The Judges
We believe that we all have a part to play and by collaborating with like-minded people and organisations around the world, we leverage a range of skills and networks so that together, we are able to create an EVEN BIGGER positive impact.
The Judges
The Inspire Global Judging Panel for the Tourism Awards are a diverse group of positive impact and sustainability experts, who support Inspire Global’s mission and guiding principles.
Caroline Bremner
CAROLINE BREMNER ASSOCIATESCaroline Bremner - Caroline Bremner Associates
Caroline Bremner is a strategic advisor to the travel and tourism industry with 30 years experience in international market research, data and intelligence.
She advises global brands and destinations on how to navigate the new travel normal, embrace consumer trends, digitalisation and sustainable innovation for business success. She has written and spoken extensively about the future of travel.
Caroline’s book ‘Future-Proofing Travel: How to Create a Resilient and Sustainable Industry’ was published in March 2025 by Kogan Page. Future-proofing Travel shows how travel companies and destinations are currently adapting their practices to be more impact conscious.
Over 1996-2025, Caroline held a variety of roles at Euromonitor International including Senior Head of Travel Research, speaking around the world about travel trends.
In 2018, she was a recipient of a Celebrating Her award from ITB Berlin and the Institute for Peace Through Tourism for empowered women in travel and tourism.
Alison Burgh
ACORN TOURISMAlison Burgh - Acorn Tourism
Experienced regenerative and sustainable visitor economy and place development strategist and mentor, Head of Sustainability for the Tourism Management Institute and Green Destinations partner in the UK, Jordan, Colombia. Working with destination managers and entrepreneurs to support their journey to become more resilient and sustainable.
Since co-founding Acorn Tourism in 2002, the only Green Tourism Gold certified consultancy in the UK, I've worked with more than 100 destinations and businesses across five continents to help their communities strengthen their place and diversify their visitor offer, providing strategic thinking, place making, capacity building, niche market insights and developing experiences and digital marketing campaigns.
Charlie Cotton
ECOLLECTIVECharlie Cotton - ecollective
Charlie Cotton is a carbon geek who is on a mission to prove that world-class adventures don't have to cost the Earth. By combining his carbon measurements with a little bit of common sense, he helps travel brands to change how they operate to reduce carbon emissions whilst improving the customer experience.
Helena Egan
PLANET EGANHelena Egan - Planet Egan
Over 30 years experience gained predominantly in the travel, tourism, hospitality and online industry with deep passion for responsible and sustainable growth. Excellent communicator, a sought after board member, advisor, strategist, marketeer, chair, judge, facilitator, keynote speaker and moderator. Widely known and respected in the global travel and tourism industry with confident, ambitious yet highly personable manner. A natural leader and advisor with bags of energy, business acumen and a strong ability to strategise, advise, influence and build bridges to achieve measurable results.
Albert Kimbu
UNIVERSITY OF SURREYAlbert Kimbu - University of Surrey
Dr Albert KIMBU is a Professor of Sustainability in Business at the Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, UK. He also serves as co-Director of the Centre for Sustainability and Wellbeing in the Visitor Economy (SWELL), Director of the Gender, Entrepreneurship and Social Policy Institute (GESPi) both at Surrey, and a Senior Research Associate in the School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Albert is an internationally recognised thought leader whose research explores gendered entrepreneurial pathways in tourism, women and social entrepreneurship with a focus on advancing inclusive development within the visitor economy across both established and emerging destinations. He has authored four books and more than 50 journal articles in leading tourism and hospitality management journals. This is in addition to leading impact-driven consultancy projects, producing groundbreaking reports, and delivering keynote speeches and panel contributions on these themes for national governments, civil society entities, and international organizations such as UN Tourism, UNIDO, the World Bank and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) among others.
Jim Millward
SPRUCE MARKETINGJim Millward - Spruce Marketing
Jim is the founder of Spruce, a marketing consultancy for SME travel businesses, with clients across the tour operator, DMC and accommodation sectors. Jim's experience includes heading up the marketing team at Audley Travel for 15 years. He also has a strong interest in sustainability and wrote and implemented Audley's sustainability policies.
Chris Pickard
WORLD CETACEAN ALLIANCEChris Pickard - Critical Divide
Chris Pickard is an experienced tourism and media professional with an international track record with a focus on developing mainstream and niche-market tourism “product”. Most notably as director of tourism for the island of St Helena and a director of Enterprise St Helena, the island’s development board, and as head of the Brazilian Tourist Office in London and director of communications for the World Travel & Tourism Council.
In the UK he has looked after the PR for TAM Airlines, the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Ecuador and Quito Tourist Boards, among others.
