The industry is experiencing early signs of recovery, but the way people travel —and how they make decisions — has forever changed. The second day of
explore '20 investigates the impact of these changes on partnerships, brand strategies, and technology while emphasizing how the industry can evolve to reach more diverse travelers.
Rick Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. But above all else, Rick considers himself a teacher. He taught his first travel class at his college campus in the mid-1970s — and now, more than 40 years later, he still measures his success not by dollars earned, but by trips impacted.
Rick is the founder and owner of Rick Steves' Europe, a travel business with a tour program that brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. Each year, the company contributes to a portfolio of climate-smart nonprofits, essentially paying a self-imposed carbon tax. He also works closely with several advocacy groups and has been instrumental in the legalization of marijuana in states across the US.
Rick spends about four months a year in Europe, researching guidebooks, fine-tuning his tour program, filming his TV show, and making new discoveries for travelers. To recharge, he plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade mountains, and spends time with his son Andy and daughter Jackie. He lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.
The opportunity to explore new places led Melissa Maher to embark on career in the travel industry. But making the world more inclusive, accessible, and connected has fueled her love of the industry for more than two decades. As senior vice president of Marketing and Industry Engagement, Melissa brings together her purpose-driven leadership and passion for great storytelling to design global programs that inspire and engage Expedia Group’s travel partners. In her role, Melissa leads the teams responsible for Expedia Group’s business-to-business marketing, public relations, owner engagement, partner loyalty solutions, and strategic events.
Melissa is dedicated to creating space for diverse voices in the travel industry. She served as Expedia Group’s first Chief Inclusion Officer where she led the team responsible for celebrating and championing diversity and creating a sense of belonging for employees, customers, partners, and communities. To drive positive change in the career mobility for women in travel, Melissa serves on the board of WINiT by Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), a network that provides unique career development opportunities. Melissa also serves on the board of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), the industry’s leading advocate for intelligent, sustainable hotel revenue growth, and is a content contributor for GlobalHotelNetwork.com.
Melissa not only believes in connecting the world through travel but doing her part to make the world a better place through her charitable giving and volunteer work for the Lupus Foundation of America, Crystal Cove Conservancy, and the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth.
Prior to working at Expedia Group, Melissa opened the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as Director of Conference Center Sales, served as Director of Tour and Conference Sales with the Las Vegas Hilton, and received her MBA and BS from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Ariane Gorin is Group President of Expedia Business Services which includes Expedia Partner Solutions and Egencia Corporate Travel. Expedia Partner Solutions leverages the best of Expedia Group’s partner facing API and template products with a laser focus on B2B, powering thousands of partners around the world. Egencia has been the corporate travel arm of Expedia Group since 2004 and joined Expedia Business Services in 2019.
Gorin joined Expedia in 2013 as Vice President of Market Management for EMEA and led the EMEA team in rapidly expanding the hotel network in the region. Prior to joining Expedia, Gorin spent 10 years at Microsoft in various sales, distribution and marketing roles. Before joining Microsoft, she was a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, both in San Francisco and in Paris.
Gorin received an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and a BA in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. She currently serves on the board of directors of Adecco Group, and is on the advisory council of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.
As Senior Vice President of Multiproduct Engagement, Tina leads both product and technology teams for a travel portfolio that includes six global brands, including Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity. Tina is currently focused on designing, developing and delivering engaging multiproduct trip experiences that travelers love. She also sits on the Expedia Group Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Council and is the Executive Sponsor for EG WELL, a global initiative to empower and support women toward leadership roles at Expedia Group. Prior to her current role, Tina held a variety of product leadership positions, including Chief Product Officer, at Vrbo.
Before her time with Expedia Group, Tina graduated from UCLA (Go Bruins!) and has since held a variety of leadership roles at Yahoo!, Ask.com, Demand Media, IAC Publishing Labs and more.
She is an avid runner, adventure seeker, and art lover. When not at work, her favorite places are on mountain tops, Tokyo and Iceland.
