Schedule & Speakers

All programming will be held in A601-A602 unless otherwise noted. 

Monday, October 24, 2022
8:45 AM - 5:00 PM	Board Meeting • 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM: Breakfast in room L506-L507 • 8:45 AM - 12:30 PM: Meeting in room 504/505 • 12:30 PM - 1:15 PM: Lunch in room L506-L507 • 1:15 PM - 5:00 PM: Meeting resumes in room 504/505 *For ASTA Board Members Only
2:00 PM - 6:00 PM	Registration Open Location: 600s Foyer
5:45 PM - 7:45 PM	Board of Directors Dinner Meet in the lobby at 5:45 PM to transfers to dinner before the Welcome Reception. This event is invite only. Location: Hyatt Centric Buckhead
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM	Dine Around Ponce City Market Rolling transfers to the venue begin at 6:00 PM in the hotel lobby. Grab some colleagues and friends to enjoy dinner on your own from one of the many local Atlanta pop-up restaurants at this historic landmark market. Book your reservations in advance.  Young Professionals Society (YPS) Dinner- Location TBA Part of our YPS? Join us for dinner for a chance to get to know more of the young professionals attending our Premium Business Summit! RSVP under the Special Events section of our main page so we can make sure you have a seat, or email Summer Corbitt at scorbitt@asta.org.
8:00 PM - 10:00 PM	Welcome Reception - Sponsored by BWH Hotel Group Join us for our welcome reception on the roof of Ponce City Market for an evening of drinks, bites, and...carnival games! Yes, that's right! Celebrate the kickoff of PBS with games, vintage amusements, mini golf, drinks and fun! Location: Ponce City Market - Skyline Park
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
8:00 AM - 9:15 AM	Corporate Advisory Council Meeting - Sponsored by Enterprise Holdings *For CAC Members Only Location: 504/505
8:30 AM - 5:15 PM	Registration Open Location: 600s Foyer
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM	Breakfast, Networking & Doors Open
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM	Morning Programming All programming will be held in A601-A602 unless otherwise noted.  • WELCOME REMARKS ASTA President & CEO, Zane Kerby welcomes all to ASTA Premium Business Summit 2022 in Atlanta. Following Zane, our emcee for the Summit, Denella Ri'chard, a seasoned industry veteran with vast experience ranging from hospitality, to cruising, to travel media and more introduces our agenda for this compelling day and a half event. Speakers: Zane Kerby, President & CEO, ASTA Denella Ri'chard, TV Personality, Travel Industry Executive, Travel Lifestyle Influencer, and Entrepreneur • CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS IN TODAY'S POST PANDEMIC WORLD Learn new skills to dramatically shift the trajectory of your conversations and ensure better results as travel bounces back from the effects of COVIC-19. Join Candace Bertotti, a Master Speaker with Crucial Learning for an interactive and thought-provoking session on accountability and needed new or revised skills necessary for resolving performance issues, strengthening trust and reliability, and eliminating inconsistency. Speaker: Candace Bertotti, Crucial Learning Master Speaker
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM	Coffee Break
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM	Programming Continued • TRAVEL HEALTH, WELL-BEING, AND SAFETY - Delta's Journey to Live Well The discussion will frame the future of well-being at Delta and how they plan to enhance the environment their employees are in so that the healthy choice is the easy choice. Takeaways from this discussion will have direct applicability to your own business as well. Our speakers will touch on the virtuous cycle of when you care for your people, they’ll care for the traveler, and include how internal wellbeing initiatives will seep into inflight experiences and more including the communities they and you serve. Speakers: Dr. Henry Ting, Chief Health Officer, Delta Air Lines Allison Salkeld, Director, Well Being Initiatives, Delta Air Lines • IN THE SPOTLIGHT - Tough Questions For an Industry Stalwart Join us as we conduct a rapid-fire dialogue with the CEO of the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), Lauri Reishus and ASTA's Mark Meader, on the current travel landscape and how ARC is evolving in support of our changing world. We’ll dive into multiple areas where ARC’s position and views are relevant to our audience. Speakers: Lauri Reishus, President & Chief Executive Officer, Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) Mark Meader, Senior Vice President, Industry Affairs & Education, ASTA
1:00 PM - 2:20 PM	Lunch - Sponsored by Travel Insured International
