Prof Irene Ng Professor of Marketing, University of Exeter Senior Visiting Fellow, University of Cambridge (UK government appointment from 2009) UK
Apart from her academic credentials, Irene is also academic adviser to Cambridge University Health Partners. Her varied and interesting background includes tour operating – running SA Tours spanning
Singapore, Malaysia and China, being founder and former CEO of Empress Cruise Lines and holding a first degree in physics, which support her unique trans-disciplinary approach in value-based service systems. Now funded by the UK government, Irene focuses on research and is tasked to build research capacity in services and improving business engagement between academia and industry in the UK.
David Barrett Executive Manager Diethelm Events Thailand
David, who has been a resident in Thailand for 21 years, is the creative powerhouse behind Diethelm Events, the award-winning DMC operations of Diethelm Travel Group. Under his leadership, his team
was behind many prestigious events around Asia. Originally from the UK, David gave up a successful 11-year career in the UK insurance market to pursue a passion for travel. Apart from being TICA (Thailand Convention and Incentive Association) marketing committee co-chairman and board director (1996-1998), he has also chaired numerous planning committees for major commercial and charitable events. David is also a skilled educator and trainer and occasional contributor to regional industry magazines. David revives the popular You Say, I Say! interactive session which he last facilitated at IT&CMA in 2003.
Andrew Grant Managing Director Tirian Australia
Andrew is the creative designer of Tirian’s programmes and he has worked on leadership and team development for top executive clients in multinational companies throughout the world. Andrew is a sought-after keynote speaker and facilitator in over 15 countries, and has successfully worked with over 30 different nationalities. His ability to transcend cross-cultural and cross-functional barriers, and address audiences with a message relevant to executives and their teams alike, makes his sessions valuable to all participants. Andrew's style has been described as engaging, stimulating and humorous, coupled with relevant and intelligent content.
Tony Ridley Director of Security Services International SOS Singapore
Tony is responsible for the delivery of International SOS’s corporate and commercial security services to clients around the world. Since joining the company in 2005, he has directed and delivered a significant number of security projects to clients from a wide range of commercial and government sectors, sometimes in challenging locations. These security projects range from risk assessments, specialised training, simulation scenarios, policy and procedure development to security evacuation operations. Tony is also a sought-after speaker on a diverse array of technical security issues. He has delivered keynote presentations to corporations, professional bodies and organisations, as well as print and TV media.
Jan Bowland Benefits Policy Manager Coles Group Australia
Jan has significant experience in corporate travel management, being responsible for business strategy, policy and processes for an annual business travel budget of A$40 million for over 10 years. Her focus has been on value-based contracting, efficiency in the travel process and cost efficiency, as well as driving cultural change through development and implementation of an effective travel policy across a large corporation with differing agendas. Her successes include shifting Coles’ business divisions to a best available air fare approach, and driving value in supplier service delivery by implementing performance-based contracts. Both strategies resulted in saving millions of dollars each year, and delivering value to the traveller.
Julian Mills Vice President Global Strategic Corporate Development Travelport UK
Julian has over 20 years of experience in corporate and leisure travel and the airlines, and previously held senior management positions with Amadeus and Worldspan. While he was sales and marketing director at a leading TMC, Julian was instrumental in the launch of the UK’s first online self-booking tool. At Travelport, Julian is responsible for the formulation and execution of corporate development strategy on a global scale, and the promotion of the Travelport brand, products and services in the corporate marketplace.
Kris Miller Business Development Director Asia Pacific Strategic Corporate Accounts Travelport GDS Australia
Kris assumed her role in January 2009 and is responsible for the development of Travelport’s direct and indirect sales strategies with global and multinational corporations in the region. Prior to this, Kris held a number of senior Travelport customer account roles including Asia-Pacific account director for American Express and national account manager to groups including Jetset, Travelworld, Travelscene, American Express, Harvey World Travel and Webjet. Before joining the company in 1998, Kris worked in travel roles for American Express and BTI/HRG in London and Melbourne. She is based in Melbourne.
