Dr. Mario Hardy
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
PACIFIC ASIA TRAVEL ASSOCIATION (PATA)
Dr Hardy was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the not-for-profit membership association that catalyses on the responsible development of travel and tourism within the Asia Pacific region, in November 2014. He is the past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PATA Foundation, a non-profit organisation with a focus on the protection of the environment, the conservation of culture and heritage, and support for education.
Dr Hardy has 30 years of experience in specialised aviation businesses focusing on data analytics and technology, coupled with several corporate leadership capacities. He is also the founder of Venture Capital firm MAP2 | Ventures, an investment fund with a wide portfolio of technology-centric businesses in the field of FinTech, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, GreenTech and FMCG, as well as a platform that provides valuable management advice, mentorship and access to a vast network built in corporate development.
Dr Hardy serves: on the Advisory Board of the Global Tourism Economic Forum, the Global Tourism Resilience Centre, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hospitality and Tourism School, Guilin Tourism University, Middle East Travel and Tourism Development Network Centre and Advisor and Shareholder of over 15 privately own technology businesses spread over 4 continents.
He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Capilano University in 2016 for his philanthropic work in Cambodia where he helped develop a school for underprivileged children and for his support in the development of a Community Based Tourism project in Vietnam. In 2017, Dr. Hardy graduated from the Executive Program of Singularity University in Exponential Technologies and was honoured as a “Global Ambassador of Peace Through Tourism” by the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism.
Johnson Jia
Professor, UNWTO expert
Member of China Tourism Reform and Development Consulting Committee, secretary general of PATA Chinese Expert Committee, vice president of Chinese Food Culture Research Association, vice chairman of Hostel and Homestay Committee of China Hotel Association, chief culture and tourism expert of the World Longevity County Certification Committee.
Tourism marketing cases of China’s leading destination brands including “Beautiful China”, “Friendly Shandong”, “Old Hometown Henan”, “Refreshing Fujian”and “Quzhou, City of Virtue”.
His great attainments of tourism branding, marketing, as well as strategic planning in characteristic towns, holistic tourism, rural revitalization and rural complex won him industry recognition and national awards as “China’s Top Ten Outstanding Tourism Planners” and “Outstanding Figures of China’s Tourism Planning”. He also authored 42 books on destinations and tourism marketing.
DR. ZONGQING ZHOU
Professor, Niagara University
President, International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators
Dr. Zhou is the professor at the College of Hospitality & Tourism Management of Niagara University. He is also the President of International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators.
For over thirty years, Dr. Zhou has delivered more than 100 keynote speeches and seminars to tourism professionals in North America, Europe and Asia.
He is well recognized in the scholarship of hospitality and tourism economics, tourism marketing and tourism information technology, with many years of entrepreneurship and practical hospitality and tourism experiences.
John Koldowski
SENIOR EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT
AUTHORITY IN GLOBAL TRAVEL & DESTINATION INDUSTRY
John Koldowski is currently a Professor and Foreign Expert within the School of Tourism at Leshan Normal University, Sichuan Province, China. He continues in his role as a researcher and educator – the latter to pass on his knowledge and experience in order to prepare the next generation of tourism specialists to enter the workforce with a deep and practical understanding of the dynamics and systems of today's travel sector.
Prior to that appointment, John was with the College of Innovation at Thailand's Thammasat University, and a founding member of the Tourism Action Group (TAG) at the same institution. He was also part of the Secretariat for the PATA Thailand Chapter for a number of years, while living and working in Thailand.
Before entering academia, Mr. Koldowski was Deputy CEO of PATA where over a fifteen-year span he came to be regarded as one of the travel and tourism sector's leading analysts. He still maintains his relationship with PATA through his appointment as a special advisor to the CEO.
John specialises in the capture, analysis and interpretation of information concerning shifts, movements and/or trends in the travel and tourism industry, particularly those affecting the Asia Pacific region. This includes monitoring statistics on travel movements, tracking policy and legal developments, identifying changes in consumer preferences and destination developments with respect to branding and positioning.
Mr. Koldowski has a number of other research interests also, including the responsible and sustainable development of mountain and mountain area tourism, rural tourism development and the development of metrics for better measurement of the impact of tourism in fragile areas and on the intangible assets of tourism.
John has extensive experience from across a wide variety of fields including the pharmaceutical, transportation and telecommunications industries as well as travel and tourism - the latter beginning with assignments with Tourism Tasmania and the Northern Territory Tourist Commission (now Tourism NT) before moving to Singapore and then to Thailand, with PATA.
Mr. Koldowski is a graduate of the Flinders University of South Australia, as well as the University of Central Queensland and is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree.
Bruce Northam
AWARD-WINNING TRAVEL AUTHOR
Bruce Northam is a veteran travel writer, five-time author and NYC walking tour guide.
Bruce contributes to Thrillist, Long Island Pulse, JohnnyJet, TimeOut New York, Perceptive Travel, MPI's Plan Your Meeting and GoNomad. He's also appeared in Afar, Outside, Yahoo Travel, Atlas Obscura, American Express's Inspirato, Travelgirl, TravelPulse, The Washington Times, Islands, CAAC (Air China's in-flight magazine), USA Today, High Times, The Improper, Newsday, National Geographic Traveler, the New York Times, New York Post, Details, Natural Traveler, ALO, Forbes Traveler, National Public Radio, FamTripper.com, The Huffington Post, Blue (USA version, former writer-at-large), Utne Reader, Gibson.com, and Programming (NACA).
Literary recognition includes Lowell Thomas awards, Visit Britain's Grand Prize, and top honors from the Press Club of Long Island.
Sven Meyer
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ONE BILLION VOICES
Sven has more than 18 years of work experience in public relations, including 14 years in the tourism industry.
During his career, he has been responsible for clients such as United Parcel Service, Masterfoods, Turkey, Rhodes Tourism Promotion Organization, China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), China Tours, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, Nanjing Tourism and Thailand Tourism Authority etc. In 2010, he founded One Billion Voice, a PR and marketing company, and opened an agency office in Shanghai in 2011.
In 2015, he took over BZ.COMM.
Isabella Hou
Chairperson of WTE Committee
President of ASTA China Chapter
CEO of Beyond Summits Ltd
Isabella completed her MINI-EMBA study in Switzerland in 2008, and was honored as "Graduates with Distinction". As all-media solution guru and master of integrated marketing, Isabella got 18+ year's destination international marketing management experience with rich global working experience. Ever worked as the representative of global famous media including CNN, BBC, New York times and so on for more than 10 years, owing rich media resources, networks and channels globally.
Key accounts for international marketing projects:
