On a mission
to create
better travel
& meetings
management

Paul Tilstone established FESTIVE ROAD in 2015. Prior to this he acted in senior roles for travel management companies for 13 years, and then subsequently as CEO for the Institute of Travel & Meetings UK (ITM) for seven years and Chief Global Development Officer for the Global Business Travel Association for a further five. In July 2017 he was appointed to the board of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) as the first elected international director in the association’s history. His knowledge and networks represent the best in the industry.

Paul has received the UK Buying Business Travel Diamond Award for services to sustainability and was listed by the magazine in the industry’s 2013 “Hot List” as one of thirty professionals driving change in the industry. He has twice been listed as one of the world’s top 25 business travel industry influencers by the Business Travel News, USA, for work in advocacy and sustainability.

Paul is a Surrey-based Welshman with an impulsive, insightful and creative nature. He’s not afraid to say what he sees and can regularly be found lecturing his two sons on what it takes to succeed in the 21st century.

Caroline has worked in the travel and meetings industry for over 20 years. She has held roles as both buyer and supplier, so brings a unique perspective across the whole travel supply chain. Most recently she led the Global Consulting group at American Express, helping a broad customer base tackle complex travel programme/industry issues. Prior to this she led the AstraZeneca Global Travel Programme and was awarded the Best Travel Team category in the 2013 UK Business Travel Awards.

Her work leading travel programmes at Yahoo and Cisco is well documented and she has sat on the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Board of Directors, chaired GBTA in Europe and the Institute of Travel Managers (ITM) in the UK. Caroline has received a number of industry awards including the GBTA Luoma award in 2012 for services to the European travel and meetings industry and the Business Travel News Multinational Travel Manager of the Year award in 2013. Caroline is also the Co-Founder of LEVEL Women and Women At Work, 2 voluntary initiatives supporting women in the workplace. Caroline is often called “the most credible Business Travel expert” in the industry and was listed as an “industry influencer” in the Buying Business Travel 2016 Hotlist.

Caroline is based in Kent with her “techie” husband and twin daughters. Her home-baking obsession serves as a cover for her passion, intuition, meticulous planning and emotional intelligence in business.

Lora has worked in the business travel consulting sector for more than 15 years. She has driven amazing results for her clients through hundreds of consulting projects involving outsourced travel buying & management, strategic sourcing, total programme management and demand management. Most recently Lora led the Business Planning team within American Express Global Consulting where she initiated key performance indicators for the business, developed a resource management strategy and revamped the consulting pipeline methodology and practices.

As one of her clients put it so succinctly on a recent LinkedIn commendation, “her work ethic and commercial acumen was clearly evident as was her unwavering drive to consider many creative ways to identify and deliver value”.

Lora is an industry expert with tenacity, loyalty, broad knowledge and a nose for sensing the reality of situations. She enjoys life in the tropics of Miami and loves to guide both her children to find their passions in life and her mentees to navigate the corporate world, challenging people to be their best.

Louise has worked in the travel industry for 15 years, predominantly on the buyer side. Her most recent role was Outsourcing Director for American Express Consulting, where she led multiple teams, managing global programmes for the likes of Microsoft, BASF, AstraZeneca and Philips.

Prior to this Louise was the Travel Buyer/Manager for corporates across a variety of industry sectors including Procter & Gamble, Infor and IBM. In each of these companies she was responsible for sourcing and managing TMC’s and other travel related services.

In addition to these roles, Louise has played an active role in the industry, sitting on the Board of the ITM and on various industry committees. She is a regular contributor to industry events both speaking and moderating sessions.

Abi has worked within the travel industry for the past 19 years where for much of that time she was part of AstraZeneca’s award-winning business travel team. More recently, Abi has worked at American Express GBT where she has held project management roles with clients including JTi, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson.

With a passion for customer satisfaction and a tenacious approach to all of her work, she has earned a reputation for integrating seamlessly into established teams and delivering success in the areas of travel technology, crisis management, traveller engagement, process improvement and optimisation.

Abi is based in Manchester where she lives with her partner, two young children and Juno the cat. Abi loves spending time outdoors with the family, dinning out with friends and at weekends can be found watching her other love in life - Football!

Ian Jones has spent the past 25 years at the forefront of the UK hotel industry. A recent addition to the FESTIVE ROAD team, Ian is a hotel and meetings expert with a passion for creativity and people engagement.

