Margaret has extensive experience in tourism marketing and development having worked in the industry for almost 20 years. In 2000 she established herself as a full time tourism marketing and development consultant and created links with a number of consultancy firms.

Over the years Margaret has held a number of directorships and currently sits on the Tourism Strategy Implementation Group as appointed by the Minister of Arts, Sports and Tourism. She lives with her husband on their Blackcurrant farm in Co Wexford. Understanding the needs of agriculture and food production together with her knowledge of the tourism industry led Margaret to developing a strong food tourism proposition for the island of Ireland. In November 2006 Good Food Ireland was founded.

Valere Tjolle is Sustainable Tourism Editor the world's largest global online community for the Travel and Tourism Industry - travelmole.com - and edits travelmole's VISION on Sustainable Tourism, VISION on Climate Change, VISION on ProPoor Tourism and VISION on Green MICE.

He is an authority and key proponent of direct and alternative marketing and product creation in the travel and tourism industry with over 40 years in-depth "hands on" experience at every level.

In the travel industry since the 1970's, for the last 12 years, Valere has specialised in the ethical development and marketing of sustainable tourism projects. Projects have included tourism developments in Africa, USA, UK and Eastern Europe for clients as diverse as the European Union, the World Bank, the Department for International Development and local and international travel and tourism entrepreneurs. Valere is also advisor to a number of travel-oriented enterprises who wish to get greener AND more profitable

Ciaran Lally is a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and has an MBA in Strategic Management. He has more than 10 years senior management gained with Merrill Lynch, GE and Swiss Reinsurance.

Following 4 years as Director of Finance and Operations with a then start up; Globoforce, Ciaran joined ebookers in January 2005 as Managing Director of ebookers.ie, Ireland leading Online Travel Agent. In May 2006 this position was extended to Managing Director of ebookers UK and Ireland.

In August 2006, Jess joined isango! as Partnerships Manager for isango! - the rapidly growing online Tours and Activities aggregator, managing the B2B side of the business and partnering with other online travel businesses to promote and sell 'the purpose of the journey'. In January of this year she was promoted to 'Head of Partnerships'.

Jess Butcher's passion for both online and 'rain-making' started with her first graduate position as an analyst and then consultant with the bespoke consultancy wing of Forrester Research. During this training she spent a very informative 18 months investigating the 'burn rate' of high profile, listed European dotcoms (c.1999-2001) and seeing them successively burn out before eventually losing her own job when the burst bubble saw cash for consultancy dry up! (FYI - Lastminute the only travel man still standing from those heady days)...

Since then Jess moved into business development at strategic research consultancy, FreshMinds and then on to 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment to oversee new channel business development. More recently she returned to her dotcom roots and was instrumental, as part of the management team, in the launch of Pigsback.com, the most successful Irish community website into the UK market.

In her spare time, Jess enjoys 'testing' the isango travel experiences (most recently in Florence, 'segway-ing' around the city), good dining, good wine and good company.

As a sales and marketing expert with particular strength in the corporate and M.I.C.E sector Gabrielle offers a broad based travel industry and hotel experience (Accor Hotels, Cendant Hotels, Bermuda Tourism, Great Hotels of the World and Lauda Airways). In addition to 15 years in Senior Commercial Management, including Regional Director Sales and Marketing for an international chain of hotels, Gabrielle has built upon her degree in Marketing and developed her interest in electronic distribution, revenue maximisation and e-commerce.

Brian Sparks holds Bachelor of Commerce Degree (Honours) from University College Dublin where he graduated in 1973. In 1996/7 he completed a MBA at the Smurfit Business School in Dublin with a thesis on Political Marketing In Ireland. His marketing career began in brand management with Irish Distillers, followed by a period as a Director with Irish International Advertising. Following an eight year stint as Marketing Manager for lagers with Guinness Ireland, Brian assumed a Marketing Director role with the company, covering Malaysia and Africa. Brian served as Managing Director for McCann-Erickson advertising agency from 1997-2001 and then moved to his current role as Managing Partner ( Ireland ) for Agency Assessments International, where he advises leading marketers on the agency selection process.

As Chief Operating Officer for Rate Tiger his responsibilities include overseeing the deployment of Rate Tiger products and the expansion of its suite; forming corporate business relations; managing sales & marketing and acting as a key spokesperson for the company

Sascha, a senior partner of StellantPartners is in the position as a consultant. Prior to establishing StellantPartners, Sascha was CEO of WorldRes, having been appointed by the Board to take the company through the final six months of a complicated and difficult sales process.

Currently Carlton manage 7 four hotels under lease and/or management contract, the properties are located nationwide.

Paul Carey is a graduate of Shannon Collage of Hotel Management and Cornell University in New York. With over 25 years international management experience in the hotel and hospitality industry, working in Hotel Management in Switzerland, USA and the UK.

Paul is a founding partner and shareholder of the Carlton Hotel Group the Irish Hotel Brand formed in 2004 to manage 4 star hotels in the Irish market place under the Carlton brand.

Odhran Lawlor is a native of Longford but now residing in Kildare. A graduate of Cathal Brugha Street, Odhran has a Diploma, H.Dip and Masters in Hospitality Management and is currently undertaking an International Diploma in Spa Management at Derby University.

Odhran began his career under the stewardship of Gerry O'Connor (R.I.P.) at the Blarney Park Hotel before spending time in America where he worked with Royal Caribbean and was involved in the hospitality for the first U.S. Tennis Open at Flushing Meadows. Odhran also spent time on board the QE II and has worked at various times with Fáilte Ireland.

On his return to Ireland over 9 years ago Odhran was employed as General Manager at the Stand House Hotel and oversaw the development and opening of Killashee House Hotel and Villa Spa in Kildare. He remained here until his appointment as Resort General Manager at Mount Wolseley Hotel Spa & Country Club in Tullow last September.

Peter Mikkelsen was born in Denmark where he grew up in his family's hotel. After high school he started with Radisson/SAS in Copenhagen and after that moved to Germany where he did his apprenticeship as a Hotel Specialist. He has a BSc from the Hotel Management School in Heidelberg in Germany.

He has worked within Hilton as a F&B Manager, Project Manager, Director of Human Resources and Director of Operations in Germany, Denmark and Trinidad. He is currently Hotel Manager of the Hilton Dublin Airport where he has been for the last 2 years and is an Assessor for Hiltons Management Trainee assessment centres. Prior to working with Hilton he worked for Starwood and Steigenberger Hotel Group in Germany. Peter is a Guest lecturer at the DIT and a Director of the Board of Northside Partnership.

Then worked for Cadbury Schweppes in Brand management before joining Irish Distillers in Dublin with responsibility for the UK marketing of brands including Jameson and Bushmills. Then recruited by Diageo and worked there for 17 years as a Marketing manager and in Global innovation. Joined Tourism Ireland in 2002 as Head of Marketing Communications with responsibility for global Branding and Advertising.

He is responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of Regulatory Standards and Quality Assurance initiatives within the tourism industry, including the Optimus and EFQM frameworks and systems. He holds a PhD from the University of Surrey, and MSc in Management from Trinity College, Dublin. Tony is also Chairman of the Ireland Poland Business Association and co-author of the book “Managing Quality in Tourism”.

Steven Rice is a graduate and post-graduate of the Queen's University of Belfast, and is currently the Head of Marketing and Business Development for ebookers.ie, Ireland's leading online travel agent. He has over ten years experience in the fields of marketing and advertising - mostly in the online arena - and has held senior positions in News International and BT Openworld, both in Ireland and the UK.