GSF 2014:

Dr. Eli Fel

Managing Director, Travel Blue Germany

Founder & Chairman of the Global Shopping Forum

Mang Chen

Chairman of the Executive Board

CAISSA Touristic (Group) AG

Mr. Mang Chen was born on the 5th of October 1960 in Chengdu, the province capital of Sichuan. He grew up in Beijing and went to school there. In his youth he coincidently found records of Beethoven on the attic in the house of a friend of his. Because listening to Western music was strictly forbidden during the Cultural Revolution in China, he was only able to listen to the records secretly. Since then, leaving China and exploring the country where this wonderful music came from, became an inner and constantly growing wish of Mang Chen. In the period of his apprenticeship in the “Publishing House of the Chinese youth” he started to learn German by himself. In the 1980s he started to work for the biggest Chinese travel agency “China International Travel Service (CITS)”, conducting mainly German tourist groups through China. 1988 Mang Chen finally managed to leave China for Germany to study economics at the University of Gießen. He started to recognize the potential for Chinese tourism very early. After his studies he wanted to put his knowledge and experience into practice and founded the CAISSA Touristic (Group) AG, together with his wife in Hamburg. In the past 20 years the two-man-show became one of the biggest and most important travel agencies for outgoing and incoming tourism to and from China. By now CAISSA Touristic is possessing 26 branch offices in Europe and China with more than 3000 employees, celebrating the 20th anniversary last year. 2003 was another important year for Mr. Chen and CAISSA Touristic, when the SARS virus was infecting the international travel industry. He took advantage of the crises, founding the monthly newspaper Europe Times in Hamburg, which is by now, with a monthly edition of 95.000, the largest private newspaper in Chinese language in Europe. Furthermore the China Education & Training Center (CETC) and the Training Institute for Chinese speaking tour guides in Europe was established in the same year. In the CETC seminar programs for Chinese delegations from the fields of politics and economy are being organized and hosted. The Training Institute for Chinese speaking tour guides is educating young Chinese for their future profession as tour guides in Germany and Europe. The foundation of the official Lang Lang Fan Club e.V. was laid in 2006, resulting out of Mang Chen’s passion for classical music. Besides that Mang Chen is the executive council of the Coalition of Chinese Merchants in Germany e.V., the honorary chairman of the Association of Chinese Culture in Hamburg e.V., the vice president of the Chinese-German Society e.V. and honorary member of the tourism committee of the Chamber of Commerce in Hamburg.

Jimmy Yiu

Director, Tmall Global / Cross-border O2O

Alibaba Group

Jimmy Yiu is Director of Tmall Global Cross-border O2O from Alibaba group. Tmall Global Cross-border O2O is a developing new platform that focuses on Chinese outbound travelling shoppers. It aims to link up foreign duty-free shops, shopping malls, outlets and life service ticketing and voucher providers with massive Chinese online consumers, and creates a new O2O shopping experience for outbound travelers.

Before joining Alibaba Group in 2014, Jimmy was the founder and CEO of eDynamics from Taiwan since 1999. For 15 years, eDynamics was a leading pioneer in cross-border e-commerce between Taiwan and China, as well as an innovative team on evolving Internet business. He cooperated with Taobao.com to establish ‘Taobao Taiwan mall’ in 2006 as Taiwan’s first cross-border EC platform. eDynamics was acquired by Eastern Group in 2013. Jimmy is currently the director of Taiwan Internet & EC Association (TIEA) and Chinese Non-store Retailer Association (CNRA). Before founding eDynamics, he was the co-founder and CTO of Inforian, Inc. since 1996, where he established CoolBid.com, Taiwan’s first real-time online auction site and several famous Internet properties. 

Dan Murphy

Managing Director (Retail)

Alvarez & Marsal

Dan Murphy is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal, and co-Heads their European Retail practice.

He has over 30 years’ experience in Retail covering Senior Executive / Board roles, and various turnaround and restructuring roles with Ernst & Young and Alvarez & Marsal since 2004. He has worked with major retailers in most geographies and sectors. His experience covers wholesale and retail stores; online shopping; travel and retail; franchise models and also pubs and restaurants.

At A&M, Dan works with global retailers helping them to address complex challenges such as e-commerce; international stores; distribution; and business systems to improve performance and operational efficiency.

Frank Anke

Senior Manager Sales & Consulting

arvato Systems

Dr. Marc Mangold

Marketing Director Germany

Value Retail Management Germany GmbH

Kai Niedermeyer

Country Manager

Premier Tax Free

Kai Niedermeyer is the Country Manager & Head of Sales for Premier Tax Free in Germany.

Kai draws from 10 years of experience in the German and European Retail Channel landscape. Leading different Consumer Electronic Start-Ups and accompanying their way to market, he utilized his experience of the complexity of the German channel and advised several international corporations on their route into the German Retail Business.

Joining Tax Free Worldwide in 2010 as first person to start business in Germany, Kai successfully entered the Market and was instrumental for growing Tax Free Worldwide.

Throughout the Merger of Tax Free Worldwide and Premier Tax Free in 2013, Kai became responsible for enhancing the sales activities of the combined business as Sales Director.

In his role of Country Manager, Kai is further successfully leading the Merger of Premier Tax Free & Tax Free Worldwide  in Germany and driving the implementation of innovative products, new market approaches and solutions.

Jennifer Noelle

CEO

Tripidi

After studying business economy in Münster Jennifer Noelle gained first work experience in the Controlling Department of VIVA Media AG. After 2 years she switched from TV to Retail and entered Galeria Kaufhof where she was Division Manager Operational Controlling. After 4 years in Controlling that gave her a deep understanding about the overall connections within a department store she took over Head of Marketingplanning & -controlling. That is where she first came across the travelling shoppers. With the continued growth of middle class among the BRICS-countries and the related rising number of travelers in combination with their affinity to online channels and services she saw the huge opportunities of that market segment. Together with a former Colleague she went into business for herself on that topic and founded Tripidi.