2:20 PM - 3:40 PM	Afternoon Programming • PERFORMING WHILE TRANSFORMING—MEETING THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE OF OUR TIME These days, leaders of travel agencies, like leaders in so many fields, face two relentless sources of pressure. The first is the intense demand to perform —to deliver excellent short-term results in terms of customer experience, product development, and financial results, despite radical shifts in what customers need, where and how people work, and whether supply chains function at all. The second is the urgent need to transform—to reimagine the future of your marketplace and your workplace, given all these radical shifts, and to reinvent your organization’s strategy and culture to win that future. Dealing with either source of pressure is tough. But meeting both of them, at the same time, can feel genuinely daunting. The challenge of performing while transforming has become the leadership challenge of our time. So how do leaders meet that challenge? How do they deliver for today even as they disrupt for tomorrow? In this timely and practical keynote, Bill Taylor offers a set of lessons, case studies, and grounded takeaways to help executives and organizations in all sorts of fields resolve the four tensions that make it so hard to perform and transform, especially in a period of such confusion and uncertainty. Speaker: William Taylor, The well-known entrepreneur, innovator, and Co-founder of Fast Company, as well as bestselling author of Simply Brilliant, Practically Radical, and Mavericks at Work.
3:45 PM - 4:05 PM	Coffee Break
4:10 PM - 5:00 PM	Afternoon Programming Continued • ON THE HORIZION New Technology and Digital Disruption as a Platform for Continuous Innovation Co-Founder of Fast Company, Bill Taylor, moderates this panel of technology players in the travel space, focusing on the potential for disruption as they look at the latest innovations in technology. Speakers: Bill Taylor, Co-Founder, Fast Company Greg Apple, Chief Revenue Officer, Amgine.ai Erik Mueller, President & Chief Executive Officert, GRASP Technologies Jesse Maddox, Director, Third Party Management, Corporate Travel Management Heather Wright, Vice President, Global Product Marketing, BCD Travel
6:30 PM - 9:00 PM	Evening Event at Porsche Experience Center - Sponsored by Avis Transfers to the venue will begin at 6:00 PM on the International Level (Courtland Street exit). 6:30 – 7:30 PM: Cocktail Hour overlooking Demonstration Lap Course Take in the view with some delicious drinks and hors d'oeuvres. You’ll have the chance to hop in a Porsche and enjoy the demonstration driving course. Demonstration Lap Experience: Porsche Driving Instructors take the wheel as ASTA Premium Member guests buckle into the passenger seat and experience the impressive power of the Porsche sports cars on the PEC ATL Handling Circuit. Enjoy the thrill of a Porsche from the passenger seat while professional drivers treat you to an exhilarating trip around the handling circuit. 7:30pm-9:00pm: Dinner in the Heritage Gallery Prepare to be dazzled for this one-of-a-kind dining room experience!
9:00 PM - 9:30 PM	Transportation to Hotel
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
7:30 AM - 9:15 AM	Consortia Committee Meeting Location: 503
8:30 AM - 11:00 AM	Registration Open Location: 600s Foyer
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM	Breakfast, Networking & Doors Open
9:30 AM - 11:25 AM	Morning Programming Location: A601-A602 • THE LATEST FROM CAPITOL HILL An Advocacy Update Hear the latest on timely government advocacy topics including the DOT NPRM on Airline Refunds and more. Speaker: Eben Peck, Executive Vice President, Advocacy, ASTA • WHAT'S DRIVING DIVERSITY, EQUALITY, AND INCLUSION IN TODAY'S DISRUPTIVE WORLD? Forward Motion! DEI is critical to the success and growth of companies today and during this eye-opening session we will look at steps to help steer our work environments to be more diverse and equitable especially at a time when many find it necessary to pivot towards new opportunities. Speakers: Denella Ri'chard, Executive Producer & TV Personality Kier V.B. Matthews, Chief Curator & Owner, Warner Brothers Travel • CONSUMER SENTIMENTS What Matters to Travelers Right Now From “airmaggedon” to inflation worries, what are likely impacts to consumer spending in travel and how have consumer sentiments changed over the course of this year. Join Jon Last who will provide an in-depth report of his organization’s findings and an outlook on the upcoming holiday season as well as 2023. You won’t want to miss this! Speaker: Jon Last, Chief Executive Officer, Sports & Leisure Research Group
11:25 AM - 12:00 PM	Coffee Break
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM	Afternoon Programming • ASTA GREEN PARTNER IN TRAVEL AWARD A new component of ASTA Premium Business Summit 2022 is the ASTA Green Partner in Travel Award - the first of its kind for ASTA and focused on the three pillars of sustainability: economic, environment, and social. This prestigious award will be made by the ASTA board of directors to a self-nominating ASTA Proud Partner in consideration of their measurable support of one or more of the following criteria. The Proud Partner’s: • Path to Net Zero • Carbon Reduction • Community Impact • Resource Use • Over-Consumption and Waste • Corporate Planning • Environmental Metrics • Social Metrics • Governance Metrics Presenting the Award: Marc Casto, ASTA Board Chair & Flight Centre Travel Group President, Leisure Brands Americas • ASTA TRAVEL COURT Back by Popular Demand! You’ll be the judge as we walk through an actual court case, the results of which will help you understand how current laws and policies affect your business and operations. Speakers: Peter Lobasso, Sr. Vice President & General Counsel, ASTA Elizabeth Henry, Vice President, ASTA Mark Meader, Sr. Vice President, Industry Affairs & Education, ASTA Hayley Anhalt, Paralegal, ASTA
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM	Farewell Lunch - Sponsored by Travel Insured International