Ian held several operational and sales roles in the hotel and restaurant industry until in 2000 he joined the event management team at HBA Zibrant. Ian quickly rose through the ranks to become head of sales, winning contracts for and successfully implementing meetings management programs for large corporate organisations including Xerox, Clifford Chance, Linklaters & Accenture. In 2007 Ian joined De Vere as head of sales. His role was to elevate their reputation in the HBA and TMC market to the first-choice provider for these intermediaries. Under his tenure this income stream rose from £2.7m to over £20m, thanks to Ian’s innovative approach and use of the “emotional bank account” to create an agency fan base of the brand and drive agency engagement at every level.

Ian leads a dual life, as both a FESTIVE ROADER and a farmer, running his 42-acre family farm and outdoor learning business in the Surrey Hills.

Meredith started her career in hotels in revenue management in Australia, went on to use this hotel knowledge with Expedia and then moved to Singapore to join Intel in a procurement role for Agency, Hotels and Immigration.

She then joined MSD Singapore in 2008 where she implemented and managed the Asia Pacific and Japan Travel and Payment program. Whilst building a talented team accountable in the region for the ongoing operations, supplier management and stakeholder engagement of all aspects of T&E, she then set her sights on the controls and standardization of Meetings for the Region.

Whilst there she sat on the Board for ACTE, United Airlines and Marriott Hotels, was a frequent speaker and thought leader with deep subject matter expertise on the unique landscape of each of those 14 countries.

In 2014, she moved to the US Merck headquarters in NJ, as Global Head of Operations for Travel, Meetings, Payments and Creative Studios. Her primary responsibility was to implement a robust Strategic Meetings Management Program and continuing to challenge the status quo on aspects of the established Travel and Payments programs. She is used to managing large organisations of 100+ people and getting the best out of her people by always listening and making rapid decisions.

Meredith is passionate about ensuring knowledge is shared, has a very energetic open direct style and sees joining FESTIVE ROAD as the perfect role for this stage of her career where she can learn from her incredibly talented peers and compliment with a different set of skills and experience.

Mike is in his 20th year working in the business travel industry. He has held senior supplier, buyer and consultant roles which give him a uniquely rounded view of the industry. Mike recently led the global travel program for international investment bank, Macquarie Group. He steered the travel category through a period of renewal, leading sourcing activity across every facet of the program, implementing travel technologies and consolidating to a single TMC.

Previously, Mike worked up through the ranks at HRG. He ultimately led their global travel consulting practice, HRG Consulting in London, before making the move to Australia. From Sydney, Mike ran CWT’s client consulting division for Asia Pacific - CWT Solutions Group for several years. As a consultant Mike has worked with many organisations as Shell, Microsoft, News Corp, AstraZeneca and Vodafone and UBS, as well as a large number of smaller ‘national’ companies.

Mike is an active member of GBTA and sits on the ACTE Australasia council.

As “poms" living in Australia, Mike and his wife love cricket and rugby, especially when the English have a victorious tour down under. Mike is studying for a Masters of Data Science and is also a drummer, aspiring woodworker and loves a glass of Aussie red.

Sarah has worked in the travel industry for over 25 years. Most recently, as Global Client Manager for American Express GBT, Sarah was responsible for leading a global team to deliver a highly successful travel programme for one the world’s leading consulting firms. Prior to this, as European Account Manager at GBT, Sarah was part of Astra Zeneca’s award winning travel team.

Throughout her career, Sarah has held Global and European management positions in consulting, client management, product and project management, supporting a variety of prestigious clients with their extensive and often complex travel requirements. Her well proven history of problem solving, client management, programme re-design and implementations gives her a comprehensive and broad outlook enabling her to identify and evaluate new solutions and strategies to increase customer satisfaction, streamline processes and/or reduce costs.

Sarah has been recognised for her strong leadership skills and is known for being forthright, fair, open, enthusiastic and honest.

Based in Holmfirth, Yorkshire with her husband, Sarah enjoys travelling and fine dining, preferring to combine the two whenever possible!

Fenella has worked in the finance industry for over 20 years. After graduating with a first class degree in chemistry, she qualified as an accountant with Deloitte in London, and is now a Fellow of the Institute for Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

She has advised public and private companies on a variety of finance and legal issues throughout her career, including a number of large UK inbound and US outbound listed groups. Specialising in international taxes, Fenella’s work has encompassed the increasingly high profile areas of tax compliance, tax advisory and tax controversy.

