Ivan started in Aer Lingus in the 90’s and has worked in many areas of Aer Lingus since then. For over 20 years he has been working in sales, selling USA to Tour Operators and Travel Agents all over Ireland and UK by organising trade events in both countries. Representing Aer Lingus at many trade events all over the UK & Ireland to highlight their product & services on offer, Ivan has a great interest in travelling to USA and supporting most US sports.

Kevin brings to the table over 3 decades of relationships and commercial experience in the US outbound sector in tour operating, hotels, and theme parks/attractions. Beginning with Best Western Hotels in 1994 and then Walt Disney Parks & Resorts rising to the position of Commercial Director UK & Europe. Founding HAT Tourism Marketing in 2003. Kevin has built his success on innovation, and strong relationships within the travel industry, not only in the UK, but also across Europe, Canada and the United States where HAT Marketing operates.

Lisa has worked in the North America market throughout her life long travel industry career, starting with Virgin Atlantic, where she worked her way through the ranks to head up the leisure sales team, working with tour operators and agents. She has a wealth of understanding of the North America market and its commercial realities and has been on the Visit USA (UK) board since 2018.

At KBC, she cut her teeth in public relations working on the Florida Keys and Capital Region USA; but the travel trade is where her heart lies, moving into sales representation and marketing and has headed up the KBC trade team since 2010, developing the more niche and boutique regions of north America.

Brendan is an Associate Director at Rocket Travel Marketing, where he builds strategic partnerships between destinations, hotels, and attractions, with tour operators and airlines to boost USA destinations in the UK market. His primary focus is on the West Coast destinations. 

Jane brings a lifetime career in destination marketing excellence to MMGY, where she has managed multiple high-profile accounts since joining in 2008.  Since 2022, Jane has enjoyed being the Account lead for Travel Texas in the UK & Ireland.  Her extensive US portfolio has previously included Arizona, Chicago, Port of Seattle, Washington State and Palm Springs, complemented by significant work across Middle Eastern, European and Pacific destinations. 

Her career spans senior sales and marketing roles at major tour operators - TUI and Thomas Cook, starting in TUI's ski and lakes and mountains programme. Jane's hands-on approach and deep industry network make her invaluable in destination representation and marketing.

Kate Devereux is the Sales Manager for the UK and Ireland at Delta Air Lines. She has worked in the aviation industry since 2001 and joined Delta in 2016, with prior operational and sales roles across major global airlines. She oversees Delta’s sales strategy in the UK and Irish markets, collaborating closely with joint venture partners - Virgin Atlantic and Air France-KLM - to drive revenue growth and strengthen partnerships, whilst leading a team that manages relationships with key corporate and agency customers.

Kirsty has been in the travel industry for over 30 years. A Classics graduate, Kirsty started her career working in marketing and public relations for a specialist tour operator. Kirsty joined TTM 25 years ago, and alongside Jody Hanson and Neil Tagliavin Jones has grown the agency over this time. Kirsty now leads the Communications team across its client portfolio. Kirsty has served on the Visit USA Events and PR committees during this time and in March 2020 became a Board Director of the Visit USA (UK), continuing to work on the PR committee. Kirsty is the current PR Committee Chair. The committee works with Visit USA HQ to organise the Visit USA Media Marketplace and Annual Awards in July and Media Mingle in January.

Geoff Dobson is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the leisure tourism industry. He has successfully developed a comprehensive product portfolio across his regions, leading to increased sales, profitability, and brand awareness. Under his leadership, Travelbag has won the British Travel Awards for three consecutive years in the Best Tour Operator category for both the USA and Canada, and established Travelbag as a Brand USA Partner Tour Operator in the UK.

Geoff's career includes significant roles at notable companies such as Virgin Holidays, American Sky, Hertz Dollar Thrifty, and United Parks & Resorts. This diverse experience in tour operating, car rental, attractions, and representation has enabled him to cultivate strong partnerships with tourist boards, hoteliers, and other destination partners.

Andy has been part of the travel industry since 1993, beginning as a youth trainee with Thomas Cook retail. Over a 20-year career with Thomas Cook, he held a range of contracting, product, sales, and commercial roles. In 2015, Andy began his representation journey, managing day-to-day relationships for the Bermuda Tourism Authority and the Alabama Tourism Department. In 2020, he founded 5F Marketing, where he continues to lead and manage the business.

Julie has a wealth of experience and knowledge within her career in the UK Travel Industry and she has worked in a variety of sectors including inbound sightseeing tours, traditional and e-commerce tour operators and representation for many areas of the USA.

Julie now represents the distinctive areas of Philadelphia and The Countryside of Philadelphia, Atlantic City and Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County. She is a Board Director and served as Chair of Visit USA Association (UK) post covid for 4 years.

Will has been working in the travel industry since 2017, dedicating himself to the world of destination representation across multiple clients in his two agency roles, with his current landing him at Black Diamond in 2021. After graduating from University, Will travelled extensively and his trips have taken him all across the USA. Upon returning to the UK, Will was inspired to work in the travel industry and has since worked across multiple tourist board, hotel and retail accounts within in the USA, with his main responsibilities in his current role including tour operator product development, campaign management, travel trade training and event organisation, marketing his American destinations to the UK and Irish travel trade.

Steven Harris joined Rocky Mountaineer in Spring 2018 following ten years at MSC Cruises and before that Thomas Cook and My Travel Retail. Throughout Steve’s career, he has established substantial experience in sales leadership, commercial negotiation, key marketing campaign delivery, partner relationship management and people management skills.

Since joining Rocky Mountaineer, Steve has shown enthusiasm, innovation and passion for the product. Together with the other members of the team, he has taken sales in this region from strength to strength, winning the company’s global sales region of the year award and, since then, contributing to double-digit growth year-over-year. The region is currently on track to deliver its best-ever sales performance for the 2023 season.

James’ introduction to travel began in 1995, what was originally meant to be short-term stop-gap resulted in a career change spanning three decades.  James has widely travelled across North America and built extensive knowledge during his time at Virgin, to the point he regards the US as his second home. 

Today, James is responsible for contracting key regions within the USA, managing strategic partnerships, working closely with national and state tourist boards as well as product and route development for Virgin Atlantic Holidays.

Tracy is the International Sales & Marketing Manager for Cruise America & Canada RV Rentals, North America's largest motorhome rental company. In this role representing over 45 locations in every major North American gateway, Tracy has built on Cruise America & Canada's overall exposure in the international markets she has responsibility for, including most major Tour Operators' programmes.

Tracy has a wealth of experience in the Travel Industry which began with an airline and later for Tour Operators specialising in the North American market before joining Cruise America.

Claire has over 30 years of experience across tour operators, agency and airline environments, with over 20 years at United Airlines, working in a dynamic team of sales professionals, partnering with the trade to help optimise their air travel programs. She is responsible for developing and implementing the sales and marketing strategies across 7 US gateways and onward across America and beyond, working closely with travel distributors and joint venture airline partners.

Claire has welcomed the opportunities her experience has brought such as launching new routes, an airline merger and managing the unprecedented events of the pandemic. Claire has established strong working relationships, bringing together industry knowledge, experience and contacts to build strong partnerships and drive business growth.