Meet the BestCities Team

Dr Edward Koh leads the Conventions, Meetings & Incentive Travel division of the Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, a group under the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), since 2019. He provides strategic counsel to attract quality association congresses and corporate-driven events to Singapore, maintaining its position as a leading International Convention and Meetings destination. Edward also oversees local industry growth to further entrench Singapore as a business events destination.

In his previous appointment, Edward assumed the position of Executive Director, Southeast Asia since January 2015. Edward led the overall operations of STB in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines and Brunei. He also oversaw all strategic planning and execution of marketing activities within these markets to champion Singapore as a compelling tourist destination.

Prior to that, Edward served as Executive Director for Southeast Asia I and International Group Planning in March 2014 where he led the Division in providing critical policy and planning support for the Regional Offices and working with in-market industry partners to drive tourism growth. He was the Executive Director for Strategy & Planning and Research & Incentives in November 2011, responsible for the provision of economic analysis, consumer insights and market trends to the tourism sector.

Edward brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge of the China market. He previously served as Deputy Regional Director for STB Greater China (2006-2008), where he was responsible for strategic planning and channel development to drive BTMICE traffic from China to Singapore. He subsequently assumed the role as Regional Director for STB Greater China (2008-2011), where he managed and oversaw five Regional Offices: Eastern China, Northern China, Southern China, Western China, and Hong Kong & Macau and provided strategic direction for his team to effectively promote Singapore as a compelling destination and hub for business and travel.

Before joining the STB, Edward spent 13 years at the Ministry of Manpower, where he held various positions in its Prosecution Unit, Manpower Policy Department, International Manpower Division and Contact Singapore. His last position was as the Regional Director (Greater China) for Contact Singapore and concurrently the Deputy Director (International Operations), International Manpower Division. He was also the Alternate Lead Negotiator (Movement of Natural Persons), China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (CSFTA) for the period of 2004-2005.

Edward graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science, and Beijing University in 2003 with a second Bachelor's degree (Chinese Language & Literature). He also holds a Master degree in Public Policy & Management (2007) from Tsinghua University, and a doctorate in Hotel & Tourism Management from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Hotel & Tourism Management.

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Since joining MCB in 2010, Julia has led the business development, bidding, convention servicing, research and Government relations teams on the successful acquisition and delivery of some of the world’s largest and most prestigious business events. She has personally led the bids for some of the most highly acclaimed global medical conferences including the International AIDS Conference 2014, World Congress of Cardiology 2014 and the World Congress of Nephrology 2019.

Prior to joining MCB, Julia was the Area Director of Sales and Marketing VIC/SA/WA with IHG (InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels) overseeing the Sales and Marketing performance of 8 hotels as well as new hotel openings across the region.

Julia holds a Bachelor of Business (Catering and Hotel Management) and a Masters of Business (Hospitality and Tourism Marketing). Her sales experience includes 13 years’ experience in a number of international hotel chains.

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In the tourism industry since more than 20 years, David Noack joined the Spain Convention Bureau in 2002 as Director. At the SCB he was in charge of the umbrella organization that unites leading national suppliers- from hotels to congress centres and cities to event agencies in more than 50 cities around Spain.

After a five year period at the SCB David joined the Madrid Convention Bureau as Deputy Director. Since September 2012 he is the Director of the MCB, a non-profit organisation created by the City Council of Madrid in collaboration with a group of public and private companies from the sector, with a view to promoting Madrid as a city capable of hosting national and international meetings and aiming to enable these events from a technical and institutional viewpoint.

David is graduate in Tourism & Hospitality Management and he has a M.A. in European Tourism Management by the University of Bournemouth.

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Marco has been working in the meetings industry for more than 15 years - as an event organizer and market manager for the UK, France and Spain. In 2017, he was promoted to Deputy Director Conventions of the Berlin Convention Office and heading the Business Development Team. Marco is passionate about Berlin, the city of Freedom - which has developed into one of the leading meeting destinations in the world. He as strongly believes in the Power of People of the BestCities Global Alliance - which he has been working with since Berlin's adhesion in 2012.

Marco Oelschlegel took over as head of the Berlin Convention Office (BCO) of visitBerlin on 15 January 2020.

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Corne Koch is the current Head of the Cape Town and Western Cape Convention Bureau.

Koch first entered the business tourism industry in 2003, joining the Gauteng Tourism Authority (a provincial Destination Marketing Organisation) as their Business Tourism Manager before taking on the role of Communications Manager at the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa in 2009.

She re-joined the Gauteng Tourism Authority once again in 2010 for another three year stint as Trade Development and Partnership Manager, marketing the brand locally and internationally before joining the bureau in her current capacity in 2014.

Prior to working in destination marketing, she was also involved in the field of Corporate Affairs, being responsible for the South African Chamber of Commerce’s annual meetings and convention for three years.

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Kit Lykketoft is the Director of the Copenhagen Convention Bureau.

Here she works to attract international association conferences, meetings and events to her home town.

Prior to this she has been a visiting research scholar at Parsons DESIS Lab in NYC, working with social innovation with the city of NY, following her eight years of building up MindLab within the Danish Government administration.

At MindLab Kit applied design driven and user focused processes to Danish policy-and reform making. She also advised numerous other countries and large international organization on how to do this. She is a member of the Advisory Board to the UNDP Innovation Facility and co-writer to the book “Design for Policy”.

In her current position Kit is focused on identifying value besides growth, to support positive impact of the industry on all bottom lines. Kit holds an MA in History/Anthropology from University of Copenhagen and an Executive M.Sc from Oxford/HEC.

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"European, Asian or Arab? ……One always wonder where Ms. Karina Soraya Lance is from when meeting her for the first time, as her adaptability to any environment always triggers curiosity.

