Our Leadership

Shinji Kamio

Chairman

Shinji Kamio, Ph.D. is a visionary leader in the global tourism industry with over 35 years of experience. Since 2024, he has served as Executive Officer at JTB Research & Consulting Ltd, where he conceptualized the CIA (Consulting, Intelligence, Analytics) framework as a new model for tourism think-tanks and successfully established a strategic partnership with Northstar Travel Group.

As Chairman and CEO of Kuoni Travel Investments LTD and JTB Europe Group(2019-2023), he orchestrated a remarkable turnaround, transforming significant losses into substantial profits despite COVID-19 devastating the company's revenue.

Previously, Kamio served as JTB Corp Head of M&A (2011-2017), executing multiple major acquisitions generating substantial sales growth, including complex cross-border transactions. His expertise spans cross-border M&A, post-merger integration, and corporate restructuring with a focus on global markets.

He holds a Ph.D. from Saitama University with a thesis on European travel company growth strategies by M&A, completed INSEAD's Challenge of Leadership program, and previously served as Chairman of Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Zurich.

Jason Young

CEO

Jason Young, who joined Northstar Travel Group in January 2023, has been leading businesses in media, digital advertising, and ad/marketing tech for more than 30 years.

An innovative leader in the digital transformation of the media industry, as well as a visionary in advertising technology, Jason spent 20 years with Ziff-Davis Media, the leading IT information, and media business, eventually ascending to the CEO position. Jason was the founder of Smart Device Media, a mobile advertising network, later acquired by Crisp Mobile, where he became CEO of the combined company. After the acquisition of Crisp by Quotient Technology, a data-driven advertising technology company serving the packaged goods industry, Jason became Chief Media & Marketing Officer. He has driven product innovation around new advertising platforms and data-led media. Jason most recently served as President of Chicory, a contextual commerce media company. 

Jason received his BA from Tufts University and lives in Larchmont, NY with his family.

Robert G. Sullivan

Chief Commercial Officer / President

Bob Sullivan, a 36-year veteran of global travel media, business intelligence, information services and events, currently serves as Chief Commercial Officer/President of Northstar Travel Group. Bob has been at the forefront of developing and executing the strategic plan that has led to the expanding footprint of Northstar throughout virtually every segment of the travel industry in his two decades with the company.

Bob has played a key role in the ongoing transformation of Northstar into an omnichannel media, events, and information service entity. Bob is a thought leader in leisure and corporate travel markets, travel technology, and hotel investments. He manages a growing global portfolio including: The BTN Group, The BHN Group (producers of the ALIS Conference), Phocuswright, WIT and retail leisure brands including Travel Weekly, Travel Weekly Asia, TravelAge West, TravelPulse and Information Products Group including Axus and Travel 42. Under his leadership, these brands are the dominant leaders in their space with a 360-degree communication platform including extensive digital assets, comprehensive research, lead generation initiatives, education programs, a growing roster of podcasts, and a significant portfolio of 60 industry events.

Bob has been the strategic leader, managing the sourcing, execution, and integration of more than 50 travel brand acquisitions and strategic organic launches. He joined Northstar in the fall of 2000 as Vice President/Publisher of Travel Weekly. Prior to joining Northstar, he served as Vice President and Group Publisher of the Miller Freeman Travel Group. Over his tenure, Bob has had the privilege of working closely with many of the leading companies and executives in the travel industry.

In 2013 Sullivan was inducted into the Tourism Hall of Fame. He has held board positions for The American Society of Travel Advisors, National Tour Foundation, Tourism Cares, and the U.S. Travel Association. He currently sits on the board of Black Travel and Tourism. In addition to industry efforts, Bob has been actively involved in community sports organizations and is a past board member of Darien Youth Lacrosse, Darien Youth Hockey, and the Garnet Blades.

Bob and his wife have five adult children and two grandsons. They live in Darien, Connecticut.

Lisa Cohen

Chief Financial Officer

Lisa Cohen joined Northstar Travel Group as Chief Financial Officer in August 2013. In this role, Lisa is a part of the executive management team and focuses on executing the Company’s global strategic vision. Lisa is responsible for all global accounting, financial reporting, risk management, financial planning & analysis, treasury, data privacy, information technology, M&A and tax functions. Since joining Northstar, Lisa has been involved in leading sixteen acquisitions, including integration, as well as setting up the legal entities and related infrastructure for Northstar’s Singapore, China & UK operations.
  