All Transportation for this event is sponsored by Carey International

Schedule is tentative. 

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Meet our Speakers

Denella Ri'chard 
With her unique blend of Southern charm, humor, and hospitality, Denella Ri’chard is a world traveler, TV personality, travel industry executive, travel lifestyle influencer, and entrepreneur. With numerous travel and hospitality awards (including a 2022 Silver Telly Award) she leverages her experience and expertise to excite viewers to stop dreaming and start traveling.

Dr. Henry Ting MD, MBA 
World-renowned cardiologist Dr. Henry Ting joined Delta Air Lines in 2021 as the global brand’s SVP and Chief Health Officer – a first for a U.S. airline. In his most recent role as Mayo Clinic’s enterprise Chief Value Officer, Dr. Ting provided vision and strategic leadership to enable Mayo Clinic to be the world’s most trusted health care system. Dr. Ting’s teams oversaw quality of care, patient safety, patient experience, and affordability. 

Allison Salkeld
Is the Director, Global Wellbeing at Delta Air Lines. In this role, Allison leads the creation of effective and best-in-class well-being tools and programs for Delta employees, customers and communities. With a passion for both Delta and well-being, Allison is creating programs and experiences that drive positive outcomes, strong engagement, and greater brand affinity for our people and our customers.

Zane Kerby
As ASTA’s president and chief executive officer Zane Kerby reports directly to the board of directors on all internal and external ASTA business and is the primary spokesperson for ASTA. Kerby moved to ASTA from a successful career with the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA). Beginning in 2009 he held the position of senior vice president with responsibility for all aspects of GBTA’s global annual convention. Previously he was Deputy Executive Director, Vice President of business development and held a series of other posts of progressively greater responsibility beginning in August, 1999. Kerby earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University. He and his wife have five children and he currently is an assistant coach of a U12 basketball team. Cycling, swimming and reading are just a few of his favorite activities. 

