Africano is cruise editor at JAX FAX, senior editor at Elegant Accents,
editor-in-chief of SpaReviewMag.com and executive editor at Global-Writes.com. She is the author of 16 books including three best-selling novels under the pseudonym “Jessica March.” She formerly served as a freelance editor and writer at AOL Travel. Her articles have appeared in SmithsonianMagazine.com, New York Magazine and the New York Post.

Anderson is the Chief Information Officer for Avoya Travel, an American Express Travel Representative, and one of the largest and fastest-growing travel companies in North America and beyond with hundreds of independently owned and operated agencies worldwide. Anderson streamlined the research and booking process for the company’s independent agency owners and raised the bar for travel technology throughout the industry.

Barrow is regional sales manager of G Adventures. She became interested in the travel industry after college as a volunteer in South Africa. Her experience there opened her eyes to the needs of the world and its vast opportunities for travel. She hasn’t stopped wanting to explore since! She lives in Seal Beach, California.

Barnett joined SITA World Tours in 2012 with a focus on building its ever-growing Group Division and high-end, tailor-made travel. She is currently president of the Los Angeles chapter of SKAL International. Her extensive knowledge of China is based on over 70 trips including Tibet, Yunnan and the Silk Road. Joining SITA allows her to explore Africa, India, South and Central America.

As founder and president of Destinations & Adventures International, Berkeley and his cadre of worldwide experts arrange the finest in tailor-made, personalized journeys. Their programs go beyond the usual fare to focus on each country’s distinctive culture, archaeology, history and unique terrain. He has been named “Top Travel Consultant & Destination Specialist” by Conde Nast Traveler every year since 2001.

Billep is currently the executive director of Pacific Asia Travel Association, Southern California chapter, and president of Universal Travel System. He has extensive experience and has been active in the industry since the 1960s. Billep is one of the founding members of the Asia Travel Association established in 1985. He served as the Los Angeles chapter SKAL travel association president from 2001-2002.

Bonner is Vice President, Marketing & Managing Director of Tauck Small Ship Cruising which offers two dozen itineraries visiting over 30 countries aboard nearly a dozen vessels. An industry veteran with over twenty years of travel experience, Bonner has also served as Vice President, Marketing for Vantage Deluxe World Travel in Boston, and held executive-level positions at Saga International Holidays and AAA headquarters.

Bornstein is V.P., Sales & Marketing for Azamara Club Cruises. She has more than 25 years of experience in the global cruise, travel, and technology industries. Formerly V.P. of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships for Carnival Cruise Lines, she was also a senior officer at Cunard and Seabourn Cruise Lines. She also served as V.P. of Specialty Sales for Amadeus Global Distribution System.

Bryant is managing director — USA and Canada for Trails of Indochina. An award-winning travel executive, Bryant served as regional director – North America for PATA, and as chair of the PATA Southern California Chapter and the East Asia Travel Association. She was previously director of Central and Western USA and Mexico for the Hong Kong Tourism Board in Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

Buenrostro is a business development professional experienced with multiple distribution channels for Carnival Cruise Lines. Having worked with the cruise line since 2008, she has wide-ranging experience with all methods of marketing media and working with all types of distributors of travel. She was named Sales Person of the year for 2009.

Cheng is presently chief operating officer of Go Latin Travel, a division of APF Travel. A recognized expert in travel product development, marketing and global growth, he manages the leading travel agency specializing in sending Chinese travelers to Latin America. He has an office in Beijing and is currently opening branches in Mexico, Brazil and Costa Rica.

Clever is currently director of sales development — North American for Air China, chairman of the Southern California Chapter of PATA and past president of SKAL International — Los Angeles. He began his extensive travel career as tour director with Globus Tours and Gateway Holidays where he became regional sales manager — Midwest. He later worked for Cathay Pacific and Yemen Airways.