Lisa’s experience includes financial, operational, management and investor-side roles in a wide variety of organizations.  Prior to joining Northstar, as Chief Financial Officer of Remedy Health Media, a private equity owned health information and technology company, Lisa led all accounting, treasury, risk management, human resources and M&A activity. Previously, Lisa served as EVP, Finance at Sleep Innovations and Director of Accounting and Internal Controls at Equinox Holdings, Inc.  Lisa started her career at Ernst & Young, where she served both private equity sponsors and Corporate clients in buy-side and sell-side transactions. 
  
Lisa is a CPA and graduated from Binghamton University in New York. Lisa lives with her two daughters and her golden retriever & golden doodle in Westport, CT. Lisa enjoys traveling, cooking, running and spending time with family & friends.

Nino Tasca

Chief Product Officer

Nino Tasca is a seasoned product leader with over 25 years of experience in the technology and media industries. He is a former Director of Product Management at Google, where he managed multi-billion dollar ad products, was a founding leader of the Google Assistant team, and played a key role in scaling Speech and NLU technologies to hundreds of millions of users across Google products. He also served as VP of Technology at Penton Media, where he spearheaded a digital transformation. Nino has held senior technical roles at Ziff Davis and RFE/RL and is a partner in several angel investing syndicates focused on technology-backed startups.

In his personal life, Nino is an avid sports fan, both watching and participating. He has completed multiple Ironman triathlons and enjoys skiing, golf, and hiking with his wife and daughter.

Nino holds a B.S. in Engineering from Lehigh University and an MBA from NYU. He currently resides in San Diego, CA.

Xavier Facon

Chief Technology Officer

Xavier Facon, who joined Northstar Travel Group as Chief Technology Officer in 2026, has been building technology platforms and businesses across media, advertising, data, and digital commerce for more than 20 years.

An entrepreneur and product-minded technology leader, Xavier was the founder of Crisp, where he helped develop early mobile and advertising platforms for leading media and brand customers including CNN, ESPN, NBC, Time and The Associated Press. Crisp was acquired by Quotient Technology, where Xavier later held senior leadership roles across advertising technology, product, and strategy, helping advance the company’s retail media and data-driven advertising capabilities. He later joined NielsenIQ’s leadership team as Global SVP for Retail Products, leading product strategy, commercialization, and vision for one of the company’s key growth areas.

Xavier has also contributed to mobile and rich media advertising standards and holds patents related to dynamic creative and retail-aware advertising technology. He brings to Northstar a blend of technical depth, product judgment, and operating experience, with a focus on modernizing platforms and building scalable foundations for growth.

Xavier was born and raised in Belgium and has lived in New York City for more than 25 years.

Janine L. Bavoso

Chief People Officer

Janine Bavoso joined Northstar Travel Group in 2006. Janine oversees strategic employment planning, corporate culture development, organizational structure, recruitment, employee relations, benefits administration, training and development and performance management. As part of the executive leadership team Janine strives to help shape a workplace that is unique, dynamic and rewarding – one that encourages people to excel in their careers.

Janine has taken a leadership role in twenty acquisitions within the U.S., China, Asia and the U.K. focusing on organizational alignment, talent management and cultural integration. She has a broad background in all HR disciplines in both the profit and not-for-profit sectors.  Prior to joining Northstar, Janine was Human Resources Director at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey for close to nine years.  Before working at Liberty Science Center she spent several years at Spencer Savings Bank in Garfield, New Jersey. 

Janine earned a BS degree in Psychology from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania and an MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Montclair State University in New Jersey.  She is a national and local chapter member of the Society of Human Resources Management and has certifications as a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SC) and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).  Janine lives in NJ with her husband, son and daughter. 

Mio Kawamoto

Chief Integration Officer

Mio Kawamoto brings over 25 years of strategic leadership experience in the tourism industry to her role as Chief Integration Officer at Northstar Travel Group. With deep expertise in communication, group governance, and business travel management (BTM), she is uniquely positioned to drive the integration between JTB Group and NTG.

Throughout her 25+ year career at JTB Group, she has been engaged in executive communication while leading comprehensive rebranding initiatives across the organization. Her communication expertise extends to internal branding and culture transformation, driving organizational change through strategic brand positioning and employee engagement initiatives.

Her group governance experience encompasses strategic communication to align group subsidiaries with long-term vision and brand management across complex stakeholder relationships. Her cross-functional coordination skills have been developed through driving various internal projects including business restructuring.