Marc Casto
Marc is President Leisure Americas for Flight Centre Travel Group [FCTG]. He is ultimately responsible for the operations, marketing, product management, and strategic direction for all the Leisure brands in North America. This includes the retail focused Liberty Travel and Flight Centre Canada, wholesaler GOGO, youth orientated Student Universe, and relevant Independent Brands. Prior to his current role was responsible for the operations and strategic roadmaps of Casto Travel, a family company founded in 1974 and fully acquired by Flight Centre Travel Group in February 2019. As a highly engaged person within the industry he has served at an executive level on multiple travel and other industry related boards, including the American Society of Travel Agents, the Corporate Advisory Council, and the Mayor’s Task Force for San Jose Airport.  Previously he also served as the Chairman of the Board for the San Jose Visitors and Convention Bureau/ Team San Jose, Chairman on the Board for the Commonwealth Business Travel Group, board positions for Business Travel News, CTAP, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, as well as numerous hotel advisory boards. Marc has been recognized by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and the San Jose Mercury News. In 2016 ASTA honored him as the inaugural recipient of the prestigious Paul M Ruden Award for Industry Champions. In 2014 he was the recipient of the Barbara O’Hara Advocacy Award by ASTA, and the same year as a “Distinguished Citizen” by the Boy Scouts of America. While a native of California he recently moved with his family to Boston. You can generally find him lost in the streets of his new hometown while valiantly hoping to make his upcoming flight out of Logan.

William Taylor 
Bill Taylor is a best-selling author, celebrated entrepreneur, and groundbreaking thinker who shows organizations and their leaders how to compete, innovate, and win—during times of growth as well as times of crisis. He made his name as co-founder and founding editor of Fast Company, one of the most influential magazines of the last two decades. Fast Company has won countless awards, from “Startup of the Year” in its early days to “Magazine of the Year,” the highest honor in its field, and has earned a passionate following among executives and entrepreneurs around the world. Its editorial success led to great business success. A company that began in borrowed office space in Harvard Square eventually sold for $340 million—the second-highest price for a single magazine is U.S. history. Fast Company recently celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary and continues to shape the global conversation about business.

Lauri Reishus
Lauri is passionate about connecting stakeholders throughout the travel ecosystem and sees Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) as the industry leader for data insights, flexible distribution services and innovative financial solutions. She works closely with the executive team in leading ARC’s mission to accelerate the growth of global air travel. Lauri has spent more than three decades in the industry because she believes in travel’s power and potential to connect the world. She began her career with a short stint at American Airlines before moving to the agency side of the business at Gelco Travel, now part of Concur. She then spent 16 years in global customer success management with SatoTravel/TQ3 Navigant before joining ARC in 2005. Lauri hails from northern Wisconsin. She’s an avid traveler and now lives (and explores the world) with her family in Northern Virginia. 

Mark Meader
Mark joined the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) in April 2015 and as Senior Vice President Marketing, Industry Affairs & Education has a broad focus on marketing ASTA, its sub-brands, events, products, and services. He also represents the travel agency and consumer communities within all components of the travel industry – travel suppliers, technology providers, coalitions and trade associations, government entities such as the U.S. DOT (U.S. Department of Transportation), and the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) and more. Mark is the driving force behind much of the highly-rated content of ASTA’s annual Global Convention and Premium Business Summits being responsible for ASTA’s educational efforts, fostering agency growth and learning worldwide. While monitoring industry issues and trends, Mark advocates for promotes and defends the agency community to ensure the agent’s voice is heard clearly and the agent is well represented within all components of the industry. Mark also serves on the Board of Directors of the WTAAA – the World Travel Agents Associations Alliance – where he functions as Vice-Chair – an organization facilitating the exchange of ideas and information to the agency community across the globe.

Kier Matthews
With 12+ years as a top producer in sales team leadership and individual account management roles, Kier Matthews is an accomplished sales expert who specializes in driving revenue growth, brand awareness, and market share within the highly competitive luxury travel sector. Most recently, as Director of Sales at Classic Vacations, Matthews led an 11-member team in generating $200M+ in annual sales throughout 27 U.S. states—as well as Canada—personally managing the company’s highest-profile accounts at AMEX, Virtuoso, and Signature.  Prior to this role, he led a mix of B2B/B2C travel sales and marketing functions as Vice President of Sales at Europe Express, in addition to holding tenure as Manager of Member Sales & Service at Virtuoso, the industry’s top luxury travel network.  While at Virtuoso, Matthews championed the launch of numerous innovative new products, services, and marketing initiatives to expand the company’s reach and revenue potential—including piloting a new social media training solution that taught travel agents and suppliers on how to leverage social media effectively to grow their business. 

