On-Demand: Strategy Before Forecast: Open Up Your Revenue

David McCandless is a London-based author, data journalist, and information designer, working across print, advertising, TV, and web. His blog and best-selling books Information Is Beautiful (2009) and Knowledge is Beautiful (2014) are dedicated to visualizing ideas, issues, knowledge, and data - and to discovering novel patterns and stories in the seas of data swamping and surrounding us.

Jonathan Fuentes is Technology Strategy Manager for the hospitality industry at Accenture with more than 12 years of experience. Throughout these years he has collaborated with more than 15 different hotel chains of different types of business and globally, leading the process to define their technological strategy and align it with their business needs, applying the latest trends in technology for this. Recently he has achieved great success optimizing Operations, Revenue Management or Commercial processes through their digitalization. Born in Madrid (Spain), he is passionate about technology, travel, gastronomy and the conservation of nature and the environment.

Ben Thomas is a commercial and operational strategist who partners with sales, marketing, e-
commerce and revenue leaders to bring financial success to hotel operations. After spending over a
decade in senior general management roles in the hotel industry, Ben recently moved into a newly
created role in the Pentahotels central office in Frankfurt, leading the commercial team through the ongoing global pandemic, focusing on creating efficiencies and driving profitability.

When not commuting to the office in Frankfurt, Ben can be found at home in the UK spending time
with his wife, young son and a growing army of pets. Sports remain a huge passion in his life, mainly following football and his beloved Manchester United.

Richard Oram has worked in the hospitality industry for over 30 years and has been with Oracle (Micros) since 1999 spearheading the initial release of OPERA Property Management to the UK market. More recently he headed up the Solutions Engineering team across EMEA as the move towards cloud technology accelerated across the region. In 2020 he took up a new role within Oracle Hospitality’s Strategy team as Senior Director of Product Enablement, with key focus on messaging and educating our internal teams, customers and external partners on the solutions Oracle Hospitality has to offer and drive brand awareness. Prior to joining Oracle, Richard studied Tourism Management at Birmingham University and worked in hotel operations and management for IHG & Forte.

With a career starting in the operations side of the hospitality industry, and a deep knowledge of technology, Jon quickly learned that bringing the two disciplines together could bring massive business benefit. As the current CTO at The Ivy Collection, Jon continues to change the way hospitality harnesses technology to drive efficiencies while at the same time improving the guest experience.

Previous to working with the Ivy Collection, Jon was CTO at Village Hotels driving change and innovation across the business. While MD at Kickstart Technologies who provided consultancy, guidance and project management to some of the worlds leading hospitality brands and software companies. Outside of hospitality Jon is a keen Golfer and big sports fan.

John Lingos-Webb joined Duetto in August 2018 as Sr. Director of Strategic Accounts overseeing brand relationships and recently transitioned into his new role as Sr. Director of Global Partnerships & Alliances. In this role, John is responsible for the growth and relationship management of Duetto’s dynamic and vibrant partner ecosystem.

John arrived at Duetto with nearly a decade of SaaS startup experience in B2B and B2C applications. Immediately before joining Duetto, John came from AIMIA, a data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company where he managed the Retail and Travel & Hospitality verticals. 

Outside of work, John is an active board member for Access Youth Academy. A non-profit organization that uses the sport of squash as a catalyst for transforming the lives of low-income youth.

- Pre COVID managed US$2.1 billion travel spend and approximately $400M in Meetings & Events spend

- Being seen as trusted business advisors and providing exceptional client service are key objectives of the team and the implementation of technology as enablers for EY travelers such as mobile APPs engaging with disruptors and looking at robotics to support cost saving initiatives and demonstrating brand value are the ongoing focus for the team

- The EY Travel, Meetings & Events team were named Team of the Year 2015 by Buying Business Travel Magazine, and ITM in 2017. Karen herself was recognized as the BTN Multinational Travel Manager of the Year and one of the top 25 most influential in the travel industry in 2015 and again more recently in 2018 as well as Travel Manager of the year 2018.

- Prior to joining EY Karen lead the travel meetings & events team at AIG, was ASPAC and EMEIA Regional Travel Head at Citi and Global Head of Travel at Merrill Lynch

- On a personal note … While running was always a passion, having run 26 marathons around the world, Karen now spends her spare time with her horses, sheep, cats and Brian the goat!

Chris Crowley joined Duetto in April 2021 as Senior VP of Sales, where he leads the global sales organization, which currently operates offices in the US, Argentina, London, Germany, and Singapore.

Prior to working with Duetto, Chris established his Nina & Pinta business travel consultancy in late 2017, working with a wide array of clients, including hotel technology specialist HRS Group.

An experienced travel industry professional, Chris has also worked as Senior Vice President at BCD Travel, currently the world’s third-largest TMC. And he has enjoyed hospitality tenures with Accor, Radisson, Le Meridien, and 47 Park Street Hotel in London, where he worked with Albert Roux. 

Chris has also served as President of the ACTE (Association of Corporate Travel Executives) and is a board member of the Institute of Travel Management.

Joyce Galvao joined Duetto in mid-2015. An experienced hotelier, Joyce heads up our Global Customer Success team. Originally from Brazil, but now based in London via a few stops in South East Asia, she is passionate about travel, hospitality, and cooking! After a brief stint in Law School, we are very glad that it was hotel revenue management that Joyce finally sunk her teeth into as a career path, working with The Savoy Group, Maybourne Hotel Group, and COMO Hotels & Resorts.