FIONA JEFFERY

Chairman, World Travel Market & Just A Drop, UK

Fiona graduated from Edinburgh University with a BA in French and Spanish and MA Hons in Italian. Fiona joined the Marketing Department of Reed Exhibition Companies in 1986 and by 1988 she was a Group Marketing Manager. She then became Marketing Director in 1991.In 1992 she launched Arabian Travel Market in the Middle East and in December 1993, took over responsibility as Exhibition Director of World Travel Market as well as British Travel Trade Fair in 1996. In 2000 she was appointed Group Director for World Travel Market & British Travel Trade Fair and Marketing and Business Development Director for Reed Travel Exhibitions, responsible for the group's global communications and strategic development. In 2005 she became Managing Director, World Travel Market, and was appointed chairman in July 2007. In 1998 she founded and is now Chairman of the international travel and tourism industry charity - Just a Drop. She also held the position of President of the International Travel Trade Fairs Association 2004/2005. Fiona created and launched WTM World Responsible Tourism Day in 2007 in association with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), which took place on the 12 November 2008 and is a global tourism initiative to highlight the issues and contributions Travel & Tourism companies can, and should, make to managing tourism responsibly.