07 October
Local Date: Oct 07 2023 |
Local Time: 8:30 am - 10:00 am
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Mike Overend is the Director of Destination Development for the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) and has worked with the organization for the past 5 years in the area of Destination Management. In his role Mike is directly responsible for overseeing initiatives specific to the advancement of economic development projects and destination development funding related to both community DMO’s and industry stakeholders in the TOTA region. |
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Ellen Walker-Matthews has over 40 years experience in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry, with a career that included senior and regional positions with CP (Fairmont) Hotels, Delta Hotels and Tepic Management / Rim Hospitality. Since 2009 Ellen has worked with the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association in many areas of the organization including lead roles in Consumer Marketing, Travel Trade/Travel Media, Industry/Destination Development and most recently as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective July 2021 |
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Sònia Figueras, tourismologist and teacher by training, has more than 20 years of experience in education and 15 in tourism. Since 2004, she has worked at the UNWTO Academy for the 159 UNWTO Member States, the 92 education and training centers of the UNWTO.TedQual network and the DMOs of the UNWTO.QUEST network. Currently, as Program Manager, she leads and develops new projects of this organization, including the UNWTO.QUEST programme for Tourism Destination Management Organizations. |
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Jafar Jafari is Founding Editor, Annals of Tourism Research; Chief Editor, Tourism Social Science Series; Co-Editor, Bridging Tourism Theory and Practice; Co-Editor, Encyclopedia of Tourism; Co-Founder, TRINET; Founding President, International Academy for the Study of Tourism; Co-Founding Editor, Information Technology & Tourism; and Co-Founding President Tourism Intelligence Forum. |
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Dr.Kazem Vafadari is Director of International Center for Asia Pacific Tourism (iCAPt); academic director of the Kunisaki city research center for world agriculture heritage, Oita, Japan and Professor, Graduate school of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) Tourism and Hospitality (THP) Beppu, Japan. He worked with United Nations University and Kanazawa University in Japan before joining APU in 2011. He is an expert on Sustainable Tourism and natural resource management and tourism applications of agriculture heritage landscapes. His research background also includes community building and rural revitalization and destination branding. |
![]() | Mike Overend Speaker |
![]() | Ellen Walker-Matthews Speaker |
![]() | Sonia Figueras Moderator |
![]() | Jafar Jafari WelcomeRemarks |
![]() | Kazem Vafadari Conclusion |