Ph.D. in Tourism. CEO at Málaga Tourism Authority. Former UNWTO International Liaison Officer. +10 years of experience teaching in spanish, central-american and european universities and business schools. DMO expert & Tourism Boards director and deeply involved with the international travel & tourism industry relations. Ms in Tourism Consulting / Ms in MICE Tourism / Ms in Mkt & Communication / Ms in Hospitality Management / GD in International Relations
Dr. Abulfas Garayev held the position of Minister of Culture from 2018 to 2020,[1] Minister of Culture and Tourism from 2006 to 2018, Minister of Youth, Sport and Tourism from 2001 to 2006, Minister of Youth and Sport from 1994-2001.
Prior to his appointments, he was CEO of “Improtex Commerce” company (1992-1994), worked as a lecturer at the Academy of Political Science and State Administration from 1992 till 1993. Mr. Garayev began his career as an instructor of Organizational Department of Youth League, held several managing portfolios within the organization, from 1981-1985 served as a head of section in Youth League Steering Committee.
Mr. Garayev received his PhD in philosophy and culture from the Academy of Social Sciences, Moscow-Russia (1992) and degree from University of Foreign Languages and Pedagogy, Baku, Azerbaijan in 1978. He worked as chair of the Organizing Committee of the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue held this position Baku starting from 2011 in partnership with UNESCO, UN Alliance of Civilizations, UNWTO, Council of Europe and ISESCO and co-chairman of the Intergovernmental Commission on cooperation between Azerbaijan and Cuba from 2009.
During his term as minister of Culture and Tourism, he was the chair of the 6th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers (2009 – 2011), headed OIC Tourism Ministers Conference (2006–2008), TURKSOY Permanent Council of Culture Ministers (2009), UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for intangible Cultural Heritage (2013) and CIS Council on Cultural Cooperation. Dr. Garayev was appointed chair of National Organizing Committee of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations 7th Global Forum held 25 – 27 April 2016 in Baku.
He also worked as the President of the ISESCO General Conference for 2015 – 2018 years as well as chair of the National Commission for ISESCO. He was a member of UNWTO Executive Council and vice-chair of the National Commission of Azerbaijan for UNESCO. Mr. Garayev has received Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts (Hon Darts) from the Coventry University in UK in recognition of his inspirational support to the Baku Process for intercultural dialogue.
Policymaker, regulator, and enabler of the fast-growing Egyptian tourism industry. Custodian of Egypt’s antiquities, and archeological heritages and museums.
Previously, a 30-year banker, and a leader of change and innovation in one of emerging markets’ most respected companies.
Key roles included, Chief Executive Officer of Retail Banking, Chairman of the Non-Banking Financial Services Subsidiary, and a Member of the Executive Management Committee at CIB, Group CFO at CIB, Chairman of Corplease – the leading lease finance company in Egypt, Chairman of Falcon Group – Egypt’s largest security company, Managing Director of CI-Capital Investment Banking, Head of Research at CIBC, Head of Financial Institutions Group at CIB Corporate Banking, and the first head of strategic planning at CIB.
Started banking career in 1993 in CIB branches.
Holder of MBA degree at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Elected Board Director at the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, and an independent, non-executive board director at Egypt’s Domestic Trade Development Agency, EGYPTAIR Holding Company, and Egypt’s IT Industry Development Agency.
Tshoganetso Carl-Ponoesele is the Acting Chief Executive Officer – Botswana Tourism Organisation. Ms. Carl is currently leading the BTO team in resuscitating the Botswana’s tourism product’ source markets and penetrating the new markets; optimising the tourism value chain; as well as harnessing opportunities to accelerate the recovery of the tourism sector from the ramifications of COVID-19.
After the resounding success of our in-person & Hybrid summits in February in Dubai (Global Resilience Summit), April in Cape Town (Africa) and May in Dubai (Middle East), the International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC) team is thrilled to stage its next investment summit on “Rethinking investment in tourism through sustainability and resilience” in partnership with World Travel Market (WTM).
On Tuesday 8 November, we will hold afternoon sessions at
WTM ExCel – Insight Stage, and on Wednesday 9 November we will host our full day summit at the
ITIC will flag the challenges to be addressed for the recovery of the global tourism and travel industry and thus enable the different stakeholders to be in the starting blocks for 2023.
ITIC will showcase bankable projects from Botswana, Brazil, Oman, Saudi Arabia and other tourism projects for hotel development in Bulgaria, Tanzania, Saint Lucia, Maldives, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and other investment opportunities.
In addition, the ITIC Global Investment Summit will unveil the outlook for the travel and tourism sector for 2023, giving thought-provoking insights in new trends in sustainability, changes in customers’ behaviour that are affecting the ROI of hotels and tourism attractions and cover the critical factors which attract investments in tourism, especially the right mix of incentives and conducive policies.
Furthermore, the Commonwealth Destinations will shed light on the opportunities arising within the Commonwealth to boost investment while financial analysts will unveil the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing approaches.
ITIC will create a Deal Room to facilitate meetings between Project Developers and the ITIC Team to discuss the investment potential of their projects.
Maryana traveled by herself around the country during 2003 – 2006 and studied Ukraine from small villages to big cities while creating a web-site about vacations in Ukraine Nezabarom.com.ua. She worked in the hospitality industry of three largest tourism centers – Lviv, Odesa and Kyiv.
Aradhana is a global expert on the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. Her executive, entrepreneurial and board career spans over two decades, five continents and 75+ countries. She is currently the CEO of Aptamind Partners, a private client advisory that advises governments and businesses on using tourism as a force for good and she is the former Managing Director of Tourism at NEOM which is the US$ 500 Billion land of the future in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A sought-after Board Member she has an active portfolio of board roles both in private and listed companies which includes being the Chair of the Red Sea Advisory board in Saudi Arabia, Board Member of World Tourism Forum in Lucerne Switzerland as well as Board Member of the leisure arm of a multi asset listed holding company.
She speaks widely on sustainable tourism, tourism of the future, women in leadership and has participated in global policy discussions in United Nations bodies, the WEF as well as the G20 apart from all major tourism Summits. She has studied at Ecole Hotelier de Lausanne in Switzerland, Cornell University in US and INSEAD in France.