Her BTM expertise spans both private and public sectors, including strategic partnerships with major industry players such as joint venture partner CWT and valuable U.S. market experience during her tenure at JTB USA.

Most recently, as Executive Officer at JTB Tourism Research & Consulting, she has been managing marketing initiatives for JTB Group and global clients while leading multidisciplinary teams and overseeing strategic consulting services across diverse tourism sectors.

Alicia Evanko

Executive Vice President

Alicia Evanko-Lewis has spent the last 20 years developing and growing successful events for the travel and hospitality industry. A part of the Northstar team since 2011, she has grown the division with a suite of events in the U.S. and globally. In her current role as Executive Vice President of Global Events, she is responsible for the events and conferences in The Travel Group.

Under her leadership, the events division has grown through both organic launches and acquisitions including GTM, GTM West, Future Leaders in Travel Retreat, Mountain Travel Symposium, The BHN Group, Phocuswright Europe, Web in Travel, and CruiseWorld China.  Alicia manages a global team of sales, marketing, operations and event management staff. 

Prior to joining Northstar, she was Vice President of Events for Questex Travel Group responsible for their global portfolio of travel and hospitality events. During her 10 years at Questex, she launched and grew several successful events and established her role as a leader in global travel and hospitality events. She spent the first four years of her career working for a legal publishing company outside of Philadelphia, Andrews Publications, in their conference and marketing department. Alicia currently resides in North Carolina with her husband and daughter.

Mary Pat Sullivan

Executive Vice President of Marketing & Partnerships

Mary Pat is the Executive Vice President of Marketing & Partnerships, managing the messaging, branding and customer partnerships for the Northstar Travel Group brands. She has 35 years of travel publishing, marketing, and industry relations experience.  

Mary Pat oversees strategy and direction for Travel Weekly, TravelAge West, TravelPulse, the Information Products Group, Events and Audience Marketing and collaborates with brand and marketing leaders to foster the marketing vision and strategy for the BTN Group, Burba Hotel Network, and Phocuswright, as well as corporate marketing strategy and needs. She is often a familiar voice on webinars and on stage at NTGs live events. 

A career that began as a beat reporter covering the growth of tourism in Mexico in 1988, Mary Pat has had an active role in travel industry media for the last three decades. Mary Pat spent 15 years in various reporting, editorial management and publishing roles within CMP and Miller Freeman. 

Mary Pat has operated her own consulting business since 2004. Prior to the launch of her business, she was Vice President, Marketing Communications for The Travel Institute www.thetravelinstitute.com. Through her private consulting practice, she spent the next nearly two decades helping clients, including Northstar, deepen their industry relationships and innovate their brands within the travel industry b-to-b space. 

Mary Pat earned her CTC in 1996 as part of The Travel Institute’s first Executive Institute. She has held board positions with The Travel Institute, the U.S. Travel Association, the Academy of Travel and Tourism, Luxury Travel Expo, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and the Special Needs Group.

She has a BA in Communications from St. John’s University and is married to her college sweetheart and has two beautiful children, Dylan and Colleen, and two granddaughters, Stella and Tillie!

Louis Magliaro

Executive Vice President/Group Publisher, The BTN Group

Louis Magliaro has over 30 years of travel media experience and serves as the Executive Vice President/Group Publisher of the BTN Group, which includes Business Travel News, Business Travel News Europe, Travel Procurement and The Beat. 

Louis joined Northstar Travel Group in September 2010 as part of the acquisition of ProMedia.travel, of which he was a co-founder in 2006. He is responsible for overall strategic and operational leadership at the BTN Group including digital, events, editorial, research, sales, marketing, design, and custom marketing. He also plays a key role in product development having created and launched 40+ events/conferences.

He held senior leadership media/publishing positions at Nielsen, VNU, and Conde Nast and started his professional career in sales with Marriott Hotels and Crowne Plaza Hotels. Louis holds an M.B.A. in Marketing and B.S. in Hospitality & Tourism Management from Fairleigh Dickinson University and lives in New Jersey with his family.

Arnie Weissmann

Explorer at Large, Northstar Travel Group

Arnie has been involved in virtually every aspect of travel journalism, publishing and media for the past 30 years. He created the industry's first destination information service (Weissmann Reports), authored a best-selling geography textbook and has served as publisher of critical hotel and destination guides for the travel industry.

