The TravMedia Summit

Tony returned to operations and Accor in 2023 after spending seven years in Private Equity, managing travel and leisure property portfolios across Asia Pacific and identifying profitable investment opportunities. He has a critical eye for analysing performance and identifying areas for improvement.

Skilled in financial analysis, budgeting, risk management, and valuation process management, Tony is now overseeing Food & Beverage strategy and operations for the Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, MGallery and Emblem brands for Accor globally. Tony graduated from the Glion Institute of Higher Education with a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Hospitality Human Resources/Management/Marketing.

A storyteller by day and a first-class food devourer by night, Fontaine oversees dining content across all regions and shapes the brand’s editorial voice on food, chefs and culinary culture. She is also Content Lead for Tatler Best and Co-jury Head for Tatler Best Hong Kong and Macau, guiding the awards’ editorial direction and evaluation process.

With over a decade in the lifestyle and media industry spanning London and Hong Kong, she brings a cross-regional perspective to the table.

Managing Director of a property investment company in Singapore, Nicola currently serves as the Academy Chair for South East Asia (South) for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

With a background in luxury hotels, she has extensive experience in food and beverage operations, event management and training and development. In addition, Nicola has lectured in Hospitality and Tourism Management and is currently a contributing writer on wine and travel for the Singapore Business Times and Tatler Asia.

She has served as a moderator and panellist at several industry-related conferences and is delighted to participate in The TravMedia Summit Asia. Nicola holds a degree in hospitality & tourism management.

With over 23 years of experience at Marriott International, Petr oversees Food & Beverage and culinary operations across restaurants and bars in more than 650 hotels. His responsibilities include ensuring Quality Assurance, developing and implementing continent-wide Food & Beverage strategies, and spearheading culinary and marketing initiatives across Marriott’s portfolio of brands. Petr's focus is on building Marriott’s Food & Beverage reputation, developing talent, growing revenues, and maximising financial performance.

​Before relocating to Singapore, Petr was the Vice President of Meeting and Events, focusing on Global Operations for Marriott’s USA and Canada region. He is well acquainted with the Asia-Pacific region, having previously served as Vice President of Food & Beverage for APAC. Prior to that, he was the Senior Director of Operations for the Middle East & Africa.

​Originally from the Czech Republic, Petr’s career has taken him across various continents. He has held significant positions, including Director of Event Operations for Asia Pacific and, later, Area Director of Operations for North China. Earlier in his career, Petr spent several years with Marriott in Europe before moving to Asia, where he played a pivotal role in opening the JW Marriott Hotel Beijing and The Ritz-Carlton Beijing as Director of Event Management and later Director of Food & Beverage. Currently based in Singapore, Petr continues to drive excellence across Marriott’s Food & Beverage and culinary operations, leveraging his vast experience and leadership skills.

Emilie is a seasoned hospitality executive with over 20 years of experience leading commercial transformation and customer-centric innovation across Asia Pacific. In 2025, she was appointed CEO of Accor Plus, taking charge of Accor’s premium lifestyle subscription programme at a pivotal moment in its evolution.

Before this role, Emilie dedicated nearly 25 years to Accor, where she held senior leadership positions across Digital Marketing, Loyalty, Guest Experience, and B2B Sales. Emilie has worked at the heart of Accor’s core business — distributing and marketing hotels — as well as in the tech space with D-EDGE, delivering SaaS distribution solutions to independent hotels and regional chains. This blend of global scale and entrepreneurial spirit inspires her leadership style today. She strongly believes technology is a key enabler of exceptional guest experiences, both online and offline. Creating memorable interactions builds customer loyalty, which is the foundation for sustainable business success.

Born in France, Emilie made her home in Asia 20 years ago. Now based in Singapore, she brings a deep understanding of Asia Pacific markets and a passion for travel, culture and human connection to everything she leads.

Olivia is an award-winning brand leader with over 15 years of experience in branding, PR and digital strategy. She oversees YOTEL’s global brand strategy, marketing campaigns, communications, people experience, and development marketing - bringing these disciplines together under a single brand-led vision that supports the company's long-term growth.

Olivia's career began in London, where she worked in travel PR before moving into in-house communications roles at several leading hospitality companies, including Starwood Hotels and Marriott International.  In 2017, Olivia moved to New York to join Marriott's brand organisation as Director of Brand Marketing for Moxy and Aloft Hotels, where she was responsible for developing the brands' global brand voice and positioning, creating compelling storytelling initiatives, and overseeing all aspects of their marketing presence. She joined YOTEL in 2022 and has since strengthened the brand and communications strategy, elevated global awareness, and built upon the company’s brand offering. As her role has grown, she is focused on advancing brand advocacy, shaping the evolution of YOTEL's guest experience, and ensuring that performance, culture, and brand perception grow together as the business scales globally.

Olivia holds a bachelor’s degree in history and Archaeology from Newcastle University and is based in London.

