Join HSMAI Los Angeles and your fellow hospitality colleagues as top industry leaders in global business travel discuss techniques to attract and optimize the highly coveted bookings of the business traveler. During this luncheon we will discuss trends in business travel, tips and tricks to remain competitive in winning corporate business, and ways to optimize booking paths and increase revenue.
Event Speaker - Andrew Dyer, Vice President, Global Supply at Egencia
Andrew Dyer joined Egencia in 2016 as Vice President, Global Supply, overseeing lodging, media, consulting and insurance.
His move to Egencia continues a decade-long career at Expedia, Inc. focused on the supplier side of the business. In various positions, he has been closely involved in contracting and negotiation as well as in business development, and his leadership of the Egencia supplier relations group for lodging combines both of these perspectives.
Upon joining Expedia, Inc. in 2006, Andrew served as Corporate Counsel, Expedia Legal & Corporate Affairs supporting Egencia and the Expedia Partner Services Group (air, car, hotel). He subsequently moved into Expedia’s Lodging Partner Services group as Director of Strategy & Business Development, focused on the development and launch of the Expedia Traveler Preference program.
Later, he returned to Expedia Legal & Corporate Affairs as Senior Director, Legal where he acted as the primary legal counsel for Expedia’s Global Tour & Transport group (air, car, cruise, tour operators, and travel insurance), Expedia LocalExpert, Expedia CruiseShipCenters, and Classic Vacations.
Prior to joining Expedia, Andrew was an attorney at Preston Gates & Ellis (now K&L Gates). He holds a B.A. in History from Whitman College, an M.A. in Commercial Diplomacy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
Event Speaker - Rowena Montafia, Key Account Manager, HRS, Global Hotel Solutions
With over 15 years of experience working with chains and independent hotels Rowena has had multiple sales roles in the hotel sector that maximized her talents & attributes.
In 2015 Rowena made the move to HRS Group as a Key Account Manager for North America responsible for distribution for HRS’s Independent hotel partners. In her role, she is tasked to create brand awareness , connect hotels to HRS network and gain access to corporate travel programs, drive incremental revenue from HRS corporate and International leisure clients.
Prior to joining HRS Group, Rowena worked as a Global Account Director with BT Advantage by Sabre Hospitality Solutions where she lead the Global Account Management Services Program providing brand level support and representation to Sabre’s 3 to 5 star independent hotels worldwide. She managed key global corporate accounts and assisted in the Consortia segment. She was highly successful in directly delivering corporate accounts in to the member hotels.
Event Speaker - Craig Banikowski, Global Business Services, Amgen, and President of LABTA
Craig currently manages the global travel operations at Amgen, and has recently accepted new roles leading the global meetings management function, as well as global corporate card and expense management. He is currently based at the company headquarters in Thousand Oaks, CA, however will be moving to Tampa Florida later this year as part of Amgen’s development of a new state-of-the-art capabilities center that was announced March 22nd of this year.
He has been with Amgen for four years, having also worked in Global Strategic Sourcing responsible for travel, meetings and fleet. Prior to Amgen, he worked briefly with NC4, a risk management organization. Craig was also part of the Hilton family, having spent several years and living on both the west coast and east coast, leading their global travel and expense management programs. He was also part of First Data Corporation, as a Vice-President in their procurement organization overseeing travel and meetings/events.
He is active in GBTA, having served as President of the organization from 2009 to 2011, and then Chairman from 2011 to 2013. He lead the organization’s name change from the National Business Travel Association to the Global Business Travel Association helping to ensure the recognition of global managed travel.
He holds an MBA, C.P.M., CCTE, CMM and GTP from various schools and associations and remains active, currently serving as President of the Los Angeles Business Travel Association.
He interests include cycling, participating this year in the 545 mile ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles in support of the Aids Ride LA.
Event Speaker - Reagan Lowery, Hotel Marketing Manager & Business Development at ALTOUR
Reagan started her career in the travel industry with 3 years at a boutique agency before transitioning to ALTOUR International. She was quickly promoted to Entertainment Division Manager and oversaw team operations and high end leisure while cultivating additional knowledge and relationships with luxury hotel chain and industry partners. As her passion for hotels grew, she took on the role of Marketing Manager for ALTOUR=92s internal hotel programs and serves as the liaison between all employees and preferred hotel partners, continues to develop the hotel programs as a whole, and represents ALTOUR in corporate negotiations of hotel contracts and company leadership at trade shows and industry advisory boards.
In addition to these career highlights, Reagan is eager to spread awareness of the travel industry as a viable career option for the younger generation by creating ALTOUR=92s own internship program- ALTOUR University, serving on the board for Millennials in Travel, and sponsorship for GBTA Ladders.
Moderator
Tia Graham, Director of Sales & Marketing
The London - West Hollywood at Beverly Hills