Arnie was also a web pioneer, creating the first core destination content for America Online, managing AT&T’s corporate travel website and licensing content to Apple, Time Inc., CNN and Marriott International, among others. Weissmann Reports was sold to Reed Elsevier in 1996, after which Arnie served as Group Publisher over 15 business-to-business travel titles for Northstar’s predecessor company, Reed Travel Group. In 1999, he switched to the role of Senior Advisor for Business Development, and in October 2001 was appointed Editor in Chief of Travel Weekly, the primary source of news, research, analysis and opinion for the U.S. travel community. Subsequently, his responsibilities expanded to include the role of Executive Vice President/Editorial Director for Northstar’s Retail Group.

Arnie’s writing has received more than 45 national and international awards; he has been inducted into the MIN magazine Editorial and Design Hall of Fame and received the American Business Media G.D. Crain Jr. Award, the highest honor given in business-to-business journalism. Arnie’s comments have appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, BBC, PBS and Sky News, as well as multiple podcasts, YouTube channels and radio shows. He is often quoted in consumer media, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and USA Today, and his photography has been featured in dozens of newspapers and magazines worldwide. He is a popular industry speaker and has been a repeat guest lecturer at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. He has contributed essays to the books “Don’t Go There” and “Overtourism,” and his photography has been featured in dozens of newspapers and magazines around the world and have been displayed in juried shows in New York City art galleries.

After 25 years as editor in chief of Travel Weekly, in 2026 Arnie has taken on the role of Explorer at Large for Northstar, leaning into his love of adventure travel and discovery, and writing about his experiences in Northstar titles. He is a member of The Explorers Club and his exploits are featured in a chapter of The Explorers Club book, “Letters from the Edge.”

Pete Comeau

Managing Director Phocuswright

Mr. Comeau is responsible for overall strategic and operational leadership at Phocuswright. Pete oversees all aspects of Phocuswright's commercial activities including product, sales and service, and marketing. He also plays a key role in product development and business development strategy for Phocuswright research, events and media businesses globally. Pete is a frequent speaker at industry events and heads Phocuswright's coverage of startups and innovation.

Mr. Comeau's travel industry career spans over two decades. Previously, he managed strategic partnerships at Orbitz in Chicago, where he assisted in growing and managing accounts for the Orbitz Partner Network. Prior to Orbitz, Pete was the sales leader at Moguls Mountain Travel, a ski tour wholesaler in Boulder, CO. He helped design, implement and maintain four reservation systems during his tenure and managed and mentored a team of successful sales agents.

Based in the Denver, Colorado area, Pete holds an M.B.A. from Daniels College of Business and graduated magna cum laude from Bowdoin College with a degree in government and economics.

Jeff Higley

President, The BHN Group

Jeff Higley has been president of The BHN Group since May 2019.

He is a 35-year media and events veteran who has specialized in the hotel industry for the past 25 years. Career stops include Gannett, Advanstar Communications, Questex Media and STR, where he launched Hotel News Now in September 2008 and the Hotel Data Conference in 2009.

Higley began his career as a sportswriter in the newspaper industry. He is a product of Valparaiso University in Indiana and a native of Sandusky, Ohio.

Joe D'Andrea

Senior Vice President Digital Growth & Strategy

Joe D’Andrea joined Northstar Travel Group in September 2013 as digital director for the Meetings Group. In his current role as SVP of Digital Growth & Strategy, Joe is part of the executive management team and leads the Studio 90 division responsible for ongoing digital transformation, product development, strategic revenue growth, client services and custom multimedia content. 

Prior to Northstar, Joe was a management team member with The McGraw-Hill Companies’ Aviation Week Group, leading digital sales development and launching marketing services.  With 20+ years in BtoB digital media, and early dot com start-up experience, Joe is well-versed in the digital ecosystem and adept at creating innovative programs for customers and partners. 

Joe received his BA from New York University, and lives in Maplewood, NJ with his wife and daughter with a shared passion for music and travel.

Roberta Muller

Senior Vice President, Product Development

Roberta’s career at Northstar Travel Group spans 35 years. Her blend of technical knowledge, operations and leadership have helped transform Northstar’s digital business.  

She has helped reconstruct Northstar’s digital product portfolio by overseeing the operations of Digital Ad Production, Audience Development, Product & Project Management, and Marketing Services.  She puts enthusiasm and passion into every challenge and understands how critical it is to focus on innovation and transformation.  Her expertise rests in email distribution systems, website content management systems, and audience data management applications, to name a few. Roberta enjoys mentoring and watching her team members flourish.  Amazingly, she still learns something new every day.  
 