Phillipa is a transformative leader in global tourism, bringing decades of expertise to her role as Chief Executive Officer of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA). She joined RAKTDA during a period of strong momentum, tasked with steering the Emirate’s bold ambition to attract over 3.5 million visitors by 2030. Her role is focused on accelerating progress and ensuring sustainable growth that delivers long-term value for the region and its people. With decades of experience across global tourism markets and a proven track record of driving strategic growth, developing world-class marketing campaigns, and forging high-impact international partnerships, she is now shaping the next chapter of Ras Al Khaimah’s innovative tourism strategy. Prior to her current role, Phillipa served as Managing Director of Tourism Australia, where she guided the organisation through a period of significant growth and transformation while expanding the destination’s appeal across key markets. Her tenure placed renewed emphasis on indigenous, regional, and experiential tourism, building cross-industry collaboration and positioning “Brand Australia” for sustainable long-term growth. By 2024, Australia welcomed 8.3 million international visitors, the strongest inbound performance in five years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication and Psychology from Macquarie University and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of New South Wales.

Nick founded TravMedia in 1999 after ten years as travel editor of Courier Newspapers, Australia. His knowledge and contributions to the travel industry are extensive. Nick is a proud supporter of the SATW and sponsors the ONE Travel Conference Travel Writer Award for outstanding work in promoting US travel. He is an active member of the ASTW, a judge for the Gourmet Travel Annual Awards, and supports the British Guild of Travel Writers Awards and the ASTW Awards.

Nick created IMM 14 years ago, and The Summit 9 years ago. The platform also powers the online event marketplaces for IPW, Destination Canada’s Corroboree and ATE.

Christian is the newly appointed Editorial Director at Signature Media, the largest independent travel publisher in the Asia Pacific region. He oversees editorial operations for Signature Media’s consumer titles, including Signature Luxury Travel & Style, Vacations & Travel, Holidays with Kids, Ski & Snowboard, and Caravan & Camping with Kids. With more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist, Christian has contributed to publications including Travel + Leisure Asia, Robb Report, Forbes, the Financial Times, Esquire, Tatler, GQ, CNBC and the SCMP, among others. He also established and edited award-winning website Billionaire (bllnr.com) and served as founding editor-in-chief of classic men’s style bible, The Rake magazine (therake.com). Christian recently returned to Australia following two decades living and working in Singapore and London.

Clara helms the travel section at The Straits Times, which helps readers travel smarter and see the world with greater curiosity and context. She views travel journalism as a window into socio-cultural issues such as climate, community and gender, and believes in the potential of tourism to be a force for good. Under her leadership, The Straits Times won Travel Section of the Year at the inaugural TravMedia Awards Asia.

Clara was a Journalist Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, and is the author of Stay Gold: An Almost Healthy Boy In A Mostly Healthy World, a biography of her late best friend.

Nana co-founded TARO in 2018, a Tokyo-based luxury travel and lifestyle media brand by Ohta Publications that introduces global high-net-worth audiences to Japan’s most exclusive cultural, culinary, and creative experiences. Its sister entity, Club TARO, is a travel advisory for luxury travellers.

Ohta Publications Group has been Japan's leading hospitality trade media since 1954, uniquely targeting elite decision-makers in the industry. The Group publishes a weekly hotel and restaurant magazine, Hoteres, and Japan’s Hotel Data book. Hoteres’ is best known for its regular interviews with the trending personnel in the industry — owners, top executives and GMs of international brands.  Its subscribers include the world’s top hoteliers, chefs, consultants, and owners of global luxury and high-end travel services and products.  

An interpreter and contributing writer for Hoteres, Nana has extensive work and travel experience worldwide as a marketing and communication consultant for luxury retail, lifestyle and service-industry brands. She holds a degree in Broadcast Journalism and Hospitality Management from the U.S.

A marine and environmental scientist turned travel writer, Carolyn specialises in sustainability, nature and adventure stories. Having spent nine years between Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, Carolyn now lives in Perth, Australia.

She contributes to print publications in various countries including Travel + Leisure Asia, Straits Times, South China Morning Post, The Australian, Australian Geographic, NZ Herald, Sydney Morning Herald/The Age, Escape, National Geographic Traveller, and BBC.com. Carolyn is a multi-award-winning writer and a proud member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers (ASTW).

Alison is the founder of Tourism Garden, a Sydney-based tourism marketing agency. After living and working in Japan for nearly 20 years in the travel industry, she returned to Australia and has spent the past 19 years strengthening tourism between Australia and Japan.

Specialising in tourism marketing, market development and travel trade engagement, she works with Japanese tourism organisations and businesses to connect them with Australian travellers while helping the Australian travel industry better understand Japan's evolving visitor experiences.

Alison has helped raise the profile of many regional areas now well known to Australian travellers. She is the official tourism representative in Australia for Tokyo and Kyoto City, as well as Monaco Government Tourism and Convention Authority.

At Escape, Australia’s largest travel media ecosystem, Kelli is responsible for commissioning the brand’s cover stories, features and personality pages, working closely with a rotation of freelancers that are experts in travel. She also manages Escape’s robust famil program – from which most of the content is generated for print, digital and social media.

Kelli got her taste for travel having grown up in Australia, PNG and Indonesia. She’s since lived in the UK, Middle East and the USA and is now based in Brisbane, Australia.

Tom oversees the company’s commercial strategy and strategic partnerships. His focus is on building long-term relationships with travel partners, identifying new growth opportunities and helping shape the commercial direction of a business that has redefined how millions of people discover and book premium travel experiences.

Tom works closely with hotel owners, travel brands, destinations and tourism partners around the world to create partnerships that deliver value for travellers and partners alike. He is passionate about innovation, collaboration and how technology is transforming the way travellers discover, book and experience the world.