TTRA European Chapter Conference 2010

Ákos Kozák

Economist, sociologist. He has been a teacher of Budapest Business School for 15 years. He has been a colleague of GfK Hungária Market Research Institute for 20 years, and managing director of the company since 1993.

He earned his degrees at the College of Commerce & Catering and then at the Eötvös Lóránd University of Budapest where he majored in Media Studies and Journalism and Sociology. His special fields are trade, consumer panel research and the research of media use habits.

He is the president of the Hungarian Marketing Association; a member of the Board of the Hungarian Advertising Association; a member of the Association of Professional Market Researchers; a member of the Advisory Body of the Marketing and Media Institute of the Corvinus University of Budapest; a member of the Advisory Body of the Budapest Business School; a member of the Communication Sub-Committee of the National Euro Coordination Committee; a member of National Round Table on Pensioners and the Elderly; a member of ESOMAR’s European Marketing and Sociology Organisation. Klauzál Gábor prize winner, 2008.

He is an author and co-author of several college and university lecture notes and course books on market research.

Roger Allen

Roger is COO of Thermarium Spa Financial Consulting based in Tyrol, Austria. Roger has worked in spa development, operations and management for over 15-years during which time he has built a chain of day spas and premium health clubs, worked extensively throughout Asia and headed spa recruitment and spa operations for Steiner Leisure. Roger has been involved in all types of spas and worked with both venture capital and angel investors for various spa projects.

Roger is now providing experienced client dedicated financial spa planning, conceptual and operational development to some of the most exciting spa projects in the world.

email: rallen@thermarium.com

www.thermarium.com

ELISABETH IXMEIER

Elisabeth Ixmeier is co-founder of Healing Hotels of the World, an exclusive global partnership of hotels, resorts and retreats offering holistic health and wellbeing in luxury surroundings. The quality brand Healing Hotels of the World is based on a comprehensive set of criteria securing holistic health and wellbeing in all areas of a hotel or resort.

Elisabeth has a PhD in philosophy and art history and is practising holistic philosophies such as Yoga since 30 years. Being a world traveller she became familiar with the leading wellness resorts and the development towards health travel worldwide. As the co-founder of Healing Hotels of the World she combines her experience in tourism marketing with her enthusiasm for personal development and healing.

Healing Hotels of the World
Elisabeth-Treskow-Platz 6a
50678 Köln - Germany

Phone: +49(0)2204 480 20
E-Mail: E.Ixmeier@healing-hotels.com
www.healinghotelsoftheworld.com

Dr. Melanie Smith

Dr Melanie Smith, Lecturer and Researcher in Tourism, Chair of ATLAS

Corvinus University, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Business,

Fovám Tér 8, 1093 Budapest, Hungary

Email: melanie.smith@uni-corvinus.hu, Tel: 0036204624443

Melanie Smith is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Tourism at Corvinus University, Budapest. Before this, she was Director of BA Tourism and MA Cultural Tourism Programmes at the University of Greenwich in London. She is also Chair of ATLAS (Association for Tourism and Leisure Education). She is co-author of Health and Wellness Tourism (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008) with László Puczkó and has written several journal articles about holistic and wellness tourism. She has also recently been involved in teaching and curriculum development in health and wellness tourism in Hungary, Estonia, and Iceland.

KEVIN TURNBULL

Kevin Turnbull is the Chief Executive of SpaFinder Europe, Middle-East & Africa, a division of the largest spa marketing and spa gifting company in the world.

Kevin’s insight into the luxury spa market comes partly from his prior role as Director of Mercedes Benz Luxury Car division in the UK, where he managed the ultra-luxurious Maybach and the SLR McLaren super sports car business.

His career also saw him as CEO of the internet company Autobytel UK, a subsidiary of Inchcape plc where he was also Global Group Director responsible for e-Commerce. Before that he was Chief Executive of Toad plc, a technology business start-up, and played a pivotal role in raising multi million City funding for the company and successfully floating Toad on the London Stock Exchange. Kevin spent his early years at Ford and Nissan in sales and marketing.

Kevin received a BA (Hons) in History/Politics from Warwick University and holds an MBA from Durham University. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Fellow of the Institute of the Motor Industry and a member of the Institute of Personnel and Development. He is a frequent speaker at industry events throughout Europe.

Kathrin Spiller

… started her professional career by working for a radio station and as a journalist.

Up to now 26 years experience in managing positions in tourism and hotel management.

From 2001 till June 2009 she was responsible at the State Tourist Board of Baden-Württemberg (Southwest Germany) for marketing and advertising, for the cooperation with tour operators and travel agencies in Germany and Switzerland.

Especially she participated in the establishment of the quality-certificate and the brand WELLNESS STARS, which is standing for certified quality in hotels, spas and medical wellness facilities.

Since July 2009 she’s consulting in destination-management, auditing and consulting hotels and spas, offers spa- and marketing concepts as well as public relations.

Since 2008 she is the coordinator of the German Medical Wellness-Group.

GERARD BODEKER, Ph.D.
Dr. Gerry Bodeker researches and advises on international public policy on traditional,complementary & alternative medicine (TCAM). An Australian, he is senior clinical lecturer in public health in the University of Oxford Medical School and research associate at the Oxford Centre for International Development. Dr. Bodeker has been chair of the Commonwealth Working Group on Traditional & Complementary Medicine and done work on medicinal plant conservation for the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility and the UN Food & Agriculture Organization. He has written extensively on traditional medicine and is co-founder of the WHO-affiliated Research Initiative on Traditional Antimalarial Methods (RITAM).

DEE ANN MCKINNEY

Dee Ann McKinney brings 30+ years of marketing, research and advertising experience to her current professional position of overseeing Strategic Planning and Research for the Division of Tourism for the state of Missouri (MDT). She gained her marketing expertise with such organizations as Southwestern Bell (AT&T), Bell South, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, regional cable networks and the Missouri Division of Tourism. She has also held media positions in magazine, newspaper and television advertising sales.

McKinney has served on the Research Committee for the US Travel Association, the regional (Central States) Board of the Travel & Tourism Research Association (TTRA) and the Direct Marketing Association of St. Louis Board of Directors. Currently, as liaison to all of MDT's research vendors as well as other state tourism offices and local, community or tourism business organizations and other tourism research interested groups. She supervises all research information releases and competitive analyses. For several years, she has also Co-chaired the state research directors group for the United States-- coordinating, organizing and moderating meetings of State tourism offices twice each year.

Presently, McKinney is President of TTRA's international Board of Directors. Prior to becoming the President, she served on the board for four years including as first and second Vice-President. In June of 2010 she will become the Chairman of the Board for TTRA.