HIH Princess Akiko of Mikasa was born as the first daughter of Imperial Prince Tomohito of Mikasa. After graduating from Gakushuin University, she studied at Merton College, University of Oxford, where she carried out research on Japanese art abroad, earning a DPhil in 2010, thereby becoming the first female member of the Imperial Household of Japan to achieve a doctorate. Among other posts she holds, she is now a Visiting Researcher at Hosei University Research Center for International Japanese Studies, a Visiting Researcher at Kinugasa Research Organisation, Ritsumeikan University, a Guest Professor at Kyoto City University of Arts, and a Professor at the Institute of Japanese Culture, Kyoto Sangyo University. She has established a general incorporated association "Shinyusha" to teach Japanese culture to children, has been appointed president of the association, and holds workshops and other activities throughout Japan.

A heritage and tourism scholar, working at the interface of heritage, tourism planning and community wellbeing, mostly in SE Asia, and collaborating with many UN agencies – in particular UNESCO and the WHO; IUCN; ASEAN and various Aid Agencies. Focussed on policy, planning and capacity building, her work contributes to sustainable development goals: healthy lives; equitable outcomes and poverty reduction for the most disadvantaged; protecting everyday life; and the tangible and the intangible heritage of the world’s most precious and beautiful places, many of which are inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Magnets for tourism development, she has been assisting UNESCO with strategic visitor management in heritage destinations to ensure balanced and productive outcomes, especially in developing countries.

Mairi is an economist, writer and ambassador for the emerging Regenerative Economy. She currently leads a portfolio of global programmes for the British Council that demonstrate the contribution that culture and creativity make to identifying sustainable and inclusive responses to global challenges. These programmes draw on innovations in the UK and across the world in creative and social enterprise and culture for development that foster inclusive growth and progress on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mairi was previously responsible for establishing and growing the British Council’s Global Social Enterprise Programme across 30 countries. Taking a systemic approach this programme empowered social entrepreneurs with skills training, access to funding and incubation and investment opportunities whilst supporting policy leaders worldwide to create ecosystems in which impact focused enterprise and investment can thrive.

Her 20-year career as an economic development professional includes 5 years serving as Head of Greater China for Scottish Development International (SDI), championing collaborative opportunities for tourism, culture and other key sectors for Scotland. She was also responsible for developing and leading GlobalScot – an internationally recognised Diaspora network of global influencers and CEOs. She holds a 1st class Business degree and a PhD in Collaboration and Economic Development from the University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business. 

Born in 1978 in Kyoto, Mr. Matsuyama obtained his Master’s degree in Agriculture and Life Sciences from the University of Tokyo. After three and half years of training at Heirin-ji Temple, Niiza, he became the deputy priest of Taizoin Temple in 2007. Matsuyama is acclaimed for organizing intercultural activities such as Zen experience tours for foreign visitors and talks at embassies in Japan and at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club. In May 2009, he was elected as a Japan Tourism Agency’s Ambassador for its “Visit Japan” Campaign. He has been a member of Kyoto’s Ambassadors for Tourism since 2011, and was listed as one of “The Top 100 People of the New Generation 2016” in Nikkei Business.  And he was appointed as a fellow of US-Japan Leadership Program from 2016.  In 2018, he was invited to Israel as the delegate of Young Leaders Program. And he also became a visiting lecturer at Stanford Univ. He received The Award of Commissioner for Cultural Affairs and Shigemitsu Award from Japan society in Boston in 2019.

 As a young representative of the Zen Sect in Japan, Matsuyama has interacted with many religious leaders, such as having an audience with the Roman Catholic Pope and conversing with the 14th Dalai Lama. He also participated in the Davos World Economic Forum in 2014, and continues to work actively beyond national and religious borders.

Salomón Bazbaz Lapidus is a cultural producer, creator and the founder of the Cumbre Tajín Festival and the Centre for Indigenous Arts (CAI), a formal public educational institution for the intergenerational transmission of indigenous values ​​through art and culture. In 2012, the CAI was included in UNESCO’s Register of Good Safeguarding Practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

He coordinated the nomination file of the Ritual Ceremony of the Voladores, which in 2009 was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, and currently heads the State Council for its preservation.

His projects as a producer and conceptualizer of global events include the International Forum for the Rights of Mother Earth, the Agustín Lara International Festival, the Bicentennial Regatta, the Fiestón Veracruz, the Ruta del Fuego and the Tajín Vive night tour, among others. Highlights of his career as an audiovisual and documentary producer for national and international television networks include Luz and Voces de El Tajín, La Movida Regia, Los secretos del bajo Petén and Vida Veracruzana. 

