Rob Davidson
Dr. Rob Davidson is the Managing Director of MICE Knowledge, a consultancy specializing in research, education and training services for the meetings and events industry. His main areas of expertise are conferences and incentive travel, and he has written seven books on these themes, including his latest publication “Business Events”. He has carried out research projects for a number of major organizations (Poland, Ireland, SITE). Rob also teaches as a Visiting Professor in five European universities. In 2016, he won the Best Conference Speaker award at the Global Event Awards. In 2017, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the IBTM WORLD exhibition in Barcelona.


Lina Ostapchuk
Head of Lviv Tourism Office. Founder of the first Convention Bureau of Ukraine - Lviv Convention Bureau, which opened its doors in 2013. Was the first director the Tourist Information Centre and Services in Lutsk. As a Lane Kirkland Scholar got the post-graduate degree in Tourism and Hospitality at Wroclaw University, Poland. Lina with her team were creators of the very successful Programme of Honorary Ambassadors of Lviv, run since 2015.


Oksana Serebrennikova
General Director and owner of BCD Travel operated by International Travel Plus. One of the biggest company in travel industry of Kazakhstan, has 6 offices in different cities, has staff more than 130 employees, and doing business in 4 lines: business travel, MICE, DMC and FIT. As the BCD travel global network representative in Kazakhstan Mrs. Serebrennikova has an excellent opportunity to be aware of all current travel trends and up-to-date technology, to follow new business ideas in order to implement the high standards in travel industry. 



Piotr Zmyslony
Associate Professor in economics, University of Economics and Business in Poznan (Poland). He specializes in the organization and management of tourism in cities and regions and the development of the meetings industry. He conducts research on the effectiveness of Destination Management Organizations and Convention Bureaux, internationalization of the tourist function in cities and network business cooperation for the creation of business tourism products. Author of numerous articles and books. The founder of the turystykawmiescie.org


Janusz Majewski
PhD, Lecturer at the University of Life Sciences in Poznan (Poland). Specializes in tourism development strategies, creating tourist products and creating their brand, training for local and regional governments. As an EU expert in the PHARE TOURIN 2 and 3 programs, he was responsible for building the first brand tourist products in Poland. Advisor on behalf of UNDP in Belarus, he carried out projects in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. Author of several books and guides and over 100 scientific and popular science articles.


Jayarethanam Pillai
The Division Head of Business and Dean – School of Entrepreneurship and Business Administration and an Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the American University of Central Asia. Professor of Economics at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He recently established research centers within the SEBA umbrella: Centre for Entrepreneurship, Futuristic Intelligence Institute, and Institute of Policy and Social Change, also active in areas of Artificial Intelligence, State building, Social Entrepreneurship and Design Thinking.  Involved with the Asian Development Bank as a lead consultant, working on the Country Concept Note for Kyrgyzstan and authored a paper on the next stage of tourism sector development in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. 




Alexey Yanshin
Alexey Yanshin is a country manager of Sabre Kazakhstan. Previously held position in Sabre as a commercial representative for Far East and Siberia market of Russia. Born in Vladivostok, Russia.  Graduated International Relations faculty of Far Eastern State Technical University. Alexey has a vast experience in tourism, IT and retail sectors. He moved to Kazakhstan in 2017 to manage local Sabre office and build partnership among existing and new customers.


Elena Abenova
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of Narxoz University, Head of the Department of Tourism and Service. She specializes in education, methods and training for the tourism industry, restaurant and hotel business. Conducts research in the direction of the introduction of innovative, interactive methods of education and training of professional personnel for the hospitality industry. An active member of the professional association of tourism in Kazakhstan - KTA. Author of articles and tutorials on management and tourism infrastructure, teaching methods.


Pavel Nartov
Senior lecturer at Narxoz University. Previously worked as strategic planner in business industries (Russia and Kazakhstan). Now he is focused on marketing aspects of services sector development including tourism. Simultaneously he conducts ongoing research and consulting projects for companies and organisations in Kazakhstan in partnership with practitioners and as an advisor for the student's club NextGen:Consulting&Events. Author of more than 30 research papers and magazine articles.