Nikos Skoulas

Former Tourism Minister, former Chairman, Hellenic Centre for Investments (ELKE)

Nikos Skoulas

During a time span of almost 50 years, Nikos Skoulas has been heavily involved in many facets of managerial activity in Canada and in Greece,. For a substantial part of this period he dedicated his energy to tourism and hospitality, both in Government service and the private sector.

He served the Government of Greece, for a nine year period, in various capacities including the position of Director of a task force for the rehabilitation of "problem enterprises", Secretary General of the Hellenic Tourism Organization (EOT), Alternate Minister of National Economy and Minister of Tourism.

He has served as the first General Manager of MEGA Channel, Greece's first private television network, Chairman and CEO of Royal Olympic Cruises, Chairman of the Board of ASTIR Hotels, a prestigious Greek hotel chain, Chairman of the National Tourism Council and Chairman of The Hellenic Center for Investment (ELKE). He also served a six year term as President of Minoan International College (formerly Trinity), an English speaking institution of higher learning specializing in Business Administration as well as inTourism and Hospitality Management.

He has written a number of books, articles and manuals on management, tourism and food distribution. He is the author of the book "The Human side of Leadership" and the editor for Andreas Papandreou's book "Democracy at Gunpoint". He co-authored, with Ms. Kyriaki Economakis, the book "Human Resource Management and Development". His latest books "Managing a Small and Medium size Enterprize", and "Leadership, Management , Teamwork – The Triptych of Success".

Speakers

George Nikitiadis George Nikitiades was born in New York in 1953 and completed his studies in Kapodistrian Law School of Athens. In 1981 he started practicing law and established one of the most distinguished law offices in Athens; he was also an attorney in the Supreme Court of Athens. He served for two years (2000-2001) as a Secretary General of Public Administration at the Ministry of Interior. From May 2010 he serves as Deputy Minister for Culture and Tourism.

Marcio Favilla Lucca De Paula Márcio Favilla L. De Paula has an extensive experience both at the state of Minas Gerais and at the federal governments in Brazil, especially in development and project finance, investment promotion, public funds policies and managemen. Served as Vice-Minister in two portfolios –Tourism (2003/2007) and Institutional Relations of the Presidency (2007/2009)– before joining UNWTO as an Executive Director for Competitiveness, External Relations and Partnerships in January, 2010.

Nikos Skoulas Nikos Skoulas has been heavily involved in many facets of managerial activity in Canada and in Greece, including tourism and hospitality, both in Government service and the private sector. He has served as Director of a task force for the rehabilitation of "problem enterprises", Secretary General of the Hellenic Tourism Organization (EOT), Alternate Minister of National Economy and Minister of Tourism, Chairman of The Hellenic Center for Investment (ELKE).

Nicos Kanellopoulos Nicolas Kanellopoulos, President of the Greek National Tourism Office (G.N.T.O.) since December 2009; Supreme Court of Greece, Member of the Board of Directors of the Athens Bar Association, since 1999; admitted in the Athens Bar Association in 1990; Vice President of the Greek Law Firms Association since September 2010.

Andreas Andreadis Dr Andreas A. Andreadis holds a Master's degree in Civil Engineering from Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, and his Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of London, Queen Mary. With more than thirty years experience in the tourism industry, he currently holds the position of CEO at Sani S.A. He was previously President of the Hellenic Hotel Federation (2006-2011) and today holds the post of President of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises.

Olga Kefalogianni In September 2007 Olga Kefalogianni was elected Member of the Greek Parliament, representing the party of "New Democracy" in the Cretan prefecture of Rethymno. She is an attorney at law by profession and has been educated in both Law and International Relations. In 1997 she obtains her Bachelor degree in Law at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece).

John Retsos Yiannis A. Retsos is the President of the Hellenic Hotel Federation and A' Vice-President of the "Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises" (SETE), as well as Managing Director of "Electra Hotels & Resorts S.A.". He graduated from the Law School of the University of Athens in 1992 and received his M.P.S. in Hotel Management from Cornell University in 1995, with concentration in Hospitality Real Estate Finance.

Alex Kyriakidis Alex Kyriakidis has 38 years of experience providing strategic, financial, M&A, refinancing, asset management and integration services to the tourism, hospitality and leisure sectors. Alex leads the Global Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure Industry team at Deloitte which comprises 4,500 professionals dedicated to serving the industry and which generates $600m of revenues.