As President and Chief Visionary of Jason Coleman, Inc., Coleman’s cruise-oriented agency focuses on designing memorable travel experiences. Coleman is also V.P. of California’s Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation, serves on the Board of Directors for ASTA, and is a member of the California Coalition of Travel Organizations. Coleman was named one of the “Top 25 Agents of 2010“ by Travel Agent Magazine and received the “Industry Activist” Trendsetter Award by TravelAge West in 2011.

An industry veteran with 33 years in the travel business, Corey is currently the commercial development manager with Airworld Alliance. Airworld Alliance represents, as general sales agent for passenger sales, 12 Africa-based international airlines. He has also served on the board of APTA — Association For The Promotion of Tourism to Africa — for more than 20 years and is currently the Los Angeles chapter president.

President of the U.S. Tour Operators Association, Dale has served as president and CEO of Cruise Lines International Association, executive VP of the NYC Convention and Visitors Bureau, and president and CEO of the Greater Providence Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has been an instructor and Grossinger Lecturer at NYU Tisch Center for Hospitality, and a Distinguished Lecturer at Johnson & Wales.

DePetris is owner and COO of Pride Travel, catering to gay and lesbian clientele, and is an IGLTA Ambassador to the USA. He’s sailed on over four dozen cruises, traveled to almost 40 countries and was awarded a WAVE TrendSetter for Travel Agent Sales Superstar. Tapping extensive GLBT travel knowledge DePetris founded gaytravelherald.com, an online travel magazine featuring information and colorful narratives from a gay perspective.

Dionisio is the trade relations manager for South African Tourism USA where she is responsible for engaging the U.S. travel trade in the marketing of South Africa as a preferred tourist destination. She joined South African Tourism in 2009, after more than 27 years with South African Airways where she was director for sales development for northeast United States.

Featured in USA Today, Fortune and The New York Times, DiScala has appeared on ABC, CBS AND CNN, among others, and hosted “Hot Spots 2012” on the Travel Channel. His website was named “one of the top best money-saving websites for travel” by Budget Travel Magazine. The L.A. Times calls it “one of the top 10 essential travel resources on the Internet.”

GreenSpot.travel co-founder Edwards has traveled, worked and lived in Costa Rica for more than twenty-five years. Condé Nast Traveler magazine has recommended him as the Costa Rica Top Travel Specialist since 2006. Also an economist, Edwards has spent years working in sustainable development. He regularly works with corporations, such as Discovery Communications and Hilton Worldwide, on subjects surrounding green and sustainable travel.

Fee is CEO/co-founder of Cruise Planners/American Express, ranked the No. 1 franchise opportunity in the cruise/travel category according to Entrepreneur magazine. Under her guidance, the company provides travel advisors marketing programs across all media including social media and mobile technologies. Fee is a certified travel counselor and serves on the boards of Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruises, among others.

Figueroa is West Coast and Midwest regional sales manager for the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Based in L.A., she is responsible for marketing and promoting Puerto Rico for the travel trade to the U.S. With over 18 years of experience in Puerto Rico tourism and hospitality, she began her career working for major hotels, including Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Radisson Normandie hotels.

George is special features editor and blogger for Gadling.com, editor at large and book review columnist for National Geographic Traveler magazine, and editor of Geographic Expeditions’ online magazine, Recce: Literary Journeys for the Discerning Traveler. He wrote the bestselling “Lonely Planet Guide to Travel Writing” and has edited eight travel anthologies, including “The Kindness of Strangers,” “A Moveable Feast,” and “Lights, Camera…Travel!”

Gould is a career journalist who started out in the ’80s covering wars and famines in Africa. She has now puts that perspective and experience into a new enterprise called Travel-Intel, a division of Tours.com. Travel-Intel goes out weekly to 100,000 travel agents in the U.S. and Canada with original reporting updates on the travel industry. The content also lives on Tours.com.

Griffiths is director of public relations/marketing for DCI, where he leads multiple teams in implementing award-winning travel marketing campaigns for destinations worldwide. He also works with the North American travel trade on behalf of Tourism Tasmania and the Namibia Tourism Board. Griffiths holds a B.A. in Tourism Management from Sydney’s University of Technology and is certified in public relations by UCLA.