Ben Sherman is an Indigenous member of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Nation, born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA.

Sherman is a founding board member and Chairman of the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand.

Sherman is a co-author of the Larrakia Declaration (2012), supported by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and advancing the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the field of international tourism.

Sherman has spoken at numerous international venues on the subject of supporting Indigenous rights through tourism. He has worked to create and promote a set of standards for Indigenous tourism that includes advocacy for rights, cultural preservation, environmental stewardship and community development.

Sherman has been a national leader in the development of Indigenous tourism efforts in the United States. He is a co-founder of the American Indian/Alaska Native Tourism Association.

Sherman is a long-time consultant specializing in native business development, tourism and arts projects.

Sherman has a Master of Science degree in Business Management. Sherman embraces beliefs in the kindship among all life forms, reciprocal relationships with the natural world and reverence for the earth as a living being.

A National Geographic writer and editor for 21 years, George views travel as a way to engage with the world around us; a tool for supporting communities through sustainable development; and a boundless source of inspiration and enrichment throughout our lives. These principles guide his editorial mission to encourage exploration and care of the planet and its people. George drives National Geographic Travel’s editorial strategy across platforms and leads a team of expert travel producers and storytellers who craft content that supports an ethic of sustainability and community benefit. George leads the development of multi-platform travel content that has extended the National Geographic Travel brand to new audiences (including more than 55 million followers on social media), strengthened relationships with industry partners, and advanced National Geographic Travel's mission to help readers explore the world with passion, purpose, an appetite for adventure, and an ethic of conservation. The author of two books for National Geographic: From Mist and Stone (a history of Celts and Vikings) and Raging Forces: Life on a Violent Planet (a chronicle of natural disasters), George has written and edited articles that have received awards and nominations from the Society of American Travel Writers (Lowell Thomas Award), the North American Travel Journalists Association, and the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME’s Ellies).

Mr. DeBrine joined UNESCO in 2011 to coordinate the World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme, which provides a global framework for coordinated sustainable tourism solutions for safeguarding heritage and local community development. As a Senior Project Officer he spearheads the implementation of the overall programme activities and serves as the focal point for tourism for the Culture Sector of UNESCO. Previously he was the Director of the World Heritage Alliance at the United Nations Foundation—a global community of travelers, members of the travel industry, government groups, non-governmental organizations, and the United Nations working together to preserve and protect World Heritage sites while supporting local communities. With extensive experience in sustainable development and tourism, Mr. DeBrine held the position of Deputy Director of the International Tourism Partnership for the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum where he worked with major hotel companies to create practical sustainability strategies and tools for the tourism industry. Formerly, Mr. DeBrine worked as a Forestry Officer for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization where he helped shape an international partnership for sustainable development in mountain regions. This builds on his many years as an environmental campaigner for WWF working on climate change, endangered species and sustainable tourism issues in the US and Europe. Mr. DeBrine holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Saa’kokoto (Randy Bottle) is recognized and honoured as an Elder among local community leaders and agencies within Blackfoot Traditional Territory. He originates from the Kainai First Nation (Blood Tribe) and is from the Tall People clan. After serving the Blood Tribe Council for 24 consecutive years he has become a staple in Calgary’s community of Indigenous leaders and educators. Saa’kokoto’s primary goal is to promote traditional spirituality through ceremony, storytelling and sharing personal experiences. His primary work now focuses on urban Aboriginal youth and helping them to better understand their identity and develop a better sense of belonging. As a fluent Blackfoot speaker he plays a key role in preserving and passing on the language to urban Aboriginal youth and the larger Blackfoot speaking community. In recent years, Saa’kokoto has led numerous groups from Calgary to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park for multi-day immersive experiences, and in 2018 he joined Alberta Parks as a seasonal Interpretive Guide. His enthusiastic support through the World Heritage evaluation and inscription process helped to achieve global recognition of Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July, 2019.

Mrs. Veomanee is a social entrepreneur who co-founded and co-directs Ock PoP Tok Textile company (OPT), which has grown in the past 19 years from a small shop selling a few designs to becoming one of the most important textile and artisanal institutions in Laos. OPT was founded on the principles of fair trade, sustainable business practices, and ethical fashion well before these concepts were globally widespread. She comes from a family rich with textile and artisan roots and she learnt many skills from her mother when she was 8 years old. After becoming an accomplished weaver. Over the past years she has become a natural ambassador for Lao textiles, both meeting global dignitaries and inspiring young Lao women to follow in her footsteps; to empower themselves with their weaving skills. She leads the weaving and design team, She in charge of Finances; overseas the Living Craft Center, Heritage Textile collection composed of over a thousand pieces and the Village project which are a series of initiatives that create economic opportunities for over 400 women in 13 provinces with the visions of preserving and promoting Laotian textile industry. In November 2017, Speaker at a TEDx Talk in Vientiane, focused on the theme Reimagine with the objective of empowering and celebrating women nationwide in Laos. (The event was part of the official worldwide TEDx Women 2017 Conference.) In January 2019, Speaker at A Pan-Asia Seminar on Heritage Protection: The Asian Experience in Bangkok,Thailand On Preserving Culture Heritage as a Private Enterprise.