George Drakopoulos George Drakopoulos has studied Tourism Management in Greece (TEI Athens), Hotel Management in Glion, CH, and holds an MSc in Tourism Studies from Surrey University, UK. As from 1997, he serves as Director General of SETE. He represents SETE in the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the European Economic and Social Committee, the International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IHRA), the European Tourism & Travel Action Group and the Greek-Turkish Business Council. He is also Member of the Committees of Statistics & Tourism Satellite Account and Marketing / Promotion of the UNWTO.

John Gikopoulos He's an Associate Partner of McKinsey & Company in the firm's Athens Office. He joined McKinsey in 2003 and has spent his 8 years with the firm working out of the London and primarily Athens office.

Katerina Giannouka-Finn Katerina Giannouka – Finn is Senior Director, Acquisitions & Development for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and is responsible for sourcing hotel opportunities and executing the growth strategy of Starwood’s portfolio of nine brands in Europe. She is based in Starwood's EAME Divisional office in Brussels.

Miltos Kambourides Miltos is the Founder and Managing Partner of the private equity firm Dolphin Capital. Miltos is a member of the World Travel & Tourism Council. Since 2008 he sponsors the Kambourides Graduate Fellowship in the newly formed Center for Computational Engineering at MIT.

Αris Karytinos Dr Aristotelis Karytinos is the General Manager - Real Estate of the National Bank of Greece. Before joining the Bank, he held senior positions within Eurobank EFG Group, including Head of Group Real Estate, Head of Mortgage Lending and CEO of Eurobank Properties REIC.

George Linatsas He's a founding partner, director and member of the executive committee of Axia Ventures Group. Prior to joining Axia, George was the general manager and head of equities as well as board member of Piraeus Securities S.A. Prior to that (2001 – 2005), George was the director of institutional equity sales & trading at Sigma Securities, which in 2005 was acquired and absorbed by Piraeus Securities S.A.

George Barboutis George Barboutis is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Greek Chapter of SITE (Society of Incentive Travel Executives) and Group Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications of Rodos Palace Resort Hotel & International Convention Center; he holds a BA from the Economic University of Piraeus, an MBA from Wagner College, a Post Master's Certificate in International Marketing Management from Pace University, an M.Sc. in Strategic HRM from ALBA Graduate Business School, and a D.E.S.S. in International Hospitality and Tourism Management from IMHI (Cornell University & ESSEC).

Kostas Trivizas Kostas Trivizas, is the founder and managing director of Aeolus Hospitality, a performance enhancement and development - asset management consultancy, focused on the upscale hospitality (hotels, resorts) and e-travel businesses.

Aris Ikkos Aris Ikkos is Managing Partner of GBR Consulting, Greece's leading tourism consultancy. He has been active in the tourism sector in Greece and Cyprus for almost twenty years now and has led projects in almost all forms of tourism investment: hotels, resorts, golf courses, marinas, ski centres, conference centres, casinos, spas, theme parks etc. GBR Consulting has an exclusive cooperation agreement with Dream Resorts Factory, a THR division, for the development of Resorts in Greece, specialists in the integrated resorts business -covering the conception, planning, design and business planning.

Peter Economides Owner and founder of Felix BNI based in Athens, Peter is a former Executive Vice President and Worldwide Director of Client Services at global advertising agency McCann Erickson Worldwide and Head of Global Clients at TBWA\Worldwide.

Yiannis Tseklenis Yiannis Tseklenis is considered as the name and the talent that has put Greece on the contemporary fashion map. His creations since 1965 have been carried by leading stores in more than 20 countries. He has also been active in supervising artistically the creation of hotels, housing settlements and the design of public transport vehicles and other relative equipment.

Haris Karonis He is CEO of Hellas Pay Payment Services SA, a recently founded Payment Institute which is focused on online transactions, as well as CEO of Hellas Bill SA, which is offering electronic invoicing services and CEO of VIVA ONLINE SERVICES, which provides innovative online services.

Maria Fola Maria Fola holds holds an MSc in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and a PhD from the Department of Political Sciences, University of Crete, focusing on the concept of nation branding and its current applications. Maria brings 13 years of experience as a communications professional, having worked both in-house and on the agency side in Greece and abroad. She currently works as Director for Burson-Marsteller's affiliate firm in Athens, Advocate.

Spencer Anderson Spencer Anderson is the deputy editor at Foreign Direct Investment magazine, a specialist publication of the Financial Times Ltd. He covers all areas related to global FDI, including corporate expansion, politics, trade and finance. He has been with the FT Group for the last 4 years.