Attendees
Sales Team
Speakers
We’ll hear directly from our key partners and industry experts as they share their point of view on the major trends impacting their business, and the industry at large.
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Christopher Hartley
Chief Executive Officer
Global Hotel Alliance, Dubai
In 2004 Chris Hartley was one of the pioneers behind the launch of Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), and since 2006, has led its growth, forging a unique joint venture, which enables independent, privately owned hotel brands to compete with the world’s largest hotel companies. GHA’s shareholders are hotel groups Minor, Pan Pacific, Corinthia, Kempinski, tech-giant Oracle and social media company, ASMALLWORLD.
Since celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2024, GHA now represents a collection of 45 brands with 850+ hotels in 100 countries and offers a shared loyalty platform, the award-winning GHA DISCOVERY, to 30 million customers, which in 2024 generated US$2.7 billion in annual revenue and 11 million room nights to the participating hotels.
Chris has spent his entire 35-year career in the hospitality industry, starting out in marketing with Forte Hotels in the early 1990s, he headed sales and marketing at Kempinski for ten years, which evolved into the GHA role when Kempinski became a founder member of the alliance in 2004. Chris has always been passionate about travel and languages, having studied French and German at London University before doing post-graduate studies in hospitality at Manchester University, and an MBA at NEOMA in France. He has lived and worked around the world and has now settled in Dubai where GHA is based.
Alex Barder
EMEA Prinicpal - Sabre Media Network
Sabre, London
Alex Barder is a dynamic business development leader with over 20 years of experience spanning hospitality, travel technology, and digital media. Currently EMEA Principal for GDS Media at Sabre, Alex drives strategic growth across hotel, air, and car media sales, leveraging data insights and stakeholder collaboration to deliver impactful results.
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Alex’s career began at Hilton, where he honed his skills in sales and marketing management. He then transitioned into travel technology, joining Sabre Hospitality and later Sabre Corporation, where he led regional business development across the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. His strategic acumen and deep industry knowledge propelled him into leadership roles at Travelport, where he served as Head of Digital Media & Data Solutions for EMEA and APAC, spearheading innovative media and analytics initiatives.
Katie Seaton
Manager Hotel Commercial, Global Business Partnerships
AMEX Global Business Travel, London
Katie Seaton is a travel industry veteran with 33 years of experience, including 20 years in business travel. She transitioned from HRG to American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) following the company's acquisition, bringing extensive expertise and industry insights to her role.
Cameron Spence
Global Practice Line Lead, Hotel
AMEX Global Business Travel, Edinburgh
Cameron joined American Express GBT and the Consulting team in August 2023. Cameron brings more than a decade of experience working across the travel and hospitality industry. Previous employers include Visit Scotland and STR, the world leader in hotel data benchmarking. During his time with STR, Cameron led EMEA Data Operations, managing hotel performance data for more than 14,000 hotels.
Since joining American Express GBT as a Consulting Manager, Cameron now leads Consulting’s hotel practice line. Within this role he is responsible for setting out the strategic vision for hotel consulting, product development and thought leadership creation. In his capacity Cameron also looks after a number of key client relationships.
Andrea Vieyra
Director, Supplier Management & Delivery
BCD Travel, Minneapolis, USA
Andrea Vieyra serves as Director of Supplier Management & Delivery – Global Hotel at BCD Travel, bringing over two decades of experience in the travel industry. Known for her collaborative leadership style and strategic mindset, Andrea has helped shape supplier partnerships that deliver meaningful value to clients and drive long-term success. Her career spans hotel sales, client relationship management, and marketing—giving her a well-rounded perspective on the evolving needs of the industry. Andrea is passionate about building strong connections, fostering innovation, and creating solutions that work for both clients and suppliers. Her people-first approach and deep industry insight make her a trusted voice in travel and hospitality.
Tony DiMarzio
Director, Supplier Relations
CTM, Chicago, USA
Tony DiMarzio brings 15 years of travel industry experience to his role as Director, Supplier Relations at CTM. Early in his career, he specialized in negotiating corporate hotel RFPs before moving into a supplier-facing role, where he has spent the past nine years building and managing strategic partnerships with leading hotel and airline partners. Since joining CTM more than two years ago, Tony has continued to strengthen supplier relationships and drive value for clients.
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Based in Chicago, Tony enjoys spending his free time playing hide and seek with his 3.5 year old daughter.
Matt McArdle
Director, Lodging Partnerships
NAVAN, New York, USA
Matt is currently a Director of Lodging Partnerships for Navan (formerly TripActions) based in NYC and manages hotel partnerships across the East Coast and Texas as well as with many global chains and management companies. Before entering this current role at Navan, he worked on client specific hotel RFPs, including Netflix, Wayfair and Twilio, and was also an Account Manager during the peak of the pandemic.
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Overall, Matt has been in the travel industry for 10 years and started his career with Expedia Group in the Bay Area, where he managed hotel partnerships for hotels in the East Bay. He also spent some time abroad in Singapore working for FCM Travel as a Multinational Account Manager.
About Navan: Navan is a technology-first platform that provides an all-in-one solution for corporate travel, corporate cards, and expense management. It simplifies travel and expense management for companies, enabling them to have real-time visibility, control, and savings. Navan uses AI, data science, and a modern design to help users book, view, and manage their business travel and expenses. Navan also owns Reed & Mackay who is a service-led corporate travel agency with people-focused technology and award-winning event solutions
Julie Janzen
Global Supplier Partnership Manager
One Global, London
Over 20 years experience of managing consortia programmes on behalf of leading TMC networks such as GlobalStar, Advantage Trave Partnership (WIN for those who remember!), Lufthansa City Centre and now leading the hotel programme OneSTAY on behalf of the One Global Community of 25 recognised TMCs around the world.
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