Gloria joined the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) in August 2017, following a varied career in Travel & Tourism. WTTC is the global body that represents travel & tourism worldwide. A sector that generates 10% of GDP and employs circa 300 million jobs.
Her career in the travel industry started in 1995 at the Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Holdings, she was later CEO of JV Sabre Mexico reporting to a board of directors from Aeromexico, Mexicana, and Sabre. In March 2010 President Calderon appointed her as Minister of Tourism and two weeks after she was given in addition the full responsibility of the Mexican Tourism Board. Under her leadership the “National Agreement for Tourism” in Mexico was created in 2011 and for the first time “the importance of Travel & Tourism” was included in the G20 declaration of leaders in Los Cabos.
Gloria received the Good Neighbour Award from the US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and Virtuoso awarded Mexico the best tourism board in the world due to her successful branding and repositioning efforts. In addition, Gloria has been Special Advisor on Government Affairs to Harvard University, and part of the Future for Travel, Tourism and Aviation Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum (WEF). She was recognised as one of the most influential women in Mexico by CNN and Expansion.
In addition, Gloria is a board member of HSBC Mexico and Playa Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ listed).
She holds a BS in Computer Science from Anahuac University and MBA from Kellogg School of Business, Northwestern University.
Last Modified: January 10, 2020
Please read the following policy (“Privacy Policy”) to learn about our privacy practices. By visiting the Expedia Group explore website (the “Site”) for the explore conference (the “Conference”), you are accepting the practices described herein.
What information we collect from you
In General. We receive and store any information you provide to us through the Site or given to us in any other way. This includes information that can identify you (“personal information“), such as your first and last name, telephone number and postal and email addresses.
Automatic Information. We automatically collect some information about your computer and your online activity when you visit the Site. For example, we may collect your IP address and information about what web browser software you use to access the Site (such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Internet Explorer) and referring website. Where permitted by local law, we may also automatically collect information you enter into any data fields shown on the Site, including your email address and log-in credentials. We may also collect information about your online activity, such as trips viewed or bookings made. Our goals in collecting this automatic information include helping to customize your user experience and inhibiting fraud. For more information, please see the Cookies and other technologies section below.
How we use your information
We use information about you to provide you with conference information and to communicate with you in general.
With whom we share your information
We do not share your information without your express consent.
YOUR CHOICES AND OPTING-OUT
You can correct or “opt-out” of receiving emails from us at any time by following the instructions included in your email or by sending a reply stating your request, and we will make the requested changes. Please note that we may retain certain information associated with you for record-keeping integrity.
The Help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie or how to disable cookies altogether. Please note that if you refuse to accept cookies from this Site, you will not be able to access portions of our Site.
Cookies and other technologies
Cookies are small data text files and can be stored on your computer’s hard drive (if your web browser permits). The Site uses cookies for the following general purposes:
· To help us recognize your browser as a previous visitor and save and remember any preferences that may have been set while your browser was visiting our Site. For example, if you register on our Site, we may use cookies to remember your registration information, so you do not need to log into our Site each time you visit. We also may record your password in a cookie, if you checked the box entitled “Sign me in automatically next time.” Please note that member IDs, passwords and any other account-related data included in such cookies are encrypted for security purposes. Unless you register with us, these cookies will not contain any personal information.
· To help measure and research the effectiveness of Site features and offerings, advertisements and email communications (by determining which emails you open and act upon).
· Where permitted by local law, we may also use cookies to automatically collect information you enter into any data fields shown on the Site, in order to contact you regarding useful information about opportunities available through our Site.
The help portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie or how to disable cookies altogether. Please note that if you refuse to accept cookies, you may not be able to access many of the travel tools offered on Site.
