managing director
Sustainable tourism consultants
Total years of experience :29 years, 7 months
Sustainable Tourism Consultants is an independent consulting firm with European roots and global reach. Specialising in the tourism and hospitality industry with extensive experience in tourism development, investment promotion, destination management and marketing.
The Red Sea Development Company is one of the Gigaprojects owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The company has been established to develop and promote a new international luxury tourism destination that will set new standards for sustainable development.
Led and managed the marketing, communications and events function for the project. Responsible for setting up the department and appointing marketing, communications and digital agencies. Recruited and developed the team.
World Expos are the world’s largest and oldest mega-events. Expo 2020 has been set up to deliver the first World Expo in the MENASA region, which will take place in 2020/2021 for six months.
Tasked with writing the destination marketing strategy to attract 14 million international visitors to Expo (70% of overall expected visitation). Strategy sets out the strategic framework and action plans that will help to drive awareness, inspiration and drive conversion and sales through proprietary digital platforms, government stakeholders, OTAs and travel trade and media partnerships, consumer and B2B marketing.
Provide overall leadership in mapping the strategic direction of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, guiding the organization to respond to emerging trends with creative strategies, and building successful partnerships with Government Agencies and other stakeholders in the tourism and economic development sectors to deliver our shared vision for Ras Al Khaimah.
Fáilte Ireland is the National Tourism Development Authority with its headquarters in Dublin. The role of the agency is to support the tourism industry and work to sustain Ireland as a high quality and competitive tourism destination.
Since 2008, I have worked in a number of different departments within the organization, from brand management and marketing communications to product development and quality and standards development.
Successful eight month secondment to role of Marketing Communications & Brand Manager for The Gathering Ireland, Ireland’s biggest ever tourism initiative.
Overview: The Gathering Ireland 2013 was a year-long celebration of all that is unique about Ireland: our vibrant living culture, heritage and people. In 2013, the people of Ireland reached out to everyone with a connection to Ireland to come and experience Ireland at its authentic best and experience first-hand the one hundred thousand welcomes that we are famous for. Communities, villages, towns and cities throughout Ireland organized a packed calendar of gatherings, festivals and events to welcome people with an affinity to Ireland from all over the world to visit Ireland in 2013. www.thegatheringireland.com.
Brand Management & Marketing Communications Strategy.
As brand manager, I played a key role in delivering the strategic brand objectives:
• Developed the brand identity guidelines, brand story and positioning for The Gathering Ireland;
• Managed the development of the digital asset library and brand website;
• Worked with agencies to develop and deliver on brand creative, website development and marketing collaterals.
• Created marketing strategy in partnership with other stakeholders.
Event Management
• Managed the international launch of the Gathering Ireland 2013. As presenting sponsor of the Emerald Isle Classic -Navy Notre Dame game, I worked closely with the event organizers and other stakeholders to ensure the successful delivery of the event.
• Responsible for delivering all aspects of sponsorship in line with contracts, which included stadium branding, city branding, production of video inserts, TV and radio features etc.
• 35, 000 US visitors traveled to Ireland for the game, contributing up to 100, 000 million euros to the Irish economy.
Key Achievements:
The Gathering Ireland has contributed to very strong growth in tourism visitors this year from almost all of Ireland’s markets worldwide. 8% increase in first half of 2013. Record growth has been achieved from North America (+20%); from long-haul markets (+17.6%); Germany (+12%), the Nordic countries (+12%) and Benelux (+11.5%).
South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd is a community led local development company established in 1991 to promote rural development in the South Kerry area. It is an experienced development organization with over 20 years’ experience of successfully implementing state & EU funded Rural Development Programmes.
South Kerry Development Partnership Ltd works strategically in the areas of Enterprise & Employment, Education & Training and Community Development.
Winner of the Image MBA Scholarship. Main subject areas: Global Strategic Management, Strategic Marketing, Performance Driven Marketing, Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility, Management Accounting, Business Economics, HR, Financial Markets & Valuations, Leadership and Organizational Behavior, Operations Management, Negotiation Dynamics, Entrepreneurship, Financial Reporting, IT, Decision Making & Data Analysis, Business Law, Strategy Implementation & Management Change. UCD Smurfit School is the only business school in Ireland and one of less than 50 worldwide to hold the “triple crown” of accreditation from AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA. The Executive MBA is ranked 57th globally and 19th in Europe.
Main subject areas: Search Engine Optimization, Pay per Click Marketing, Banner and Digital Image Marketing, Web technologies, Podcasting, Blogging, Social Networking, Affiliate Marketing, Email Marketing and Web Site Analytics
Main subject areas: Strategic Tourism Marketing, Services Marketing, Product Development, Research Methods, Information Technology, Transport Management, Human Resource Management, Strategic Management, Tourism Information Systems, Intercultural Studies, Accounting & Finance etc.
BA in European Studies (German & Spanish) Main subject areas: History, Politics, Sociology, Anthropology, Culture, International Business Relations, Literature, Music and Cinema, EU institutions. ERASMUS, University of Granada, Spain.
