordinator of the Certified Local Government Program, as well as acting Superintendent of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia. Mr. Morris has a master’s degree in urban planning with a specialization in historic preservation from the George Washington University and a liberal arts bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College. He was born in Bolivia and grew up in various Latin American and European countries.

Martha Mulokoshi World Wildlife Fund Martha Mulokoshi’s a World Wildlife Fund project officer based in Windhoek, Namibia. Her role is to support tourism business development and bolster communal conservancies in establishing viable joint ventures with private partners. She also supports business enterprise efforts of a nonprofit organization that aims to socially and economically empower the San people in the rural Nyae Nyae Conservancy in northeast Namibia (the first conservancy in the country). Her work is funded through a grant from the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Account. Before joining WWF Martha was a tourism information officer for the City of Windhoek. She has a diploma in travel and tourism management from the Polytechnic of Namibia and current resides in Windhoek.


Niall Murtagh UNWTO.Volunteers Niall completed a Bachelor of Science degree from the National University of Ireland, Galway before working for seven years in Europe and Australia as an Engineering Geologist. Last year, he completed the UNWTO.Volunteers program which was conducted through George Washington University and in March of this year was stationed through the UNWTO.Volunteers program at the Tourism Council of Bhutan, with the aim to support its mission to strengthen the tourism sector in Bhutan.

Danny Pelletier Cuso International Danny is Director of Programs and Partnerships at Cuso International. Danny has been involved in international development for more than 25 years with most of his experience in the Canadian volunteer cooperation sector. He has set up and managed innovative international development projects and programmes in more than 25 countries. He worked with Canada World Youth for 7 years and served as Regional Director and Director of International Programs with Canadian Crossroads International for 5 years. Danny has a strong interest in governance and institutional development and has lead on key strategic change throughout his career. Between 2003 and 2008, Danny was Country Director for VSO International in Nepal and in Cameroon developing Country Strategic Plans and innovative approaches to volunteering and development that are now mainstreamed in VSO International. Back in Canada Danny has been supporting the merger of Cuso and VSO Canada by leading the integration of the programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. With his team, Danny developed an integrated international programme for Cuso International and is now leading the expansion of Cuso International in Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States.

Eugenio Peral


Elissa Poma World Wildlife Fund Elissa Leibowitz Poma is manager of the Membership Travel Program at World Wildlife Fund in Washington, D.C. The program offers more than 70 tours to wildlife destinations around the world and provides travelers with opportunities to meaningfully connect with nature and support WWF's global conservation efforts. Elissa also supports WWF’s sustainable tourism ventures around the world, including in Namibia, and writes about WWF’s efforts during her frequent travels. Before joining WWF, Elissa spent more than a decade working as a journalist for The Washington Post, St. Louis Post Dispatch and Dallas Morning News, and she continues to freelance for various travel publications. Originally from Philadelphia, Elissa has a degree in journalism from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband Oscar, a native of Peru.

Diana Roach ACDI/VOCA Diana is the Senior Director of ACDI/VOCA’s Volunteer Program. For the past six years she has managed short and long term volunteer technical assistance to field projects, the international corporate volunteer program for Mars, Inc., and the VOCA Fund, which supports the volunteer program and its beneficiaries through private donations. Ms. Roach worked as a recruiter in ACDI/VOCA’s Ohio regional office for twelve years preceded by five years of experience as director of marketing for an Ohio commodity group, where she developed a professional network with many agribusinesses across the country. A bachelor’s degree in foods and nutrition from Ohio Wesleyan University led to an eight-year position as Nutrition Educator with the Columbus, OH Children’s Hospital WIC Program.

Chris Seek Solimar International Chris is president of Solimar International and has over 10 years of experience in marketing and sustainable tourism development. Chris founded Solimar in 2002 after traveling 6 months through Latin America providing digital marketing services to more then 200 small tourism enterprises in 11 different countries. Over the last 7 years with Solimar, Chris has applied his professional background in marketing and corporate social responsibility with his own personal travel experiences (more then 45 countries) to design sustainable tourism development strategies that provide tangible results to both our clients and targeted beneficiaries. Prior to working in tourism, Chris worked as a marketing professional for Fortune 500 clients including Heineken, Sony, Perrier, GE, and others. Chris holds a bachelor's degree in Communications from Wake Forest University and a Masters of Business Administration from American University with concentrations in Sustainable Destination Management and Marketing.


Scott Wayne SW Associates Scott Wayne, President, SW Associates – Scott has over 20 years of experience in tourism development from local to international levels. Currently, he is working on tourism development projects in Rwanda, St Lucia, Grenada, the West Bank and India. Scott has worked on tourism policy, planning and strategy on every continent with businesses, governments and non-governmental organizations. Other recent experience includes advising the International Finance Corporation, World Bank and Governments of Azerbaijan, Romania, Lebanon and Zambia on new directions and strategies for their tourism sectors. He also helped to establish the tourism industry in Kosovo, created a national level tourism development and investment strategy for the emerging destination of the Republic of Georgia, a sustainable tourism strategy and market development plan for the World Bank in South East Europe, and an analysis of Montenegro’s Tourism Policy. Previously, he headed the North America office of the World Travel & Tourism Council, was the Vice President of an internet travel start-up, and the first Chief of Communications at the UN World Tourism Organization. He is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the University of Southern California’s Schools of International Relations and Public Policy. Scott also studied at the American University in Cairo, the London School of Economics and the Royal Institute of International Affairs. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a member of the Middle East Institute, and the Africa Travel Association. He is the author of numerous articles on tourism development and eight travel books for Lonely Planet and Sierra Club Books, including an Egyptian Arabic Phrasebook. He is also Adjunct Faculty of Destination Planning at George Washington University’s School of Business, Tourism Department.

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