Carlos Romero Dexeus
Director of Tourism Research, Development & Innovation at SEGITTUR.
"Research and Innovation Smart Specialisation Strategy and the Smart Destination Strategy in Spain"
He is the mastermind behind the Spanish Strategy for Smart Tourist Destinations. Carlos has an extensive background in the tourism industry, having served as an executive director for Affiliate Members of the UNWTO, general director for the UNWTO THEMIS Foundation, and international consultant for the Department of Statistics and Economic Measurement of Tourism for UNWTO and EUROSTAT across Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Dirk Glaesser
Director of the Sustainable Development of Tourism Department at the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
"Bridging the gap: from sustainability policy to action"
Under his supervision, the program addresses the challenges and opportunities of sustainable tourism development, including climate change, sustainable consumption and production, health emergencies, biodiversity, and travel facilitation. He played a crucial role in ending in 2015 by the World Health Organization (WHO) the practice of naming new human infectious diseases after places or countries, which had been causing long-term consequences for the travel and tourism sectors.
Dr. Glaesser has served as an advisor in WHO’s Emergency Committee for COVID-19, Ebola and the Zika virus.
He joined the World Tourism Organization in 1997 and has held various positions, including Chief of the Risk and Crisis Management Department and supervisor of UNWTO's Consulting Unit on Biodiversity and Tourism.
Dr. Glaesser is a banker by profession and a Colonel of the Reserve of the German Armed Forces. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Lüneburg (Germany) and was awarded the ITB scientific award for his work on Crisis Management. He is the author of several publications that have been widely translated.
Prof. Sara Dolnicar
The University of Queensland, Australia
«Automatic measurement of environmental performance in tourism businesses and pathways towards improvement»
The United Nations sustainable Development Goals call for more sustainable consumption and productions and, in some areas, set tangible goals, including a halving of food waste by 2050. As tourism researchers we can contribute by developing and empirically testing the effectiveness of behavioural change interventions. To be able to pursue this line of research effectively, however, individual aspects of environmental performance in tourism businesses must be measures to be able to test for improvement. This presentation introduces such an automatic measurement system, the Global Sustainability Lab, which enables large-scale field experimentation and can double up as an automatic, objective eco-certification mechanism.
Alvaro Carrillo de Albornoz
Managing Director ITH (Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero)
"Managing the transition towards smart and green development: An Hospitality Industry Outlook"
He is an aeronautical engineer and executive MBA from Instituto de Empresa (ie Business School). IESE Innovation Program.
He began his professional career in the 90s in the aerospace consulting world and brings a global perspective towards innovation, technology, and sustainability after 8 years at Endesa, in R&D&I and Corporate Strategy departments, and 15 years in the tourism sector.
Since 2008, he has been directing the Hotel Technology Institute (ITH) as a reference for improving competitiveness in the hotel sector through innovation, sustainability, and technology. He combines this role with being the director of the Tourism Technology Platform; ThinkTur, president of the eAPyme association (for the digital transformation of SMEs and self-employed professionals), and as an associate professor in the strategy area at the Instituto de Empresa.
Additionally, he collaborates as an expert with the European Commission in defining a European standard for R&D&I management in CEN/TC 389. He is a member of the Tourism Council, the Sustainability Commission, the Digital Agenda, and R&D&I of CEOE, and the working groups of AENOR/UNE CTN 166 (Innovation Management), CTN 178 (Smart Cities), and CTN 182 (Hotels and Tourist Apartments).
Alexandra Delgado-Jiménez
PhD Architect and Urban Planner, Principal Researcher At-the-oUTSET
"Creating carbon-Free Tourism Destination: Challenges from an Urban planning perspective"
She has received the Bernd Steinacher International Scholarship for young urban planners and researchers from METREX, Network of European Metropolitan Areas and Regions and the Best Practice Short List worldwide. She is the principal Researcher of the group "Architecture and urban planning in the face of Social, economic and territorial transformations" and Assistant Professor at Universidad Antonio de Nebrija.