Hall directs tourism marketing, public relations and business opportunity development for Botswana Tourism in the U.S. and Canada. She is VP, Partnership Marketing at Partner Concepts, the tourism marketing firm appointed by Botswana Tourism as its official representation office in North America. She has more than 20 years of strategic marketing and business development consulting experience, the last eight in travel and tourism.

Now ETA Director for USA & Latin America for the Egyptian Tourist Authority, Hegazy has worked in the tourism industry for nearly two decades. He spent 14 years conducting and implementing official tourist events for the ETA, promoting and marketing Egypt as a prime tourist destination for the U.S. market, hosting and supervising official government activities for the media and also for VIPs.

Heitner is president and founder of Limitless Argentina focusing on high-end travel in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Condé Nast Traveler Magazine has listed her as a Top Travel Specialist since 2006. Her special-access itineraries and advice on travel in the Southern Cone of Latin America have been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, and The Washington Post.

Imhof is a seasoned marketing and communications professional with extensive experience in the travel industry. She joined Switzerland Tourism in as marketing manager, and later became the new District Manager Western USA. She also spent over six years working in marketing for L’Oréal, at its office in Zurich and Geneva, Switzerland. She has a master’s degree in Commerce with major in Marketing.

Kassouf is owner and CEO of Pride Travel, has sat on two board committees of the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, traveled dozens of destinations. He is a four-time recipient of the WAVE TrendSetter award recognizing excellence and exceptional achievements among travel agencies. Kassouf and Pride Travel also provide product design and marketing expertise for destinations and tourism companies wishing to reach gay and lesbian travelers.

A writer and explorer, Marati is passionate about traveling consciously. She runs social media at Gadling, an AOL Travel blog, and previously built up the Community team at Quirky, a social product development start-up. She has worked as a marketing assistant in Buenos Aires, a Fashion Week coordinator in Phnom Penh, a high school instructor in England, and a glorified nanny in Paris.

Matthews is the vice president of sales, travel industry, at Europe Express, where he is responsible for travel agent sales and marketing. Prior to his job at Europe Express, Matthews was a manager of member sales and service at Virtuoso, the travel industry’s leading luxury travel network. Before Matthews entered the travel industry, he worked in Scheduling Office at the White House.

McClure-Mysza is president of MTravel.com, the hosting division of Montrose Travel. The McClure family opened the small retail travel agency in 1956. Today it is a 160 million dollar industry leader. Under McClure-Mysza’s leadership, Mtravel.com supports 500+ independent travel professionals nationwide with a full suite of marketing tools, award-winning training and cutting-edge technology. It is a Top 5 Host in the US.

Currently managing partner at Myriad Marketing, USA, Merschen has taught marketing at several universities. He also spent years in marketing research and advertising. His efforts at Myriad are focused on creating strategic solutions to client challenges, coordinating travel industry partnerships and overseeing Myriad’s growth. Myriad specializes exclusively in the travel industry with government and private clients on five continents.

Entrepreneur, author, speaker, and online media impresario, Murphy is at the cutting edge of online publishing, social media, television, and brand marketing. He can be seen on the “Today” show, The Travel Channel, CNN, Fox News and CBS. He is also a writer and contributor to print media and radio outlets including Time, Smart Money, Reuters, Peter Greenberg, Lou Dobbs and many others.

O’Connor serves as vice president of sales (North America) for Princess Cruises and Cunard Line, two brands that are part of the World’s Leading Cruise Lines owned by Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise vacation company. He previously served as director, marketing and public relations for the Cunard Line. He has also worked for Hilton Hotels Corporation.

Rothe is the national director of sales for the Americas at Norwegian Cruise Line where he oversees the agency sales teams. Prior to this role he managed the Latin America territory and was responsible for sales operations at Norwegian. He has worked in a variety of sales and technology roles over the past 20 years including time at Worldspan, Orbitz and Travelport.