He is a past chair of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA), and the association’s charitable arm, the LATA Foundation. He is an ex-board member of British Chamber of Commerce in Brazil and the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (Brazil), and is currently the chair of the Anglo-Brazilian Society and a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists.
Well-connected in publishing, media, marketing, communications and public affairs, Chris was editor of Moving Pictures, Pulse DVD & Digital, TravelPlus, Rio Life, The Daily Tiger and the travel, arts, and entertainment editor of The Latin America Daily Post. As a journalist he has contributed to The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard, The Sun, Daily Mirror, The Guardian, Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, Folha de São Paulo, and many more. He has made contributions to camera for the BBC, ITV, Five, Channel 4, CNN, Sky TV and TV Globo. He currently edits and publishes the popular “The Guide” web series including to Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Cannes, The World Cup, and the Oscars. He is completing documentaries about the Cannes Film Festival and the life of the Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs, with whom he helped write his autobiography and a novel.
Shaon Talukder
GEOTOURISTShaon Talukder - Geotourist
CEO & Founder of Geotourist, Shaon, named by Entrepreneur.com Magazine in their Top 10 Global Travel Disruptors alongside Brian Chesky of AirBnB, leads the charge in experiential & data-led tourism.
Geotourist’s world first AI-powered interactive holograms transforms landscapes & buildings into personalised mixed-reality experiences that drive measurable footfall using smartphones & AR glasses.
Leadership roles include: Strategic Advisor on Data and AI to the UK Government Tourism Minister, Visitor Economy Advisory Council Member; Fellow of The Tourism Society; Chair of National Council of DMOs for the Tourism Management Institute; & Founding Member of Phocuswright’s TravelTechNation Fellowship; Male Allyship Group & BBC AI-Travel contributor. Author on AI & advisor to several startups and tech accelerators including Project DMO Compass - a UK-Centralised Intelligence AI for DMOs to bridge the funding and skills gap.
Geotourist’s data platform solved View-to-Visit attribution and been officially recognised as a United Nations initiative to measure Sustainability Development Goals. Tourism organisations, hospitality & attractions can enhance the visitor experience & bring visitors right to their doorsteps.
Jim Millward
SPRUCE MARKETINGJim Millward - Spruce Marketing
Jim is the founder of Spruce, a marketing consultancy for SME travel businesses, with clients across the tour operator, DMC and accommodation sectors. Jim's experience includes heading up the marketing team at Audley Travel for 15 years. He also has a strong interest in sustainability and wrote and implemented Audley's sustainability policies.
Chris Pickard
WORLD CETACEAN ALLIANCEChris Pickard - Critical Divide
Chris Pickard is an experienced tourism and media professional with an international track record with a focus on developing mainstream and niche-market tourism “product”. Most notably as director of tourism for the island of St Helena and a director of Enterprise St Helena, the island’s development board, and as head of the Brazilian Tourist Office in London and director of communications for the World Travel & Tourism Council.
In the UK he has looked after the PR for TAM Airlines, the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Ecuador and Quito Tourist Boards, among others.
He is a past chair of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA), and the association’s charitable arm, the LATA Foundation. He is an ex-board member of British Chamber of Commerce in Brazil and the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (Brazil), and is currently the chair of the Anglo-Brazilian Society and a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists.
Well-connected in publishing, media, marketing, communications and public affairs, Chris was editor of Moving Pictures, Pulse DVD & Digital, TravelPlus, Rio Life, The Daily Tiger and the travel, arts, and entertainment editor of The Latin America Daily Post. As a journalist he has contributed to The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard, The Sun, Daily Mirror, The Guardian, Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, Folha de São Paulo, and many more. He has made contributions to camera for the BBC, ITV, Five, Channel 4, CNN, Sky TV and TV Globo. He currently edits and publishes the popular “The Guide” web series including to Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Cannes, The World Cup, and the Oscars. He is completing documentaries about the Cannes Film Festival and the life of the Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs, with whom he helped write his autobiography and a novel.
Shaon Talukder
GEOTOURISTShaon Talukder - Geotourist
CEO & Founder of Geotourist, Shaon, named by Entrepreneur.com Magazine in their Top 10 Global Travel Disruptors alongside Brian Chesky of AirBnB, leads the charge in experiential & data-led tourism.
Geotourist’s world first AI-powered interactive holograms transforms landscapes & buildings into personalised mixed-reality experiences that drive measurable footfall using smartphones & AR glasses.