Michaela Saisana is acting Head of the Monitoring, Indicators and Impact Evaluation Unit and she also leads the European Commission's Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards (COIN) at the Joint Research Centre in Italy.

Michaela Saisana strongly believes in the power of indices and scoreboards that can help policy makers see the "big picture" on multidimensional phenomena related to social, economic, health and environmental issues. Over the past 20 years, together with her team, she has supported the European Union and over 150 international organisations to ensure that their indices and scoreboards meet the highest standards for quality and transparency. Examples of her team's activities are the Social Scoreboard for the European Pillar of Social Rights, the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor and the ASEM Sustainable Connectivity Portal. She leads the European Commission's Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards and oversees the activities of a unit working also on identifying which policies bring benefits to the lives of the citizens.

Jean-Philippe is Vice-President Government & Corporate Affairs of Expedia Group and Board member of the EU Travel Tech association since December 2015. Prior to joining Expedia Group, Jean-Philippe was a Partner at Interel European Affairs. From 2007-2009 he served as a Member of Cabinet of EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. He started his career as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. Jean-Philippe holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau/Singapore.

Prior to joining Konishi, David worked as a financial services consultant for Andersen Consulting (London and New York) for three years, followed by two years at Salomon Brothers Tokyo as a bank analyst. David joined Goldman Sachs as a bank analyst in 1992, and was made a managing director in 1998 and partner in 2006. Joined Konishi Decorative Arts and Crafts Co., Ltd. in 2009 and currently employed

He was born in the UK and holds an MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Oxford.

He has served on a number of government committees Japan Heritage Review Committee member, Geihinkan State Guest House (Geihinkan Akasaka Palace, Kyoto Geihinkan State Guest House) Advisor Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Strategy Implementation Promotion Task Force Member, Ministry of the Environment Project to Fully Enjoy National Parks Panel Member, Administrative Reform Promotion Committee, Expenditure Reform Working Group Member, Savor Japan, English Guidance for Heritage etc.

Ahmed Eiweida is the World Bank Global Coordinator for Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development. He is also Lead Urban Specialist covering East Asia & Pacific Region. He is based in the World Bank’s Singapore Urban & Infrastructure Hub Office. Ahmed has 30-year experience on cultural heritage, sustainable tourism, urban policies, municipal finance & infrastructure, local economic development, urban upgrading and urban regeneration. He joined the World Bank in 2000 and since then worked in more than 15 countries in East Europe, Central Asia, Middle East, East Asia and Pacific Islands. He led several World Bank-financed culture and tourism programs in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Albania. He is currently leading similar initiatives in China, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Prior to joining the World Bank, he worked as Senior Technical Advisor to GiZ, DANIDA, DFID and UNDP. He holds a PhD on Urban Development and an MSc. on Environmental Management from the University of Glasgow, The UK. He also holds a Pre-MSc. on Urban and Regional Development from the University of Cairo.

Koïchiro Matsuura led UNESCO as its Director-General for ten years (from November 1999 to November 2009), carrying out major institutional reforms while advancing a range of programmes from universal basic education to freshwater management to the preservation of living arts and cultures.

Mr. Matsuura began his diplomatic career with a posting to Ghana in 1961 covering ten West African countries, leading to a lifelong passion for the cultures and people of Africa. In the 1970s he served as Counselor at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC, and later as Consul General in Hong Kong. As Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1992-1994, he was Japan’s Sherpa for the G-7 Summit.

In 1999, while serving as Japan’s Ambassador to France and chairing UNESCO’s flagship World Heritage Committee, Mr. Matsuura was elected by Member States to his first term as Director-General of UNESCO. He undertook a sweeping reform, cutting high-level posts, strengthening resources in the field, and focusing on key programme priorities. After a first term marked by programme and reform accomplishments, as well as the addition of new countries to membership of UNESCO, he was re-elected to a second term in October 2005.He successfully terminated his second term in November 2009, after having served UNESCO as its Director-General for 10 years.