In addition to the above cookies, we use Local Shared Objects, also referred to as “flash cookies,” on the Site. These are used to enhance your user experience, for example, by storing your user preferences and settings, such as your volume/mute settings, and in connection with animated content on our Site. Local Shared Objects are similar to browser cookies but can store data more complex than simple text. By themselves, they cannot do anything to or with the data on your computer. Like other cookies, they can only access personally identifiable information that you have provided on the Site and cannot be accessed by other websites. To find out more about flash cookies or how to disable them, please visit: Flash Player Help site.
This Site may also use Web beacons (also known as clear gifs, pixel tags or Web bugs), which are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, that are placed in the code of a Web page. We use Web beacons to monitor the traffic patterns of users from one page within our Sites to another, to deliver or communicate with cookies, to understand whether you have come to our Site from an online advertisement displayed on a third-party website and to improve Site performance. We also may allow our service providers to use Web beacons to help us understand which emails have been opened by recipients and to track the visitor traffic and actions on the Site. This helps us measure the effectiveness of our content and other offerings.
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us using our customer service and feedback form.
USING THE EXPEDIA MOBILE PHONE AND TABLET APPS (THE “MOBILE APPS”)
When you use an Expedia Mobile App, including the Conference app, we collect and use information about you in the same way and for the same purposes as we do when you use our Site.
In addition to this, we also use some other information that we collect automatically when you use our Mobile Apps. Specifically:
· We collect information about Mobile App functionality that you access and use. This allows us to identify those areas of the Mobile App that are of interest to our customers so that we can refine and continuously improve the Mobile App. The information we collect for this purpose does not enable us to directly identify you.
· Each Mobile App will also send us error-reporting information in the event that it crashes or hangs. This enables us to investigate the error and to improve the stability of the Mobile App for future releases. As part of these error reports, the Mobile App sends us information about the mobile device type and version, the UID, the time the error occurred, the feature being used and the state of the application when the error occurred. We do not use this information for any purpose other than investigating and remedying the error.
You always have the ability to control what information a Mobile App sends to us. You can exercise this control either by changing the settings of the Mobile App under its setting menu or changing the settings of your mobile device. Alternatively, you can remove the Mobile App from your mobile device entirely and access our services through our website.
How we protect your information
We want you to feel confident about using the Site and we are committed to protecting the information we collect. While no website can guarantee security, we have implemented appropriate administrative, technical and physical security procedures to help protect the personal information you provide to us. For example, only authorized employees are permitted to access personal information, and they may only do so for permitted business functions. In addition, we use encryption when transmitting your sensitive personal information between your system and ours, and we employ firewalls and intrusion detection systems to help prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to your information.
Children’s privacy
The Site is not directed to children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Should a child whom we know to be under 13 send personal information to us, we will use that information only to respond directly to that child to inform him or her that we must have parental consent before receiving his or her personal information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at explore@expediagroup.com.
External links
This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites that may be accessed via links included on this Site. You should examine the privacy statements posted on those third-party websites to understand their procedures for collecting, using and disclosing personal information.
Visiting our Site from outside the United States
If you are visiting our Site from outside the United States, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored and processed in the United States where our servers are located and our central database is operated. The data protection and other laws of the United States and other countries might not be as comprehensive as those in your country, but please be assured that we take steps to ensure that your privacy is protected. By using our services, you understand that your information may be transferred to our facilities and those third parties with whom we share it as described in this Privacy Policy.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may modify or amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date this Privacy Policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page and the terms of this Privacy Policy are effective as of that date.
How you can contact us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Expedia Group Attn: Lodging Product Marketing, 1111 Expedia Group Way W., Seattle WA 98119. explore@expediagroup.com. If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us using our customer service and feedback form.
Last Modified: January 10, 2020
This Terms of Use Agreement (the “Agreement”) constitute a binding agreement between Expedia Group (“Expedia,” “we,” or “us”) and you concerning your use of www.exploreexpediagroup.com (the “the Site”). By visiting the Site, you accept this Agreement. If you do not wish to be bound by this Agreement, do not use the Site.
