Mr. Karim Jalloul
JJW Hotels, Member of the Managing Board
Karim Jalloul has held various positions within the Hospitality Industry, among them General Manager, Director of Operations, Founder and Managing Director in many companies such as Carlson Companies, Country Inns & Suites, Rezidor SAS, Marco Polo Hotels & Resorts, Lifestyle Living Hotels & Residences, JJW Hotels & Resorts. Karim Jalloul is a graduate of ICHM (1993) – The International Center for Hospitality Management. He has been a lecturer of Hotel Operations System and Hotel Management at the ICHM for 8 years.
In 2007 he opened The Ring – Vienna’s Casual Luxury Hotel. He is currently involved in the development of the Palais Schwarzenberg as well as the Kneissl Sport and Spa Resort. He speaks a variety of European languages as well as Arabic.

Diplom-Betriebswirt (FH) Michael Widmann
CEO PKF Hotelexperts Vienna
Michael Widmann is Managing Partner of PKF hotelexperts Vienna, part of Pannell Kerr Forster, one of the biggest auditing and consulting companies worldwide. He is a graduate of the University of Applied Sciences in Munich and Washington State University (Pullman/USA).
Michael Widmann started his career in the hospitality industry as a Management trainee at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group in Singapore & Bangkok and later on was Assistant F&B Manager at Stouffer Hotels & Resorts in Seattle before becoming Consultant/Manager at PKF Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft in Munich and Managing Director of PKF hotelexperts in Munich.
His focus of activities is feasibility studies for hotel projects, valuations of hotels/hotel groups, hotel project development and hotel management/operating contracts. Moreover, he is lecturing at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich and other universities in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. He is a German citizen and speaks a variety of European languages.

Mag. (iur) Andreas Gebauer
CEO of Kneissl Tirol, Sporting Goods Company
After earning a law degree at the University of Vienna, Andreas Gebauer started his career in 1987 at the University of Vienna. At the same time, he pursued his career within Investment Banking with the New York Branch of Girozentrale Vienna.
From 1989 until 1991 he held the post of the Chief of Staff for Chairman’s Office within in the Austrian Conservative Party in Austria.
Previously, Andreas Gebauer was the CEO and President of Tiroler Loden GmbH in Innsbruck from 1991 until 2006. He joined Kneissl GmbH Kufstein, the famous sporting goods company in 2007 as CEO and still holds that position.

Mr. Christophe Bergen
Managing Partner at Hellberg Associates, Development and Management of luxury properties
Christophe Bergen has been involved in the development and management of historic hotel projects in Europe and the United States over the past 25 years. As a descendant of one of the founding families of the United States (John Read of Delaware) and of an old “Savoyard” family (de Foras), he has successfully combined in his career the respect for tradition and family with a strong measure of contemporary thinking and modern views of the luxury hospitality world.
A U.S. citizen, resident of Italy and Austria, Christophe Bergen was raised in France, speaks several languages fluently, and was educated in French schools before entering the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University (Bachelor of Science, 1976)
Influenced by creative and innovative family members and friends, he was taught to question and not to accept the norm. Recognized for thinking “out of the box”, he has earned the respect and appreciation of owners and project colleagues alike.

Mr. Christopher Hartley
Chief Executive at Global Hotel Alliance
Christopher Hartley has been the Chief Executive of Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) since January 2006.
He graduated from London University, where he obtained his Bachelors’ degree in French and German, before going on to complete his post-graduate studies in hotel business administration at Manchester University. He also holds an MBA from Reims Business School.
Christopher Hartley started his career in 1991 doing management training for Forte Plc in various luxury hotels in Milan, Paris, New York, Toronto and London, but he quickly migrated into corporate marketing, moving to Forte’s headquarters in London, where he was responsible for marketing and distribution for Forte’s “Exclusive” hotel division from 1992-96. From 2001 – 2005, he was Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Kempinski. From January 2006 until September 2008, he held the position of Chief Executive of Shaza Hotels, a joint-venture between Kempinski Hotels (Geneva) and Capital Guidance (Paris), created to develop a portfolio of hotels across the Middle East / North Africa region.

