GSF 2015:

Dr. Eli Fel

Managing Director

Travel Blue GmbH

Eli Fel is Partner and Managing Director of Travel Blue Germany in continental Europe. Travel Blue is the world leader travel-accessories brand selling in over 100 countries world-wide. Eli heads the business on the German speaking markets, Eastern-Europe and CIS.

Eli has conducted research and published on retailers´ transformations and challenges for over a decade. His research topics vary from Efficient Consumer Response (ECR), to mobile commerce and location based services (LBS). He graduated in Business Administration from the University of Hamburg and was granted his PhD. In Business Administration from the University of Latvia in 2009. Eli is the Founder and Honorary Chairman on the Global Shopping Forum. The forum places the traveler in the center of interest focusing on shopping behavior and the decision-making process online and offline at different stages of the journey.  It is the business-, network- and community platform for Retailers, Shopping Malls, Brands, Duty-Free operators, Tax-Free operators, Travel Agencies, Hotels, IT- & Marketing agencies just to name few of the Retail and Travel Retail Ecosystem.

Xiang Gao (Sean)

CTO of Innovative Finance BU & Global Shopping

Ctrip

Mr. Sean Gao, CTO of Ctrip Innovative Finance & Global Shopping, has over twenty years of rich experience in telecommunication, internet, mobile internet, GIS, LBS, and e-commerce technology and platform. He has directed complex IT and telecommunication services in the US, and also lead small start-ups as well as enterprise R&D teams in China. 

Prior to joining Ctrip, Mr. Gao was the GM of Mobile Application BU with Autonavi, Corp, which was later acquired by Alibaba in 2014. Autonavi acquired Mr. Gao’s tech startup, which was focusing on innovative mobile location based services and advertising platform, in 2011. Prior to his return to China in 2006, Mr. Gao was with Nortel (Texas, U.S) where he played various management roles in application development, technology deployment, product management, and business development.
 
Mr. Gao holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Sciences from University of Texas at Austin (Texas, U.S.) and a master's degree in Telecommunications from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, U.S..

Jonathan Smith

Director of Travel Retail

Travel Blue Ltd.

Jonathan Smith is Global Director of Travel Retail at Travel Blue Ltd.. At this year Tax Free World Exhibition, Jonathan celebrates 29 years in the industry.

Jonathan’s experience in Duty Free started with Alfred Dunhill in 1986 as their International Sales and Marketing Manager for their luxury jewellery division, latterly with special responsibility for Duty Free.  Continuing with luxury consumer product, joining Aquascutum. Then Ronson Plc. As their Sales and Marketing Director, for the Duty Free Division. Before joining Travel Blue, almost 6 years ago, Jonathan was Managing Director of House of Brands Ltd a specialist company in Travel Retail, not only offering consumer brands but also as a consultancy.

Having travelled extensively around the globe, meeting and working with past and present retail operators, Jonathan has a wealth of experience and knowledge of this fascinating, exciting and ever changing market sector.

Tamer Uysal

Marketing Manager

Turkish Airlines

Xin Deng

Managing Director

China Smiling Digital Marketing Solutions

Dr. Marc Mangold

Director Marketing & Tourism

Value Retail Germany

Dr. Marc Mangold is Director Marketing and Tourism at Value Retail Germany where he is responsible for all Marketing and Tourism initiatives and closely involved in the company’s strategic positioning.

He received his Ph.D. from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, where he also holds Masters Degrees in Business Administration and Business Research. From 2001 - 2004 he was a research fellow at the Center on Global Brand Leadership in Munich and New York (Columbia University). Before joining Value Retail, he worked for SevenVentures, the venture arm of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group and Hubert Burda Media, one of Europe’s leading publishing houses.

Mangold has published several books and articles on marketing, media, brand- and customer experience management.

Martin Kreiter

Division Manager Hermes Group Marketing & E-Commerce Business Development

Hermes Europe

Martin Kreiter is Division Manager Hermes Group Marketing & E-Commerce Business Development of Hermes Europe GmbH, responsible for the development of new e-commerce solutions, covering the whole supply chain of the retail industry. In addition he acts as Managing Director for BorderGuru GmbH, a Hermes startup business providing crossborder e-commerce services.

With focus on end-to-end cross-border sales world-wide, the lane Europe - China and vice versa is currently one of his main targets.

Martin Kreiter started his career at Hermes Group in 2004 in the parcel business division. Besides his Brand and Marketing responsibility he established several B2B and B2C products for the German and European markets. After five years’ experience he continued his career in the Hermes Europe holding – recently adding the group business development function to his portfolio.

Before joining the Hermes Group, Kreiter worked as a start-up entrepreneur for two years and had dominant marketing positions in the logistics sector at DB Netz AG, Nedlloyd Unitrans as well as UPS in Germany and the UK.

Anja Zettel

Head of Trade Marketingting

Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co KG

Griffin Peng

Head of Alipay EMEA

Alipay International

Griffin Peng is head of Alipay in Europe, responsible for forging partnerships with overseas payment service providers and retailers to facilitate two-way cross-border trade between China and those regions. Griffin joined Alipay in 2011 and served in the cross-border transaction division of Alipay’s international business unit. During his four years with Alipay, Griffin played a leading role in building Alipay’s cross-border payment system, facilitating cooperation with major international card schemes, payment service providers and other business partners. Before joining Alipay, Griffin worked at several international and Chinese banks, thereby accumulating a wealth of experience in credit card payment and e-channel settlement. 

Aleksandar Dimitrov

Founder of Ayo

Novalogy

An energetic go-getter, with undying passion for entrepreneurship and getting things done, Aleksandar is also an avid rock climber, globetrotter, marathon runner, and a nature enthusiast.

He is responsible for setting the marketing strategy, external communication and business contacts of Novalogy.
Aleksandar was named one of the top global emerging young entrepreneurs to watch for in 2014 by Inc. magazine and Kairos Society. He is an active member and major contributor to the Eastern European startup scene, and one of the 30 best Bulgarian leaders and entrepreneurs in 2011.

Aleksandar holds MSc. Entrepreneurship from Rotterdam School of Management and has a strong background in business. Originally from Bulgaria, Aleksandar has had business trainings and courses in Germany, UK, and US, including world-renowned institutions such as UC Berkeley, Babson College and London School of Economics and Political Science.


Edoardo Calvi Musini

CSO

Edaole

Edoardo Calvi Musini is CSO at Edaole, Europe’s #1 mobile shopping guide for Chinese travelers. In 8 months he has established almost 200 partnerships with established brands from Milan, London, Paris, Rome, Florence and Venice. 

Before joining Edaole, Edoardo worked two years in the Internet of Things industry. He holds a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from University College London and a Master’s in Science in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from ESADE Business School. He also studied at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and at Columbia University.  At the age of 24, Edoardo speaks 5 languages and has travelled to more than 45 countries. 

Igor Fernandez

CDO & Co-founder

SimpliFly

Igor Fernandez is Chief Design and Co-Founder of SimpliFly – a global airport shopping mobile application. Igor had been working on projects for high-end luxury brands such as Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, and Bentley before his entrepreneurship began. He was an alumnus of Wayra Accelerator and led the company’s design team before he co-founded SimpliFly in late 2014 and attracted world-class venture capitals to fuel its growth.

About us

Global Shopping Forum is the business platform for the Travel & Shopping industry. We bring together the industry leaders, top decision-makers, experienced practitioners and innovative entrepreneurs to discuss the market insights and best practices in order to optimize the business and maximize the profits.

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