This Agreement does not apply to the use of websites operated by Expedia Group operating businesses, such as Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire.com, or Egencia.com. We refer you to each website’s respective terms of use for the terms applicable to use of such website.
1. License to Use the Site
Expedia grants you a limited, non-exclusive license to access and view content on the Site for your own personal, non-commercial purposes. This license is personal to you and may not be assigned or sublicensed to anyone else. Except as expressly permitted by Expedia in writing, you will not reproduce, redistribute, sell, create derivative works from, decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the Site. Nor will you take any measures to interfere with or damage the Site. All rights not expressly granted by Expedia Group are reserved.
2. Privacy
Expedia Group believes in protecting your privacy. Please review our current Privacy Policy, which also governs your use of the Site, to understand our practices.
3. Submissions
You may submit inquiries or feedback to Expedia Group through the email addresses listed on the Site. Do not submit information that would be considered proprietary and confidential. Expedia Group is not required to review any submission of content. To the extent you submit any ideas or feedback to Expedia Group, you grant Expedia Group a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free right and license to use such content for any purpose.
4. Representations and Warranties; Indemnification
You represent and warrant that you have the right and authority to enter into this Agreement and that by doing so, you will not violate any law or breach any obligation to any third party. You will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Expedia Group and its affiliates, directors, officers, employees, and agents, from and against all third party actions that: (i) arise from your activities on the Site; and (ii) assert a violation by you of any term of this Agreement.
5. Disclaimers and Limitations on Liability
Expedia Group reserves the right to modify the Site. You are responsible for providing your own access to the Site. Expedia Group provides the Site on an “as is” and “as available” basis. You therefore use the Site at your own risk. Expedia Group expressly disclaims any and all representations or warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Expedia Group shall not be liable, with respect to any claim arising out of or relating to the Site or this Agreement, for (i) any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, including but not limited to damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible losses; and (ii) an amount exceeding USD $100.
Our performance of this Agreement is subject to existing laws and legal process, and nothing contained in this Agreement limits our right to comply with law enforcement or other governmental or legal requests or requirements relating to your use of this Site or information provided to or gathered by us with respect to such use. To the extent allowed by applicable law, you agree that you will bring any claim or cause of action arising from or relating to your access or use of this Site within two (2) years from the date on which such claim or action arose or accrued or such claim or cause of action will be irrevocably waived.
6. Forward-Looking Statements
Information on the Site may include “forward looking statements” which are based on management’s belief as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by and information currently available to management. You are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of Expedia’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Expedia Group disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
7. General
This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Washington, without regard to principles of conflicts of law.
Any action arising out of or relating to this Agreement or your use of the Site must be commenced in the state or federal courts located in King County, Washington (and you consent to the jurisdiction of those courts). In any such action, Expedia and you irrevocably waive any right to a trial by jury.
If any term of this Agreement is found invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, that term will be severed from this Agreement. No failure or delay by Expedia Group in exercising any right hereunder will waive any further exercise of that right. Expedia Group's rights and remedies hereunder are cumulative and not exclusive.
This Agreement is binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of both parties and their respective successors, heirs, executors, administrators, personal representatives, and permitted assigns. You may not assign this Agreement without Expedia Group’s prior written consent. No third party shall have any rights hereunder.
This Agreement may not be modified except by a revised Terms of Use posted by Expedia Group on the Site or a written amendment signed by an authorized representative of Expedia Group. A revised Terms of Use will be effective as of the date it is posted on the Site.
This Agreement constitutes the entire understanding between Expedia Group and you concerning the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings regarding the same.
For any questions about this Agreement, please contact:
Expedia Group
1111 Expedia Group Way West
Seattle WA 98119
Attention: Legal Department
As global senior vice president of Expedia Group Media Solutions, the digital advertising organization of Expedia Group, Hari Nair oversees all facets of the business including product development and execution, engineering, operations, marketing, media sales and business development.