Dr. Helmut Zolles
Zolles & Edinger GmbH, Tourism Consulting
Helmut Zolles is Partner of Zolles & Edinger GmbH, Tourism Consultants, which is part of the Edinger Consulting Group (Innsbruck – Vienna).
He holds a Master Degree (1965) and a Doctoral Degree (1968) from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. He is a member in several professional bodies, e.g. the International Association of Scientific Tourist Experts and Board Member of the Austrian Society for Applied Tourism Science and the Austrian Society for Transport Science.
In his career, he has held leading positions within Austrian and international tourism institutions. As Director General of the Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO), he was responsible for restructuring the ANTO and for its marketing strategy (1974 – 1986). During this time he was also Chairman of the ETC (European Tourism Commission) Marketing Committee. Among his other many positions, he was Director General of the Austrian Danube Shipping Company and Chairman of the Danube Tourist Commission.
From 1955 till 2000, he was Vice President of Customer Services of Austrian Airlines.
Helmut Zolles is currently advisor of many provincial tourism organizations and companies – national and international as well as a lecturer at various universities and regular contributor to Tourist Austria International (TAI) – Austria’s leading tourism industry newspaper.

Mr. Pere Duran I Vall-Llossera
General Director of the Consorcio de Turismo de Barcelona
Mr. Duran holds a graduate degree in public management and business administration from ESADE. His career in the tourism sector spans almost 30 years and began in the early 1980s when he worked at leading travel agencies, specializing in congresses and incentive travel. In 1984 Mr. Duran started working at the Barcelona Tourist Board and within two years was promoted to department manager of the Barcelona Convention Bureau. Subsequently he was manager of the Patronato de Turismo de Barcelona from 1988 until 1993. Since 1994 Mr. Duran has worked at the Consorcio de Turismo de Barcelona, first as manager and then in his current post as general manager. He brings a lot of experience with him from his past role as member of the Tourism Advisory Committee of the Catalan Government.

Dr. Agnes Husslein-Arco
Director of the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna
Agnes Husslein-Arco holds a doctoral degree from the University of Vienna where she studied art history and archaeology. She started her career in 1978 as an expert on modern art in the Dorotheum before moving to Sotheby’s in 1980 where she was involved in the opening of several national offices (Vienna, Budapest and Prague). As senior director at Sotheby’s she was responsible for the development of marketing strategies, the organization of exhibitions and auctions worldwide, and for providing support to collectors.
Since 2000, she has held various leadership roles at Austrian museums, among them the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; Museum Moderner Kunst, Kärnten; the Rupertinum in Salzburg and lastly the Belvedere where Mrs. Husslein-Arco is currently employed. She has been a lecturer of collecting strategies, organization of collections and sponsoring.

Dr. Peter Zimmer
Managing Director of FUTOUR Tourism Consultancy
Peter Zimmer currently serves as CEO/managing director of FUTOUR Tourism Consultancy, Germany. Simultaneously he represents Green Globe Certification, the premier label for sustainable management and operations throughout the world, in his role as an Accredited Auditor. However, these are just a few of the many examples in his resume which reflect his expertise and years of experience in the tourism industry with a special focus on sustainable tourism. Mr. Zimmer’s professional timeline includes posts as Director of Tourism & Travel Services at ADAC Touring GmbH; Auditor of the German Tourism Association in Bonn; and Consultant for the German Technical Cooperation. Educated at the Munich University of Applied Studies as well as the State University of Bucharest where he earned a doctorate in economics, Mr. Zimmer has gone on to share his profound knowledge of tourism with students in lectures on a vast range of topics at universities both in Austria and Germany . He holds many honorary posts such as Chair of the Corporate Social Responsibility Council, Tourcert GbR, and received several awards for his contributions to the tourism industry.