Speaking engagements and trainings

I have spoken at several conferences and events, moderated sessions and conducted practical trainings and workshops on sustainable tourism development, tourism in Protected Areas, trails development, responsible destination management and marketing in Georgia, Armenia, UK, Germany, Bangladesh, Italy and Poland as well as online.

In May-September 2021, working with the fantastic The Tourism CoLab, I have facilitated online trainings and workshops on Regenerative Tourism and design thinking for tourism professionals worlwide. In Oct-Nov 2020, I facilitated work groups and plenary sessions as a tutor for the six-week online training course on sustainable tourism management in natural areas post-Covid, run by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD and tsm-Trentino School of Management. I have also delivered online workshops on improving destination stewardhip for regional DMOs in Poland (Oct-Dec 2020), in cooperation with the Polish Tourism Board

Speaking engagement include:

• Keynote Speaker: Responsible Tourism Development in rural areas: challenges and opportunities. Presented at the online conference ‘Trends in responsible tourism development ‘,  the Mazovian Regional Tourism Organisation, Poland, 29 October 2021
• Keynote Speaker: Building regenerative tourism in natural areas after Covid: impacts, lessons learnt and the way forward. Presented at the online conference The Impacts of Covid on Conservation Worldwide,  the Jaguar Rescue Foundation, 15 Jan 2021
• Presenter and trainer: Responsible Management of Destinations and Destination Brands. Polish Tourism Board (3 Dec 2020)
  
• Key presenter at online workshops for Regional Tourism Organisations (ROT), Poland: Beyond Marketing: Responsible Management of Destinations and Tourism Brands: ROT Lodz (24 Nov 2020); ROT Opole (30 Nov 2020); ROT Kielce (9 Dec 2020); ROT Lublin (22 Dec 2020)
• Tutor: The Future of Tourism in Natural Areas: Impact, Governance, Financing . Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) & tsm-Trentino School of Management (Sept-Nov 2020)
• Panellist: Protected Areas tourism and Covid: impacts and way forward. Sustainability Tribe educational global community event, UAE (21 Nov 2020)
• Key speaker and panellist: The current and future impacts of Covid on tourism in Georgia. Tbilisi State University, Georgia (12 May 2020)
• Presenter and trainer: Responsible Tourism: challenges, barriers and successes (‘Zrównoważona Turystyka: wyzwania, bariery, sukcesy’). Polish Tourism Board, Warsaw (17 June 2019)
• Panellist: Long-distance Trails and Thematic Routes. Panel discussion on socio-cultural impacts of trails, ITB Berlin (6 March 2019)
• Key speaker: Ecotourism in the Caucasus region: opportunities for development; Central Asia and Trans-Caucasus (CATBIG) Business Group annual conference, London (11 December 2018)
• Guest speaker: online course the Project Management for Sustainable Development PM4SD blended training program for UN Development Programme in Armenia (3 Dec 2018)

• Conference moderator: European Ecotourism Conference EuroEco18. Tbilisi (10-12 Sept 2018).
• Presenter and trainer: Responsible Tourism and GSTC Criteria for Sustainable Destination Management. A series of trainings for DMO staff and local stakeholders, Georgia, Feb-May 2018
• Key speaker: Discovering Places: Georgia. Royal Geographical Society, London (21 Feb 2018).
• Key speaker: Transcaucasian Trail: the trail-building experience in Armenia and Georgia; The Armenian Institute, London (March 2018)
• Key speaker and moderator: Sustainable Tourism in the Mountains: Challenges and Opportunities; GIZ Tourism Cooperation Forum 2017, Gudauri, Georgia (Nov 2017)

• Key speaker: Tourism in Svaneti: Tourism Impacts and Solutions for Sustainable Development; Hiking trails mapping and promotion GIZ conference, Yerevan, Armenia (Oct 2017)
• Key speaker: Sustainable Tourism in the Caucasus: Challenges and Opportunities; Hiking trails mapping and promotion GIZ conference, Yerevan, Armenia (Oct 2017)

• Developing Responsible Tourism in the Caucasus – the Transcaucasian Trail case study; Pioneering Responsible Tourism Practice at Leeds Beckett conference, Leeds, UK (May 2017). Presented during the “MSc RTM Alumni Spotlight” session.
• Tourism in Svaneti: challenges and opportunities; Sustainable Destinations Management lecture, Leeds Beckett University (April 2017)
• Developing Responsible Tourism in the Caucasus – the Transcaucasian Trail; Central Asia and Trans-Caucasus (CATBIG) Business Group annual conference, London (Dec 2016)

• Key speaker: The Transcaucasian Trail – building a sustainable tourism brand in the Caucasus; New Tourism Frontiers Forum 2016, Pacific Asia Tourism Association (PATA), Cox Bazaar, Bangladesh (Nov 2016). Presented as one of key speakers and led a workshop on the marketing and management of heritage trails. 
• Improving Public Health Through Hiking – new initiatives in Georgia; 29th Georgian Studies Day, London (Nov 2016)