Heather Wright
A career-long veteran in the ideation, creation and adoption of B2C and B2B solutions, Heather has delivered award winning experiences for industry-leading brands – including AT&T, The Weather Channel, and CNN – as well as several national sports organizations. She is currently applying her skills to the digital transformation of the corporate travel industry and a global B2B2C audience where she is responsible for the global adoption of BCD Travel's SaaS platforms and ancillary solutions.
 
Eben Peck
Since 2017, Eben Peck has served as Executive Vice President, Advocacy at the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), where is he responsible for ASTA's work to advocate for the travel agency community at all levels of government, within the travel industry and before the traveling public. This includes management of ASTA's Government Affairs, Industry Affairs, Communications, Legal and Research functions, and ranges from day-to-day association management to federal/state government affairs to interaction with national and trade media, travel suppliers and industry groups to content for ASTA's annual conference and other events. From 2012 to 2017, he served as ASTA's Vice President, Government Affairs and Senior Vice President, Government & Public Affairs, with a heavy focus on the Society's core advocacy functions – federal and state lobbying, regulatory compliance and ASTA's political action committee.

Seth Wayne
Seth Wayne is a two-time Emmy Award-winning travel expert who turned his passion for cruising and excitement for fostering the guest experience into an escorted group business. Prior to founding Sail with Seth in 2022, Wayne was brand ambassador for Holland America Line where he showcased the premium cruise line through social media content creation, event hosting, loyalty enhancement and several successful escorted group cruises. A skilled communicator, Wayne spent 20 years as a television personality on stations across the United States, from Alaska to Kansas; Arizona to Oregon. Most notability he was a meteorologist, anchor and travel reporter for ABC affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle, Washington. Born and raised in South Florida, Wayne took his first cruise at the age of seven and has been exploring the world ever since. Preceding his television career, his love of travel led him to become a Travel Advisor where he guided his clients to book their dream vacation to destinations across the globe.  

Peter Lobasso
Peter Lobasso has served as ASTA’s General Counsel since 2015. Prior to joining ASTA, Peter was a Managing Attorney for Berenson LLP, a specialty law firm based in Great Falls, Virginia. In practice for over twenty years, Peter has successfully represented clients in a wide variety of litigated matters before courts and administrative agencies at both the state and federal levels. Peter has also negotiated numerous multi-million dollar transactions on behalf of businesses throughout the country. Practice areas include, among others, corporate law, contracts, employment and labor law, intellectual property, real property, mortgage lending, and bankruptcy. Peter is admitted to the bars of New York, Virginia, and Washington D.C. He received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Central Florida in Orlando and earned his law degree at Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center on Long Island. 
  Candace Bertotti
Candace's passion is to deliver relevant and valuable skills, empowering participants to rapidly implement those skills and achieve better results. In addition to training, speaking, and consulting, she also teaches at Georgetown Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Business School. Her work has been published in Harvard Business Review.

Erik Mueller
Erik Mueller, the President and CEO of Grasp Technologies, Inc. is the leading expert in thefield of travel data management and analytics.Erik has been in the travel industry for over 30 years, and was responsible for creating the firstautomated graphic reporting system for the travel industry.  He is considered the foremostexpert on data consolidation and visualization in the Travel Industry space.Erik was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Executives in 2015 by Business TravelNews, and Grasp has been ranked by INC. Magazine of the 5000 fastest growing companiesin America for the past six years running.In addition to serving as the President and CEO of Grasp Technologies, Inc. he served over asa board member of the Ohio and San Diego Business Travel Associations, was on the ACTESteering Committee, GBTA Technology Committee and frequently contributes to articles fornumerous industry publications and blogs.

Jesse Maddox
Jesse Maddox is the Director, Third Party for Corporate Travel Management, where he leverages his 12-year background in travel partnerships to manage third party relationship for CTM, including several partnerships related to developing AI and machine learning capabilities to improve the traveler experience and increase agent productivity. Jesse was the founder & CEO of TripLingo, which he founded in 2011. TripLingo established partnerships with 25+ TMCs and counted dozens of corporate travel programs as clients. Travel and Transport acquired TripLingo in 2019; CTM acquired Travel and Transport in 2021. Jesse lives in Atlanta with his wife, two toddlers, dog and two cats. He enjoys playing hide and seek with his kids, the occasional round of poorly-played golf, and the hour or two of downtime he gets each evening. 