Joseph Bates Director of Research NBTA Foundation US
Joseph joined the NBTA Foundation, the research and education arm of the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), in early 2010. He is responsible for the research programme at both NBTA and the NBTA Foundation, including directing the activities of sponsored studies, such as the annual Global Business Travel Market Metrics Study and the annual US Business Travel Forecast, in addition to business and market research, such as membership and attendee surveys. Joseph has more than 15 years of experience in the research industry and is an expert in both qualitative and quantitative research design, implementation, analysis and consulting.
Irene See Vice President & General Manager Global Business Travel ASEAN & India Singapore
In her role, Irene has full accountability for American Express’s proprietary and joint-venture businesses in Singapore, Thailand, India and Malaysia. She sits on the board of directors for the Malaysia joint venture. During her career at American Express, Irene has been recognised with several prestigious awards, including the Hall of Fame Award honouring her outstanding performance during her tenure with the company, and winning the President's Award in the same year.
Dean Fowles Manager for Travel Services Greater China & Southeast Asia McKinsey & Company China
Dean, who is now based in Hong Kong, was first posted to Shanghai in 2006. Since his arrival in Asia, he has consolidated multiple markets into a hubbed joint service model, creating immediate savings by
optimising travel agency and ticketing practices. His current programme oversees 10 locations which are part of an integrated global programme. Previously, Dean worked in San Francisco for a regional travel management company and the airlines. He holds an MBA from the University of San Francisco.
Henry J. Roeder Vice President Chapter Relations National Business Travel Association
Hank is a 40-year veteran of the association industry. For the past 18 years he has directed meeting and convention activities as well as membership, internal communications and global operations at NBTA. Most prominent in this area is NBTA’s Annual International Convention and Exposition which brings together over 5,500 buyers and providers of business travel products and services each year. The 2010 event, which took place in Houston in August, had participants from over 33 countries around the world.
Ian Ellis Charles Flint Managing Director FIBC CMC FlinstSMM Inform Logistics Limited UK
Ian’s professional experience spans the UK, the US and Australia in senior positions with major travel and hotel companies. He became an independent travel management consultant in 1989 and created IF Associates, which soon gained a portfolio of “blue chip” clients globally. Ian is a key adviser on travel to the UK government. In 2006, Business Travel World magazine named him one of the most influential consultants in the UK. His expertise includes the latest strategic procurement techniques, change management and communication processes and category management. Ian is known for his understanding of business and market cultural issues.
Liz Thomson Senior Analyst Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Australia
Liz Thomson is a senior analyst with the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), specialising in low-cost carriers (LCC) and terminals. She edits CAPA's widely read and respected Peanuts! Weekly publication, which provides in-depth analysis and benchmarking information on the global LCC segment. Liz contributes to several other analytical reports published by CAPA on aviation in China, India and the Middle East, and has a multi-disciplinary background in airport and airline strategy and financial analysis. She is also a regular media commentator and presenter on Asia-Pacific aviation strategy at leading industry events. She holds a tourism management degree from the University of Technology Sydney.
Dylah’s corporate travel management experience extends across public and private sectors. She was appointed to her position at Vital.org, a department of Singapore's Ministry of Finance, in January 2007. She is responsible for the ground-up development and implementation of the managed travel programme for Singapore’s public sector. The programme serves 98 government agencies and covers dedicated travel agent services, airlines, hotels , travel insurance, corporate T&E card, corporate procurement card and taxi travel.
Sandeep Shastri Head, Global Business Partnerships & Advisory Services Asia Pacific American Express Business Travel Australia
Sandeep is responsible for managing relationships with global and multinational clients across the Asia-Pacific region. He also oversees the Advisory Services team. The Global Business Partnership team creates premium value for American Express Business Travel’s global clients, partnering with clients to develop and deliver innovative solutions for their travel management objectives. Sandeep joined American Express in 2000 and has worked as a director in both the regional business planning and platform transformation organisations.
