Amr Abdel-Ghaffar is a senior official of UNWTO with over 30 years of experience in shaping tourism policies and strategies and managing development plans and projects, particularly in the Middle East, where he has served as the Organization’s Director since 1992.

During the period 1994-2005, in which UNWTO experienced rapid growth in its membership and activities, he was responsible for coordinating the preparation and implementation of six successive general programmes of work of the Organization and for introducing a new impact evaluation system. In 2006, he was assigned the responsibility of shaping the Organization’s new Risk Assessment and Crisis Management programme, developing its governance structure, systems and processes and mobilizing external financial resources for its implementation.
In 2008, he was appointed President of UNWTO’s Themis Foundation for Tourism Education and Training and entrusted with restructuring the Organization’s programme in this area. In 2012, he was designated by the Secretary-General as UNWTO’s Focal point for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and, in January 2014, he was appointed by the Secretary-General as his Senior Advisor on Tourism and Peace.

Mr Abdel-Ghaffar holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science and Economics and a Master’s degree in International Relations, from the American University in Cairo.

Elena Nikolova is an international speaker, author and the editor of MuslimTravelGirl.com, the largest Western Muslim-friendly travel site for Muslim millennials. It helps Muslim travellers explore the world without breaking the bank.

She has over a decade of marketing and branding experience in the corporate world and her work has been featured by leading media outlets such as BBC, Islam Channel, Business Traveller Middle East, Thomson Reuters and others. She is a regular contributor to various international media outlets and magazines on Halal travel, including Huffington Post, My Salaam, TripZilla Magazine Asia, ZilzarLife Malaysia, Ilma Magazine, Sisters Magazine and more. Elena is the first woman to become a Chartered Islamic Marketer (CIMA) in the UK and holds an MSc in Islamic finance.

Coming from a diverse cultural background and travelling across the world Elena is passionate about working with companies that view Muslim travellers for who they are; recognising their needs and providing services that complement their religion. As an influencer, her goal is to enhance future opportunities for Muslim travellers to travel and explore the world and be confident in their Muslim identity.

Ahmet Kötehne, Chief Strategy Officer of ATU Duty Free, has been working in the company since 2006. Previously he was the Operation Units and Business Development Deputy General Manager, responsible for 80 shops in 8 countries, along with the Business Development and Architecture departments.

Ahmet has spent much of his life travelling in various countries, giving him a strong background in change and cross-cultural management. He graduated from Radford University and holds an MBA from the same school. In his career he has worked at AT&T/AHS, Garanti Bank Luxembourg, Mezun.com and provided independent consultancy services.

Ahmet is a keen sportsman and is married with a son. He speaks English, French and Turkish.