Hari was previously Vice President and General Manager of Orbitz.com and CheapTickets.com, subsidiaries of Expedia Group, responsible for overseeing retail operations and profitability of the business, brand strategy, marketing efficiency and customer lifecycle management.
Hari joined Expedia Group in 2002, and has managed and led market management operations in a variety of offices, including Dallas, New York and London. He also oversaw the company’s hotel supplier relations and directed lodging strategy and business for North America.
Prior to joining Expedia, Hari worked in corporate training and food and beverage operations at Oberoi Hotels, a leading luxury hotel chain that owns and manages thirty hotels and five luxury cruisers across six countries under the ‘Oberoi’ & ‘Trident’ brands.
Hari holds a master’s degree in Hotel Management from Cornell University.
Josh Belkin is Vice President, Global Brand at Hotels.com, part of Expedia Group.
In this role, Josh leads brand marketing, loyalty and communications activities globally at Hotels.com. He oversees brand advertising, brand media, public relations, social media, sponsorships, and brand strategy, including the award-winning Captain Obvious campaign. In addition, Josh is responsible for the Hotels.com Rewards program, which enables customers to earn and redeem reward nights at hundreds of thousands of properties around the globe.
He joined Hotels.com in 2012, and most recently Josh was Vice President and General Manager for Hotels.com in North America, where he was responsible for financial plans, marketing, operations, and strategy for the U.S. and Canada businesses. Previously, he was Senior Director, Global Retail Merchandising at Hotels.com, where he managed global merchandising across 70+ points of sale. He also led the launch of the Hotels.com Gift Card program.
Prior to joining Hotels.com, Josh was a consultant at Bain & Company, with a focus on the travel and retail industries, as well as revenue optimization. He began his career at Cambridge Associates in Boston, primarily advising non-profit endowments on investment management and asset allocation.
Josh holds a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Josh lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and 7-year old son.
Lish Kennedy is Vice President of Global Brand Marketing at Vrbo, part of Expedia Group.
Lish Kennedy leads brand marketing globally for Vrbo, overseeing brand advertising, brand media, brand strategy, public relations, social media, and sponsorships. In 2020, Lish asked to take on Vrbo’s Inclusion & Diversity program and has become its champion.
Lish joined Expedia Group to guide Vrbo, the company’s vacation rental brand, in August 2019. Before that, Lish was responsible for global brand marketing at Etsy where she led brand strategy, brand communications and merchandizing. Prior to Etsy, Lish worked on the creative agency side, building award winning brands spanning consumer packaged goods (CPG), tech, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) from BBH Global’s offices in London, Shanghai, and New York City.
Lish holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Newcastle, a master’s degree in marketing from Imperial College, and an accelerated MBA.
Accepting the role of Vrbo vice president of global brand marketing brought Lish to Austin, TX – a good move for her recue dog Tater Tot and for her love of hiking with her husband.
Chandreyi Davis is the Vice President, Global Brand for Brand Expedia.
In this role, Chandreyi leads brand marketing globally for Brand Expedia overseeing brand advertising, brand media, sponsorships, and brand strategy. Chandreyi joined Expedia Group in March 2020… one month after the start of the global pandemic.
Prior to Expedia, Chandreyi has spent her 20 year career translating customer needs into paradigm shifting programs, from launching Amazon’s first Brand Purpose campaign platform, to introducing Amazon Alexa to the world as Echo’s first Brand and Mass Advertising leader, to driving new to the world beverage innovation at Starbucks with product pipeline development for the Nitro and Flavored Cold Brew portfolio. Chandreyi’s passion is helping brands find their unique voice through communication and product strategies, helping them fulfill their customer’s needs with intention, and enable passionate teams to create on behalf of those customers.
Chandreyi holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Chandreyi is also a certified mindfulness teacher through Mindfulness Northwest. When sitting on the cushion in her Seattle, WA home isn’t enough, she loves escaping on road trips with her husband Ryan, or finding little adventures discovering new music or food.