Augustine M Silva COO Frasers Hospitality Singapore
Augustine is tasked with delivering added customer value and oversees global operations under three brands: Fraser Suites, Fraser Place and Fraser Residence. His other primary duties are managing pre-opening activities of new properties, as well as leading the Technical Service and IT Divisions. Augustine joined Frasers Hospitality in 2001 as general manager operations, and was promoted to regional general manager, Asia & Australia in 2005. He was a key member of its regional operations team, supporting operations and pre-opening services of Fraser Suites Seoul, Fraser Place Manila and other properties.
Premah comes from a procurement background and started management of the corporate travel category for UGL in November 2006. Over the last four years, she successfully moved UGL's travel programme to a managed programme with increased compliance and structure, while progressively transitioning all of UGL's offshore businesses to one global TMC. This occurred during the same time when UGL's Australian businesses increased their travel activity by 150 per cent. UGL is an Australian- based engineering business headquartered in Sydney, with key offshore businesses across Asia and North America. One of Premah’s key challenges is to reduce leakage in her hotel programme while increasing room production numbers with key hotel chains.
Fabian Seet Director, Global Sales The Ascott Limited Singapore
Fabian is in charge of strategies and manages the development of Ascott’s global accounts, working with the global and regional travel procurement departments of corporate clients on all requests for proposal. The customer accounts include corporate and consortia, MICE and relocation companies. Fabian also drives sales by establishing strategic partnerships with accommodation distributors, participating in major tradeshows, organising the company’s annual sales road shows and promoting cross selling of the company’s serviced residences across different countries.
Johanes Chang Vice-President Corporate Business Development Panorama Tours Indonesia
Panorama Tours is the largest travel and leisure group of companies in Indonesia, and Johanes is responsible for corporate travel sales and acquisition, distribution, marketing, client relationship management, client consultancy and educational programmes. Johanes has nearly 14 years of corporate travel management services experience in Indonesia. He started his career in frontline operations as a corporate travel consultant at American Express Travel Indonesia. His industry experience includes sales and account management at United Airlines’ GSA office in Indonesia and Travelex Indonesia, formerly Thomas Cook Indonesia. In addition, he was corporate travel manager in UNICEF and UN Common Services in Indonesia.
Tony O’Connor General Manager etm Travel Consulting Australia
etm Travel Consulting is the product of the merger between Tony's consulting company Butler Caroye and the Melbourne-based TMC etm Corporate Travel. Tony is the leading corporate travel consultant in Australia. He managed 70 projects over 10 years for over 50 of the country’s largest travel buyers, including major banks, universities, telcos, mining companies and government departments. He specialises in analysis, auditing, benchmarking, tender management and negotiations and company policy and process. Tony is well known for his frank and honest style, which can be seen in his regular articles and conference presentations. He was formerly an economist and stockbroker specialising in Asian markets.
Desmond Chong Director Business Development Corporate Segments & Solutions Abacus International Pte Ltd Singapore
Desmond's responsibilities include evaluating new technologies and business models with the potential to boost the sustainability of travel agencies affiliated to Abacus across 24 markets in the Asia-Pacific. Desmond is also responsible for Abacus’s strategy in the corporate travel segment as well as developing and enhancing solutions. Desmond brings to Abacus over 12 years of experience in marketing, product development and business development across Asia and the US.
Michelle Low Director of Sales, GMS Oakwood Asia Pacific Singapore
Michelle oversees sales strategy across the existing 23 Oakwood serviced residences in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as a further 22 properties scheduled to commence operations within the next two years. She plays a key role in guiding the sales teams to establish strategic relationships with key customers, which go beyond room nights and includes providing turnkey corporate housing solutions. Michelle leads a team of over 80 sales professionals in Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Philippines, Korea and China. Her 12 years of experience in the travel and hospitality industry includes stints with industry leaders such as the Hilton and Starwood Hospitality Groups.
CTW Asia Pacific 