Jon Last
Jon Last is founder and President of Sports and Leisure Research Group, a full service marketing research consultancy that supports leading brands in sports, travel and media.  Last’s 25+ years of professional experience includes seven years as VP Corporate Marketing for Golf Digest Companies, and eight years at the PGA of America, where he oversaw marketing research, consumer marketing and retailing.  A frequent speaker and featured columnist for Media Post’s Marketing Insider, Last holds an M.B.A. from Wharton and a B.A. from Tufts.  He is a former national president of the U.S. Marketing Research Association (MRA) and served on the national board of directors for the Executive Women’s Golf Association.  Last has been recognized by Golf, Inc. as both one of the top innovators in the golf industry as well as one of the top advisors in golf. He is a former President of Marketing Research Institute International and continues to serve on their board of directors as Marketing Chair. He is one of the creators of the highly acclaimed “Back to Normal Barometer” in March of 2020, which has continuously pulsed public opinion surrounding the COVID 19 pandemic.  

Greg Apple
Greg Apple is the Chief Revenue Officer at Amgine -an AI Automation Platform for the Travel Industry. Greg's experience extends over 15 years in the technology industry, having worked at Salesforce.com, SAS Institute, and Google in Enterprise Sales and Marketing Roles.  As the chief evangelist at Amgine, Greg works closely with Travel Management Companies to improve the traveler booking experience, while improving agent productivity. Amgine's core focus today is centered around automating manual processes that hinder agent response time. Using its patented AI technology, Amgine is able to improve agent response times by up to 300% and assist the agent in the process. Greg lives in Toronto, with his wife and two boys. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis, swimming, and jamming to tunes on his guitar with friends that enjoy grunge, blues, and the occasional Dave Matthews jam.   
 
 

Meet Our Partner Speakers

Barry Johnston, Viking
After earning a degree in History at The University of West Georgia, followed by service in the United States Marine Corp, Barry began a life-long career in travel. Barry is a 30 plus-year travel industry veteran and is in his 6th year with Viking. He has extensive first-hand experience of Viking’s fleet of River, Oceans, and Expedition ships. Viking is the world’s leader in small ship cruising and their itineraries will allow your clients to Explore The World In Comfort!

Mitch Lahr, Carey International
Mitch Lahr joined Carey in June 2001 as Chief Financial Officer to oversee the finance, accounting and information technology areas, and has served as a Director of Carey International and a Director and Vice President of Carey Licensing since 2002. In June 2001, Mr. Lahr was elected Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Carey Holdings as well. On February 28, 2020, Carey International, Mitch Lahr became its President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Carey International, Mitch Lahr was the VP-Finance and Treasurer of Andersen Corporation, a $2 billion manufacturer and distributor of millwork products. In addition to the treasury function, Mitch was responsible for all merger and acquisition activity as well as business analysis. 

Scott Jordan, Delta Air Lines
Scott Jordan is the Managing Director of Global Sales for Delta Air Lines. He is responsible for developing business opportunities and overseeing sales and marketing initiatives for Delta’s portfolio of existing corporate customers and travel management firms based in the Eastern United States. Over the past five years Scott has been influential in expanding the Delta footprint up and down the East Coast. Scott began his career with Delta Air Lines in 2006 and has held multiple roles in Global Sales including Planning and Analysis, Communication, Market Development and Sales Operations. Scott holds a B.A. in Finance from SUNY Geneseo and an M.B.A in Finance and Marketing from Rochester University’s Simon School of Business. Outside of work Scott enjoys spending time with his family in Scarsdale, NY where he resides with his wife and two sons.