Leadership roles include: Strategic Advisor on Data and AI to the UK Government Tourism Minister, Visitor Economy Advisory Council Member; Fellow of The Tourism Society; Chair of National Council of DMOs for the Tourism Management Institute; & Founding Member of Phocuswright’s TravelTechNation Fellowship; Male Allyship Group & BBC AI-Travel contributor. Author on AI & advisor to several startups and tech accelerators including Project DMO Compass - a UK-Centralised Intelligence AI for DMOs to bridge the funding and skills gap.
Geotourist’s data platform solved View-to-Visit attribution and been officially recognised as a United Nations initiative to measure Sustainability Development Goals. Tourism organisations, hospitality & attractions can enhance the visitor experience & bring visitors right to their doorsteps.
Byron Shirto
INSPIRE GLOBAL<br>Founder & CEOByron Shirto - Inspire Global
Byron grew up in Zimbabwe and had the privilege of working in Victoria Falls through the booming 90s. He moved to the UK in 2000, and worked for Abercrombie & Kent, before setting up a marketing and communications agency, offering bespoke representation and PR, events and creative design for the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Byron has served as committee member, and as Chairman of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA). He also served as a Trustee for the association's charitable arm, the LATA Foundation. Byron has been a judge for media awards, marketing awards and is
often requested as a speaker at travel industry events. In 2020, in the midst of the global the pandemic, Byron sensed a growing appetite for positive impact travel, and a travel community willing to share best practice. He created Inspire Global, and leads the organisation as CEO pursuing its mission of building a community focused on education, advocacy and promotion of positive impact tourism. In 2023, Byron launched the Cheltenham Travel Festival, a consumer event to promote sustainable travel.
Alessandra Alonso
WOMEN IN TRAVEL<br>FounderAlessandra Alonso - Women in Travel
Alessandra is the pluri-nominated, award-winning founder and MD of Women in Travel cic and a professional with 20 years of experience in travel and tourism.
Alessandra started her career as a trainee in Tourism at the European Commission and later gained senior roles in companies including The World Travel & Tourism Council and KPMG. She subsequently pursued her passion for supporting women and diversity more generally by setting up consultancy Shine and co-founding the Shine Awards for Women’s Achievement in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality in 2004.
Recognised as a trailblazer in the sector and an expert in gender empowerment and mentoring, Alessandra is also a keynote speaker and regular contributor to publications.
Alessandra has won multiple awards and accolades including TOP 100 women in social enterprise Europe, Forward Ladies and Journey Woman Awards She has also been named one of 9 women transforming travel by the Matador Network and one of 50 ‘most important women in travel’ by Wanderlust Travel.
Graham Boynton
BOYNTON TRAVELS<br>FounderGraham Boynton - Boynton Travels
Graham Boynton is an award-winning international journalist and author who has a frequent contributor to magazines such as Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and has written for major newspapers including UK’s The Times and the Daily Telegraph and The New York Times and Financial Times. He has written several acclaimed books including Last Days in Cloud Cuckooland, which was one of the Washington Post’s Books of the Year, and Wild: The Life of Peter Beard, which has been put up for a Pulitzer Prize. The biography could, according to the best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith, “have been scripted jointly by Blixen and Hemingway. A brilliantly enjoyable read – a triumph.” Boynton was a friend of Peter Beard for more than 30 years and arguably knew him better than anyone.
Kav Dadfar
JRNY MAGAZINE<br>Co-FounderDebbie Flynn - Finn Partners
Kav is the co-founder of the award-winning JRNY Travel Magazine. As a writer and photographer, over the years his images have appeared in publications around the world including JRNY, Condé Nast, National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, Daily Mail, The Express, The Guardian and many more.
Juliet Kinsman
JULIET KINSMAN<br>Sustainable Luxury ExpertJuliet Kinsman
Well, that flew by — it’s been more than two and a half decades that I’ve been talking about the world’s most special places in which to spend time as a journalist and a speaker. In 2020, I was the first-ever appointment as Sustainability Editor by Condé Nast Traveller and my book 'The Green Edit: Travel, Easy Tips for the Eco-Friendly Traveller’ (published by Ebury) came out — it’s been well received as the ideal companion for conscious consumers, forward-thinking hoteliers, and eco-warriors hoping to make our travels a stronger force for good. Through my consultancy, BOUTECO (a portmanteau of boutique and eco), I work with award-winning brands to help them stand for something and stand out for it, amplifying messages that matter and sharpening their spirit of sustainability. Founding editor of Mr & Mrs Smith and an author of Louis Vuitton City Guides, luxury travel, for me, has evolved in meaning — and today I love celebrating forward-thinking hotels, travel visionaries and luxury brands that are having a positive impact.