With a master in International Relations and Asia Pacific Studies, Karina was one of the few students who started learning Mandarin Chinese in the late 90’s to successfully punctuate her studies with a research on the economic and political implications of China, today’s power house, in the World Trade Organization.

Karina is a seasoned Sales and Marketing professional currently heading the International Sales and Congress Development Team at Dubai Business Events and City Operations, the MICE division of the Government of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.

In her capacity, she manages a network of 11 overseas offices located across North America, Europe and Asia and provides leadership in overall business events sales strategy.

Karina was also the chairperson of the BestCities Global Alliance Strategic Business Development Committee, for which she provided leadership support for the marketing and sales activities of the 12 city members in the association-bidding sphere from 2017 to 2019 . She is now an active member of the Strategic Business Development Committee providing guidance and tactical marketing support in the field of association and corporate incentive development.

Part of the ICCA local organizing committee, she oversaw the International Association Programme , the social events logistics and volunteer outreach at the ICCA congress that successfully took place in Dubai in November 2018.

Since early 2019, Karina has been working very closely with the EXPO 2020 Dubai Exhibition Centre and Commercial team to ensure Dubai reaches its target of visitors over the 6 month mega event in the corporate, incentive and association/NGOs segments.

Karina brings with her over 15 years of Business Development and Marketing experience that took her from France, North America, China and the UAE, Middle East.

Karina has developed expertise in Business Tourism strategy development, International Sales, multicultural team and set up management, in market marketing strategy, Convention Bureau Operation Structure Implementation, Conference Meeting planning execution etc…

Enjoying the fine things in life, insatiable traveller and avid dancer, what is Karina’s trademark? Her distinctive joyful laugh and her energetic outlook adds upbeat to all the projects she undertakes."

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I have managed the Dublin Convention Bureau for five years and also have a responsibility for the Convention Bureau in Cork, Kerry, Shannon Region and Galway.

My lucky day was in 2015 when I became Manager of Dublin Convention Bureau. I've worked in rural and urban DMOs since 1999, initially in leisure tourism but made the move to MICE in 2010 and haven't looked back. My early career involved welding equipment but left that after an incident involving nuclear submarines - ask me about that some day!

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Gustavo Staufert graduated as a Chartered Accountant and did his master's in Finance and Hotel Markets. For 27 years, he was a prominent member of the Intercontinental Hotels Group, which allowed him to gain experience in five countries and seven cities across the Mexican Republic. He has previously held the positions of President of the Jalisco Hotel Association and President of Operation Smile A.C. in both Mexico and Honduras. Gustavo is President of the Latin American and Caribbean Association of Convention Bureaus. In 2014, he joined the Guadalajara Convention and Visitors Bureau’s board of directors, which he remains in charge of to date.

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John Solis joined the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau as vice president of sales in December 2010, after spending a year and a half consulting on sales strategy.

Solis retired from the San Antonio CVB as assistant executive director in 2008. During his tenure, he was involved in coordinating bids for citywide conventions and major events, including the 1996 NBA All-Star Weekend and the NCAA Men's and Women's Final Four Basketball Championships. His main responsibilities included managing the tactics and strategies related to marketing, public relations and the convention and tourism group sales and services efforts.

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Hironobu Fujimura joined the Business Events Team of the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau (TCVB) in 2014. In 2018, he was appointed Director of the Team, and has been energetically working on promoting Tokyo as an international meeting destination.

Prior to joining TCVB, he was in charge of corporate meetings & incentive management and operations at one of the largest travel agencies in Japan. In the 20 years of experience in the meetings industry, he has worked on over 600 corporate meetings & incentives, blessing him with abundant experience and personal relationships within the hospitality industry. He also has experience in operating association meetings.

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Michael Drake, joined Tourism Vancouver three years ago, as the Director of Sales, Meetings and Conventions. In this senior leadership role, Michael oversees Tourism Vancouver's Meetings & Incentives Global and Canadian sales team. His team includes Corporate, Association and Sports, along with their Ambassador program, called “The MIND Program”. Michael assumes the board level roll with our global alliance with “BestCities”, on behalf of Tourism Vancouver.

A Toronto transplant, Michael brings 20 years of hospitality sales experience to his role; including Director of Global Accounts at Hyatt Hotels and Associate Director Sales with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Toronto.

A longtime supporter of SITE and a SITE Canada board member for 6 years. Other affiliations include MPI and ICCA. When not out promoting Vancouver, he is out skiing Whistler Mountain, hiking the Vancouver North Shore Mountains or finding a running route in the city he is visiting.

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Melissa Riley serves as the Senior Vice President, Convention Sales and Services at Destination DC, the official convention and tourism corporation for the nation’s capital.

A 25-year veteran of the travel and hospitality industry, Riley leads a team of more than 25 who work in concert to generate a positive economic impact for the District.

Riley sparked DDC’s Connected project. The strategic positioning aligns DDC with the city’s priorities to drive meetings and events business within growth sectors. The overall positioning includes three pillars: Connected Capital, focused on DC’s strong industries and assets that benefit customers; Connected Campus, focused on unique venues and event space to extend a meeting’s footprint; and Connected Community, a platform for customers to leave a lasting positive impact on Washington, DC.

She has fostered a strong relationship between DDC and the hotel community, as well Events DC, to yield the maximum number of events for the city. Additionally, she positions DDC as a leading industry voice in meetings-related initiatives around the world, serving as deputy chairperson for the International Congress and Convention Association North America Chapter and Destinations International’s Chair of the Large Market Round Table.

Riley received a Bachelor of Science with a Major in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Virginia Tech. Her memberships in the industry include Professional Convention Management Association, International Association of Exhibition Executives and Destinations International. Riley is a longtime resident of the District of Columbia and was born and raised in Reston, Virginia.

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