Diane Horan, CTC, VTA, AmaWaterways
Diane has worked in the travel industry all her life. Beginning in 1974, working as a retail travel advisor and as a travel agency manager for 10 years until moving into a management position with Avis as their Travel Industry Sales Manager. From 1988 through 2010 she was the owner and President of Creative Travel Marketing Inc., a multi-line sales representation service representing many well-known and prestigious travel suppliers. She began representing AmaWaterways in 2008 and became the full time Business Development Manager for Florida in January of 2011. She was promoted to Manager, National Accounts & Business Development, FL in 2014, and in 2016 was promoted to Regional Director, Key Accounts. In 2019 she was named Director, Strategic Partner Networks where she oversees Host Agency and Home Based along with Trade Associations such as ASTA, CLIA and PATH. Diane earned her CTC designation in 1981 and was awarded the Sales Representative of the Year by the Central Florida ASTA Chapter, as well as being named the Travel Industry Person of the Year by the Suncoast Travel Industry Association. She also received her VTA certification from ASTA in 2020.
 
Chad Martin, Israel Ministry of Tourism
Chad Martin has been the Director of the Northeast Region of the US for the Israel Ministry of Tourism since May 2016, when he was appointed as the first American to hold his position on the heels of 10 years’ experience in the Israeli travel industry. Since joining the Ministry, he has served as the primary point person for the travel industry. This has been especially true when it comes to engagement and support for ASTA. Martin has addressed the ASTA Global Conference twice and worked with Bob Duglin of blessed memory to bring the ASTA Destination Expo to Israel in 2019. He was also nominated as the ASTA Destination Representative of the Year in 2018. As the industry continues its unprecedented recovery, Martin is working to maximize travel to Israel by engaging and educating ASTA member advisors.

Eyal Carlin, Israel Ministry of Tourism
Eyal Carlin is the Commissioner of North America for the Israel Ministry of Tourism. Since August 2019, he has been responsible for maximizing tourism from Israel’s largest travel market, overseeing the ministry’s five government tourism offices on the continent and directing activities in the areas of marketing, public relations, and business development. Carlin joined the Ministry of Tourism in 2010 following a career in the Israeli Pharmaceutical and Hi Tech industries. Prior to his appointment as commissioner, he served as Director of the Americas Department and Senior Director of the Overseas Department at IMOT headquarters in Jerusalem and director of the Southern US in Atlanta.
 
Robert Ford, AIG Travel
Bob is a Travel Industry Executive with over twenty years of experience leading sales organizations to success in the global travel & tourism industry. Bob is privileged to travel this great country teaching and promoting the importance of travel insurance & travel safety. With his energetic personality he offers new ideas, creative solutions, and a fresh Generation X perspective into the ever-changing travel industry he is so passionate about. 

Jeff Schafer, Allianz Partners
Jeff joined the Allianz sales team in 2016 as Regional Sales Director managing four District Directors across the US. With over 30 years in the travel industry, he has extensive experience ranging from travel technology to global distribution. Jeff began his career at American Airlines and from there has held executive level roles at a variety of travel organizations focused on the sale and distribution of travel insurance products in the US and globally. Jeff has a Masters in technology management and is located in Denver, Colorado. 
 

Louis De Joux, American Airlines 
Louis de Joux is American’s Managing Director of Global Leisure Sales, with a focus on leading the airline’s sales strategy for a variety of segments. His team is responsible for Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), Tour Operators, Consolidators, Cruise & Marine as well as the Group & Meeting segment. A lifelong travel and aviation enthusiast, Louis has held a variety of roles at British Airways and American Airlines, including Network Planning, Revenue Management, Finance and Alliances. This includes launching the Atlantic Joint Business between IAG and American Airlines in 2010 and setting up the codeshare and frequent flyer relationship between American Airlines and China Southern Airlines. Originally from France, Louis earned his Bachelor of Commerce at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and later received a Master of Science with a focus in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University in the UK.

Katherine Ferrari, Hyatt Hotels Corporation 
As Regional Vice President, Katie leads the Luxury, Lifestyle, Leisure, TMC & Consortia global sales team based in the Americas for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Katie has been in the hospitality industry for over 16 years within sales and operations roles and found her passion in working with travel agency partners on creating lifelong memories and efficiency in the way people travel. Katie has proudly been with Hyatt for over 11 years where she has experienced firsthand the organization's purpose of care through the support and advancement of her career as a working mom, and how she engages with her hotel partners, global sales team, and their clients across the US. When she is not on a plane headed to a Hyatt property, you will find her in Atlanta either on the tennis courts or at home with her two daughters, an energetic husband and two senior cats.
 