Visionary river cruise line executive Rudi Schreiner is president &amap; co-owner of AMAWATERWAYS. Founded in 2002, AMAWATERWAYS is an award-winning, trend-setting river cruise line that owns and operates nine custom-designed vessels on the Danube, Rhine, Main, Mosel and Rhone Rivers in Europe. Under the name AMAVOYAGES, the line also offers deluxe river cruise vacations in Russia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Africa.

Saegesser is currently vice president of sales, the Americas, for Viking River Cruises where she oversees sales and marketing for Viking’s trade promotions in North and South America. An industry veteran, she has been working in travel for 34 years. Before joining Viking River Cruises, she held positions at Disney, Princess Cruises, and Rocky Mountaineer.

Severini is president/CEO of the California Travel Association, the collective “advocacy” voice for California travel, tourism and hospitality businesses, attractions and destinations. He served as president of Trafalgar Tours USA, and has held senior positions with the Walt Disney Company where he was part of the start up team of Disney Cruise Line. He has over 25 years of senior executive experience.

A veteran travel editor and journalist, Shillinglaw serves as editorial director and editor in chief for Travalliance, which produces two monthly travel industry trade magazines: Agent@Home and Vacation Agent. He also oversees TravelPulse, a daily online and emailed newsletter summarizing the day’s travel industry news and product information. Shillinglaw received the American Society of Travel Agents’ 2003 Travel Journalist of the Year award.

Singh is country manager USA and Canada for Kenya Airways, and president of Skal International, the largest organization of professional travel and tourism leaders around the world. Skal promotes global tourism and friendship, and supports sustainable development and responsible tourism. Kenya Airways is the flag carrier of Kenya, headquartered in Nairobi and with destinations in over 55 cities in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Singh is president of Palace Tours, a leading luxury tour operator specializing in luxury train travel for the independent traveler in Asia, Africa and Europe. The company offers custom designed travel experiences for its guests based on a consistent service delivery framework. Under his direction, “Palace Trains” has become a leader in the niche market of train travel and has been recognized as such by the industry.

Sjolund is the travel trade partnership development executive covering the western and central United States for VisitBritain, the national tourist board for England, Scotland and Wales. Based in Los Angeles, Lisa works with U.S. travel companies and British strategic partners, Visit London, Visit England, Visit Scotland and Visit Wales. Her responsibilities include consumer, trade and online marketing campaigns as well as business-to-business activities.

Small is the founding editorial director of Elite Traveler Magazine and an award-winning luxury travel expert whose articles have appeared in national publications. Prior to launching Elite Travel International, she spent 15 years traveling the world, visiting hotels, sampling cruises, reviewing airlines, previewing new spas, and interviewing travel industry executives about the latest and greatest trends in luxury travel.

Tanzman is president of California Coalition of Travel Organizations and owner and operator of Martin’s Travel, a full-service travel agency. She is also an active member and serves on the boards of the American Society of Travel Agents, Ensemble Travel Group, and Oahu Visitors Bureau. Susan is a graduate of the University of Southern California and the Loyola University School of Law.

Now regional vice president of trade and community relations with Carnival Cruise Lines, Tomasino began her career with Carnival as a sales representative. For more than 25 years, she has successfully worked hand in hand with U.S. travel agents on growing their business with Carnival. Tomasino also worked for both Eastern and Continental Airlines in various management positions. She resides in Southern California.

Trotter joined Royal Caribbean International in June 2012 as the business development manager for the San Diego County, South Orange County and Coachella Valley areas, after spending five years with Collette Vacations, where he held the position of district sales manager for the South Los Angeles, Orange County and San Bernardino County areas.

Wolfsteiner is Senior Vice President – International Sales & Distribution for Scenic Tours. She has also served as Managing Director at Auto Holidays, based in Munich, Germany. Her experience in river cruising began at Grand Circle Corporation, a leading tour and river cruise operator, where she was Manager of Development & Operations Europe and later served as Senior Vice President – Revenue Management.

Young is president and CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, where he has played a key role in developing successful strategic partnerships within the travel industry. Under his leadership, Uniworld, has received numerous awards and has been consistently recognized by consumers as one of the “World’s Best Cruise Lines” in Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler magazines.