Since he returned to Japan in January 2010, he has assumed a number of posts, principally in the private sector of Japan, including the president of the Africa Society of Japan and Advisor to Pasona Group.

Maria Founta is Google’s Country Marketing Manager for Greece, Romania & Ukraine since 2010. She focuses on establishing strategic partnerships and launching Google services and initiatives that support consumers and help businesses grow online. She is also the founder of Grow Greek Tourism Online, a Google initiative that has supported over 120K people in the tourism sector to develop their digital skills and grow their business; lately, the program also scaled to Japan and other countries. She first joined Google in 2006, as a Google Customer Solutions Manager, leading the teams in 8 markets in EMEA.

Before Google, Maria held an engineering management position at Rhetorical Systems Ltd., a world-leading Text-to-Speech (TTS) systems developer in Edinburgh, Scotland. She joined the company in 2002 and led the design and development of its speech products for South Europe.

Maria holds a degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from NTUA and recently graduated from INSEAD’s Marketing Academy in France. She was born and raised in Greece and has worked in the UK, Ireland, Greece and Japan.

His mission is to lead the tourism policies of the City as well as attracting the business fabric towards the field of Creative Industries, while strengthening the concept of Barcelona as a platform for fostering economic activity and capturing talent.

Among his functions, it is worth highlighting the promotion of the strategic sectors of Barcelona, the stimulation of Responsible Tourism and boosting the consolidation of the local ecosystem of new enterprises and sectors such as the Creative and Cultural Industries.

He has carried out a major part of his professional career in the public sector, specialising in the fostering of culture, economic promotion and the culture of communication.  It is also worth emphasising his contribution in fields such as education and literary production.

Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Lima, postgraduate studies in “Public Investment Projects”, at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and “Management Development” at the University of Piura

Master’s in “Integration of Persons with Disabilities” from the University of Navarra (Spain) and in “Strategic Development and Social Inclusion” at the Centre for Higher National Studies (CAEM)

Experience as Coordinator of Development Projects for Persons with Disabilities in FUNDADES, successfully establishing the Municipal Offices for Persons with Disabilities (OMAPED)

National Director of Handicrafts and Director of the Network of Technological Innovation Centres for Handicrafts and Tourism for 11 years at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR)

Since 2014 she has been the National Director of the Tourism Training Centre (CENFOTUR), the Public Executing Agency specializing in the capacity-building and training of human capital.

Stefano Dominioni is Executive Secretary of the Council of Europe Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA) and Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes (Luxembourg). He is responsible for overseeing the certification by the Council of Europe of Cultural Routes in the field of European culture and heritage across its 47 Member States and the regular evaluation of the current 38 certified cultural routes.  Dr. Dominioni ensures EPA Governing Board and Statutory Committee operations, management of the European Institute of Cultural Routes and coordination with the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe.

He is responsible for the implementation of Joint Programmes with the European Commission, and cooperation with other International Organisation such as UNESCO, UNWTO, OECD and OEI. During his career at the Council of Europe, he has worked for the Directorate General of Education, Culture and Youth and the Directorate General of Social Cohesion. He received his Ph.D., M.Phil. and M.A. from Yale University, a M.A. from the Université d’Aix-Marseille and a B.A. from the University of Milan. He was Research Fellow at Cambridge University (England).

Rajan Datar is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist, conference and panel moderator (and bass player!) with a career spanning three decades of current affairs, arts, business and documentary presenting, reporting and producing for the BBC. He's presented more than 30 acclaimed half hour BBC travelogues around the world (viewed by average audiences of 70 million).

The most recent of these on the Japanese island of Hokkaido has just been aired in August 2019. He returns to Japan soon to make five short films for the BBC. At the beginning of his career Rajan was (and remains ) the only person to have been accepted both on the BBC's prestigious trainee News Journalist scheme and its flagship highly competitive Producer/Director trainee scheme. At this time he was also a regular features writer for the Guardian amongst other national publications including the Times, the Mail, the Face and The NME. He then presented the ground-breaking BBC2 travel show "Rough Guide to the World" for two seasons.

In the month of July 2019 alone he guest presented the Radio 4 arts programmes Saturday Review and Front Row, made and presented a radio 4 documentary on the much-praised "Tebbit Test" about national sporting loyalties and then appeared on the Feedback programme, and went to Cape Canaveral in Florida to present a BBC special on the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing. He also presents the weekly flagship discussion show "The Forum " on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service and for twelve years he has been host of the World Service weekly feedback show "Over To You" - more than 500 shows so far! In his role as presenter/writer of the BBC’s “Travel Show Country Direct ” series he has filmed in Cuba, Mongolia and Myanmar amongst many other locations.