Paul McGannon, Marriott International
Paul is originally from Kansas City, MO and now calls Miami, FL home. He graduated from The University of Central Missouri, where he studied Hotel & Restaurant Administration and Spanish. Paul has been working in the hospitality industry for the past 18 years and started his hotel career as a Bellman. Since then, Paul has worked in a variety of capacities and has experience with selling all 30 Marriott Brands. In his latest role, Paul oversees Travel Industry Sales for Marriott Premium Brands, where he is deployed to preferred Retail Travel Agencies based in the Southeastern US & Texas. His approach to sales is all about relationships, he is proud to have an extensive network of partners & colleagues from around the world, highlighted by the incredible community at ASTA. Paul and his husband live in the heart of Miami in Brickell. In his free time, he can be found enjoying walks around Biscayne Bay with his dog, Mr. Garrison, gardening, cooking and practicing yoga.

Clarence Harris, Norwegian Cruise Line
Dedicated and Professional Sales Manager with approximately 30 years of Travel Industry Experience. Cruising is my passion and succeeding together with my accounts is my dream.


 

Anthony Meloro, Royal Caribbean International
Anthony Meloro is Royal Caribbean International’s director of business development support, host travel partner and trade relations. Within the cruise industry’s largest sales organization, Meloro oversees more than 30 inside sales representatives who provide day-to-day strategic support to valued travel advisors and agencies across the United States and Canada. The industry veteran with 26 years at Royal Caribbean has been integral in the growth of the cruise line’s dedicated business development operation and network of relationships with host travel partner agencies and at-home travel professionals. Today, Meloro’s team delivers an ever-evolving lineup of resources and services designed to drive travel partners’ success in selling Royal Caribbean vacations, including in-person and web-based trainings, sales and marketing tools, hands-on events at sea and on land, and more. Anthony is currently first co-chair of ASTA’s proud partner committee which is dedicated to supporting ASTA initiatives and the travel agency distribution system. Meloro began his career in the cruise industry at Royal Caribbean’s reservations department, and his roles since then have provided him with insight into the ins-and-outs of various aspects of the company’s multifaceted business. His experience of more than two decades includes time as a Business Development Manager in the field for 12 years in South Florida and Southern Virginia. Anthony is an ally deeply involved in Royal Caribbean Group’s DE&I initiatives. With a lead-by-example approach, Meloro fosters continued success with an open learning environment focused on employee growth. 
 

Kristy Giragosian, Virgin Voyages 
Kristy Giragosian (Gear-ah-go-see-in) has been part of the Virgin Voyages team for over 4 years. She was hired as a Sales Manager and has since moved into a Senior Role partnering with Virgin Voyages' National Account partners.


David Harvey, Southwest Airlines 
David Harvey has been with Southwest Airlines® since 1999 in various roles across Technology, Corporate Strategy, Commercial Planning, Network Planning, Business Development, and Corporate Sales department. He presently proudly serves as Vice President of Southwest Business. David is currently on multiple boards and appointments related to the Travel Industry including being a Representative Member of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism Infrastructure (NACTTI) chairing the Solutions to Barriers in Improving Critical Infrastructure (SBICI) Subcommittee. Additionally, he holds advisory positions with Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) and Business Travel News (BTN). In 2019 and 2020, BTN named Dave among the 25 Most Influential People in Business Travel. 

Marcus Kenny, Silversea Cruises
Marcus Kenny is a creative, analytical leader with a passion for business excellence. After graduating from Columbia University, Marcus entered the commercial interiors industry, managing requests for proposals. In 2014, he joined Silversea Cruises as an Area Sales Director based in Washington, DC representing the luxury brand in six Mid-Atlantic states. In that role he excelled at growing revenue and expanding market share. In 2017 Marcus moved to Silversea’s headquarters in Miami, FL to lead a growing Inside Business Development and Sales Team. Currently, Marcus’ key focus is to enhance the travel advisor experience with advanced product and process education. Silversea’s goal is to ensure that our partners achieve great success differentiating their service models by providing an excellent guest experience.

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As of October 1st, 2021, ASTA requires proof of full COVID-19 vaccination to attend our events or a negative COVID-19 PCR test 72 hours prior to the start of the event.