MEET THE TEAM
The TEAM
Byron Shirto
Founder & Festival DirectorByron Shirto
Over 30 years travel experience – inbound - outbound - marketing & communications. Byron served on the board and as Chairman of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA) for over 8 years. He has created and launched several successful large-scale travel trade B2B events in the last 10 years - LATA Expo, Experience Africa and Brand USA Travel Week.
Byron is the Founder of Inspire Global is a mission-driven member community championing positive-impact tourism, with in-person TRADE, MEDIA, and CONSUMER travel events in the U.K. The Inspire Global Media Marketplace and Awards is the only media event solely dedicated to celebrating positive impact storytelling. #PositiveImpactStorytelling
The Inspire Global Tourism Awards is an annual thought-leadership event celebrating destinations, organisations and individuals making a genuine positive impact in tourism. #StoriesInMotion
Byron is the Founder of The Travel Festivals - the #1 series of travel festivals in the U.K. - Cheltenham | Cambridge | Edinburgh.
Byron is the Founder of tech platform Rhapsody, an event and community management platform, allowing for seamless virtual, hybrid and in-person peer-to-peer engagement.
Jim Millward
Marketing ConsultantJim 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.
Sarah Harvey
Creative & Design Director
Karen Black
Website & Technical SupportKaren Black
Karen is the founder of HubFizz, a web design consultancy helping eco-driven business owners achieve positive change for people & planet. Prior to setting up HubFizz in 2014, Karen worked in design and marketing both in the corporate sector and the travel industry (for a tour operator, airlines and Namibia Tourism UK) and then co-founded a creative agency focusing on websites, design and digital marketing. Her main focus now is web design and eco hosting for ecopreneurs and small business owners and she collaborates with other small businesses who are experts in their fields (such as branding, SEO and copywriting) to offer you a broader range of services.