The 3rd WIT*E – 27 Aug

This 3rd installment of WIT*E again promises to inspire and provide a session of mentoring opportunities by veterans and newbies to the travel and tourism industry.

Date: Thursday, August 27
Time: 6 – 9.30PM
Venue: Novotel Clarke Quay, Ballroom to be confirmed,
Entrance Fee: S$20 (Includes Food, Drinks and Inspiration)

Kicking off the third WIT*e will be an interview with Kathleen Tan, vice president-marketing of AirAsia, with Yeoh Siew Hoon, producer, WIT-Web In Travel.

A short and sharp session featuring newbies to the travel and tourism industry, moderated by Graham Wilson, Vice President-Marketing, Accor Asia Pacific and Andrew Chan, CEO of TMS Asia Pacific.

Desmond Chong, Director, Business Development, Corporate Segments & Solutions, Abacus International, will be the most senior on the panel with over 12 years of experience in marketing, product development and business development across Asia and the US. Desmond holds a BSc in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from University of Arizona, USA and numerous industry certifications in technical areas.

His role at Abacus includes evaluating new technologies and business models with the potential to boost the sustainability of travel agencies affiliated to Abacus across 25 markets in Asia Pacific. He is also responsible for Abacus’ strategy for the corporate segment as well as developing and enhancing solutions for this vital segment.

The second panelist, Steven Gong, who leads business development at Wego.com, entered the travel industry in 2006 when he joined the Singapore-based travel search engine. Gong worked for several years in management consulting and consulted on strategic projects including commercial strategy development, cost reduction and process redesign for clients in Australia, South Korea and Malaysia. He holds a Bachelor of Science (Information Systems) from the University of New South Wales, Australia.

The third panelist is Marela Lucero, who is a senior Public Relations executive for Visit Britain South-east Asia. She is responsible for the tourism board’s media relations and PR activities in the region, Marela earned her Master’s degree in Mass Communications from Nanyang Technological University in 2008, and she continues to contribute to crisis communications research along with her mentor from NTU.

For: Martin Symes, CEO, Wego.com
Against: Frank Trampert, Executive Vice President, Revenue Generation, Carlson Hotels Worldwide-Asia
Adjudicator: Yeoh Siew Hoon

Winner will be decided by audience voting.

WIT*e – Inspiration & Mentoring was launched by WIT as a run-up to the main conference which takes place Oct 20-23 in Singapore, in partnership with ITB Asia.

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Covering the Singapore and Southeast Asia startup and entrepreneurship scene since 2005.

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