Vincent Agaba
Vincent Agaba is the Managing Director of Avarts Housing Ltd. He is a Director of the Rwenzori Tourism Academy. He
Advisory Panel
Advisory Panel
Our volunteer Advisory Panel shares their time and expertise. They provide insight that is critical to implementing relevant curriculum, enterprise services, and key strategies needed by students, employers, and the tourism industry as a whole.
Purpose of the The Tourism Academy's Advisory Panel
The primary purpose of the advisory panel is to promote collaboration between specific educational programs and stakeholders in the tourism community. Career and technical education programs and associated outreach tools are designed to prepare students with skills, knowledge, and approaches to succeed within the workforce and provide better consumer travel experiences.
The advisory panel serves as advisors to the Academy, providing curriculum recommendations and support for quality programs and have no administrative or legislative authority. Working cooperatively with program administrators, staff and instructors, the advisory committee helps strengthen and improve the Academy. The success of workforce education depends, to a large extent, upon the activity and involvement of advisory panel.
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With our ongoing focus on workforce development and building a more diverse, equitable and inclusive industry, your work is more important than ever!
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I am honored to be joining some wonderful thought leaders in tourism via this opportunity to help give back in a small way to this industry that has given me such a wonderful and fulfilling career!
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The Tourism Academy is important as the success of retaining and attracting diverse talent to this industry is directly correlated to the level of involvement in outreach, education and opportunities. The industry benefits from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that create more opportunities for all people at all levels.
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Creating amazing and life changing experiences for travelers has to start with educating and training the staff that works to provide those experiences. At the end of every trip, it's not just the beautiful sites that people remember, but it is how they felt along their journey. It's up to the incredible tourism staff across the world to make travelers feel welcomed, inspired and excited to experience the world.
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The Tourism Academy focuses on developing best practices in the tourism industry. By bringing together tourism professionals, who freely share successes and challenges, The Tourism Academy is well positioned to have an important role in sustaining the industry. =
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It is through our careers that we impact the world and more so through tourism we break cultural and geographical barriers.
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As Chair of Destinations International, it is critical to me that the destinations we work with are making their communities better not just for the visitor, but also for the residents and greater community. To do this, we need to be having important conversations about what challenges our destinations are facing and how we as a hospitality industry can address these challenges. I’ve recently started having conversations at the international level about the increase in violence that all of our destinations are collectively facing, labor shortages, childcare, lack of community pride, weather disasters – you name it. It's important to me that we come together as an industry and address what is causing these challenges and talk about how it is impacting our communities.
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I have been fortunate enough to travel for work and pleasure and even had the opportunity to collaborate with tourism schools and bureaus. Like most people, I have had my share of good experiences and some not so much. A constant thing that I found is that no matter where you are or what the situation is, people have the capacity and ability to make it better or worst. By focusing on developing the people involved in the industry, the Tourism Academy is setting up a strong foundation that will allow the industry to build reliable and knowledgeable professionals capable of making every travel experience unforgettable.
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The Tourism industry as well as all small business do not take advantage of all of the things that are available to them. The Academy gives them this information, customized for them.
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People are excited to be in the travel industry but without proper training, it is a difficult area to jump into.
We clearly are educators and try to make legal issues simple and easy to implement!
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[The Tourism Academy] is a resource to people in the industry and they seek guidance to industry leaders how they can best provide service to their clients.
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The Tourism Academy's work is unique as a collective source of for education, applied industry learning, ambassador engagement and peer related discussions. This work is important at a time when the travel and tourism industry rebounds and rebuilds.
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The Tourism Academy provides a unique vehicle to ensure professional education of the tourism is available in various forms.
I strongly believe education, empowerment, and inspiration are key to achieve success in the tourism industry
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Although people can receive training on the lob through their work experience, there is still quite a large gap that exists beyond the traditional education environment and a a result, people often struggle to receive adequate training in technical fields. The Tourism Academy helps to fill that gap by providing individuals the training and capacitation that is needed to not only improve their own livelihood but also contribute positively to the economic prosperity of their region.
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Meet The Tourism Academy's Advisory Panel
Anna Karnowski
Consistently recognized by her peers as one of the top movers and shakers of the travel industry. Anna Karnowski was
Samantha Keene, MA
Samantha Keene is a coach and certified educator and school administrator with over 15 years of experience in diverse educational
Juan Alberto Villarreal, Ed.D.
Alberto has been in the Learning and Development arena for over 18 years in different capacities, from Director of Operations
Amir Eylon
PRESIDENT & CEO, PARTNER, LONGWOODS INTERNATIONAL A thirty-four year veteran of the Travel & Tourism industry, Amir leads the entire
Timothy McGuinness
Tim McGuinness has spent the last 25 years as a senior level executive serving both the for profit and non-profit
Sheena Works, MEd
Chief Learning Officer and member of the Association for Talent Development, Sheena has a deep desire to create a network
Richard Peterson
An Ambassador For: Sustainable Tourism – Travel – Community Engagement – Art – Culture – History – Heritage – Brand
Elliott Ferguson
Elliott Ferguson serves as President and CEO of Destination DC (DDC), the official destination marketing organization for Washington, DC. A
Gregory DeShields, CDE, CHE
Qualified Tourism/Hospitality and Academic Professional Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) proficient in developing and implementing plans, strategies, and initiatives specifically designed
William J. Caldwell, CPA
With his extensive knowledge of tax codes combined with strong accounting skills, CEO William J. Caldwell is able to help
Stephen R Ekstrom
Advisory Panel Chair and Chief Strategist at The Tourism Academy | TourismAcademy.org is Stephen Ekstrom. Ekstrom began his career in
Gregg Caren
Gregg Caren, President and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau oversees efforts to promote and sell Philadelphia as a premier destination for
Lisa Curtin, PAFM
Lisa spent 20 years in the tourism industry as VP of Operations with Brightspark Travel/Tui Travel before moving onto a
Keith Snode
Accomplished COO with a 10+ year track record of driving continuous improvement and enabling organization-wide mission and objectives. Dedicated to
Keith Douglas
Keith Douglas, Founder and CEO of KD&CO Advisors, is a marketing, branding, and operations executive with 25+ years of experience in the travel, tourism, hospitality, and commercial real estate with globally
recognized iconic brands and assets.
Isaac Johnson-Tyas, DBA
An avid traveler and lifelong learner, Isaac has been working in the education and training industry since 2008. Isaac’s keen
Kristina Wilson, JD, MBA
Kristina focuses her practice on General Counsel Services, Corporate Law, and Real Estate. Specifically, Kristina assists clients with corporate formation,
Adam Burke
Adam Burke serves as President & CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (Los Angeles Tourism), overseeing global brand
Dr. Eric A. Canny
Dr. Canny has nearly three decades of experience in higher education as a senior administrator as well as a faculty
Al Hutchinson
Al Hutchinson is the Chair of Destinations International and President & CEO of Visit Baltimore. He also serves on the boards of the United States
Roy Wentworth
“I’m very lucky,” reflects Roy Wentworth ’83, smiling, his eyes bright. Named Norwich Free Academy’s Athletic Director in April 2019,
Colleen Cleary
Colleen is a public relations strategist with nearly 20 years of marketing experience. Her eclectic consumer insight and vast knowledge
Jeffrey Ment, JD
Attorney Ment’s career in the travel industry began 40 years ago as a travel agent. He has been a tour