Her most recent role was EMEA Tax Manager for Jones Lang Lasalle Inc, a role she excelled in, before taking a career ‘break’ to raise her two small children.

Based in Royal Tunbridge Wells, she is happiest enjoying long walks in the countryside with her family (despite the protestations from little legs!), but now marries this with her alter - ego as ‘Fenella Finance’ – another important asset in the FESTIVE ROAD family.

Katie Virtue, GTP is a business travel consultant and advocate for business travel wellness. She is a passionate strategist focused on growing and improving relationships in the business travel industry. She is energized by moving organizations forward through lateral thinking, deeper engagement and inspired insights.

Katie has shaped partnership strategies and served as a subject matter expert across various areas of indirect procurement and travel. She has created and grown travel programs spanning Car Rental, Travel Management, Meetings & Events Management, Jet Services, Ground Transportation and Corporate Housing Solutions. She works with companies to evaluate their travel needs and bring them unique insights to optimize their travel program. She also collaborates with suppliers to make sure they achieve goals through the right approach to customer acquisition and management.

Katie serves on the programs committee for the Ohio Valley Business Travel Association and is part of the GBTA Ladders program. She is also an avid fitness and nutrition coach, hockey player and loves spending time with her children.

Before joining FESTIVE ROAD in October 2019, Sandra had been in the travel industry for over 20 years. Working at the HRS Group for over 10 years, Sandra managed global projects for well-known multinational organisations, having previously led teams as Director of Hotel Solutions.

She has an analytical and data lead approach to monitor performance and to recommend and help create the strategy to meet the client’s objectives and a proven track record of negotiating rates and closing complex contracts with global suppliers.

Keeping up-to-date on the latest disruptive technology in the travel space, Sandra has an extensive product and industry knowledge, and has helped global brands deliver complex projects in fast paced environments. She believes in creating strong business relationships based on open and honest communication, a high attention to detail and accuracy, and focusing on achieving objectives that meet the client’s needs.

Carol has over 26 years’ experience in the travel industry. She previously worked for American Express as a Travel & Expense Consulting Manager where she worked with clients to focus on ensuring delivery of project objectives. More recently she was the Travel Program Manager for American Express and was responsible for supporting the stakeholder lead in key sourcing activities, supplier management and assisting in the operational management of the EMEA & JAPA travel program.

During her career, she has worked on a variety of engagements including hotel & air sourcing, programme management optimisation, policy redesign and change management projects.

Based in central London, Carol enjoys travelling, playing badminton, and loves nothing more than spending quality time with her family.

Nicola’s career spans three decades and includes buyer and supplier roles covering Europe, APAC, and N. America.

She holds a postgraduate degree in Strategic Procurement Management and brings deep buyer experience in sourcing, implementing, and managing all aspects of a business travel programme from roles at global companies which include Omnicom Group and IFS. On the supply side Nicola held senior sales and partnership management roles with American Express, and American Airlines in the US, and with International SOS in Europe.

She is a former chair of the UK’s Institute of Travel Management where she received the Business Travel Professional Services Award 2017 from GBTA.

Nicola recently became a parent and is looking forward to showing her lockdown baby to the world when global travel can safety resume!

Stef Tschida spent the first 10 years of her career in travel management as a member of the CWT (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel) global communications team. She also spent nearly four years in communications in the healthcare industry before starting her own communications consultancy, Tschida Communications, in 2019. Stef loves helping organizations across industries to clearly communicate to those who matter most to their success.

Stef also leads a college essay coaching practice in the U.S., where she and her team apply the same communication principles used with companies to help high school students with their college admissions essays. Stef loves helping tomorrow’s leaders get into their dream schools.

Stef lives outside the Twin Cities in Minnesota, United States, with her husband, two young kids, and yellow Labrador retriever. In her spare time, she works through the tall stack of business and personal development books on her nightstand.

Alex Kington is a marketing strategist with more than 15 years of experience in and outside of business travel. She is passionately focused on purpose and working with businesses to help them uncover their “why.”

Alex previously occupied Head of Marketing roles with two UK-based TMCs before establishing her own marketing consultancy in 2022. Despite being a relative newcomer to the industry, her impact has been significant, winning her the accolade of Best Newcomer at The Business Travel People Awards in 2018.

And in an interesting turn of events, Alex is the first Festive Road client to crossover to become a Roader!