Roberta is also the Chair of the Digital Media Council of Connectiv, the Business Information Association division of SIIA.  She holds a BA in Communications/Marketing from Susquehanna University, PA. Roberta resides in New Jersey with her husband and three sons.

Sheila Rice

Senior Vice President, Information Products Group

Sheila joined Northstar Travel Group in 2000 from Reed Elsevier, as VP of Publishing Sales for Travel Weekly, before moving to head up the Licensing Department, where she has developed a branded content licensing franchise with Northstar’s databases. Sheila has cultivated strong partnerships with some of the biggest names in the travel and hospitality market as well as broadened market alliances with companies in diverse industries such as music, logistics, insurance, technology and navigation providers. 

In her current role as SVP, Information Products Group, Sheila is responsible for a diverse portfolio of leading brands providing data assets, workflow solutions with itinerary management tools, research platforms and 24/7 security and safety subscription services. These include AXUS Travel App, travel42, Agent Studio, Intelliguide and a global hotel database. 
  
Before Northstar, Sheila was VP of Electronic Development at Cahners Business Information for the Retail, Design, Building/Construction & Printing Group. Sheila was also the founding Publisher of Digital Television magazine, a sister publication of Broadcasting & Cable. Prior to that, she was Associate Publisher of TWICE (This Week in Consumer Electronics) and Advertising Director of Home Textiles Today. She started her career at Fairchild Publications with HFD-Retailing Home Furnishings. 

Sheila holds a Bachelor of Arts from Boston University and a master’s degree from C.W. Post College. She resides in Monmouth Beach, New Jersey with her husband and goldendoodle. She also has two children, who share her passion for travel, technology and sports.

Irene Chua

Vice President and Group Publisher

Irene Chua leads Northstar Travel Group in Asia as VP and Group Publisher. With over 20 years’ experience in the travel and tourism industry, Irene has a wide array of experience in media and broadcast companies, and travel organizations.

Based in Singapore, she joined Northstar in 2014 and established the brand name and recognition of Travel Weekly Asia, and led the charge by launching M&C Asia, M&C Asia Connections event, M&C Asia Stella Awards, Travel Weekly Asia’s Readers’ Choice Awards, and CruiseWorld Asia series of conferences. 

Prior to her current role, Irene accumulated a wealth of experience with CNBC Asia, Reed Business information Asia, South China Morning Post and Discovery Channel, which makes her a well-rounded expert in all media formats, including the events space.

Siew Hoon Yeoh

Founder and Managing Director, WiT

Siew Hoon has been covering the travel industry beat in Asia Pacific for decades, starting off as a rookie reporter and going on to lead and launch the region’s key industry media titles. In 2005, she founded WiT (Web in Travel) to tackle how technology was changing travel in Asia Pacific and created a new space in the fast-growing, dynamic region with a dedicated media and events platform. 

Over the years, she took WiT to new places, launching editions in Tokyo, Seoul, Middle East and Europe to keep the world’s attention focused on the three pillars of travel, technology and Asia. 

Following the acquisition by Northstar Travel Group in 2014, she led the launch of Travel Weekly Asia and M&C Asia and formed the editorial team to execute the entry of Northstar to Asia. 

Her work has been recognised by numerous institutions including the Singapore Tourism Board which recognised her as Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014. The WiT Singapore conference, which remains its tentpole event, has won several awards including Most Innovative Marketing Initiative and Trade Conference Of The Year. 

In 2020, WiT Singapore became the first travel conference to go fully hybrid, paving the way for a new model in events. 

Other than writing about travel, Siew Hoon is also a published author of titles such as “Around Asia In One Hour: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries”, children’s books such as “Adventures of Habibie The Turtle” and “The Story of Baitong and Boon” and host of “A Life In Travel” podcast. 

Shalise DeMott

Senior Vice President, Meetings & Sports Division Americas

Shalise DeMott is Senior Vice President of Northstar’s Meetings & Sports Division, where she leads strategy, operations, and revenue for a diverse portfolio of events, digital platforms, and custom marketing solutions that serve the global meetings, incentives, and sports-events industries.

Since joining Northstar in 2011, Shalise has helped shape Northstar’s growth by expanding its event portfolio and pioneering digital products that foster stronger connections between buyers and suppliers. With an entrepreneurial mindset, she has developed programs that deliver strong value to industry partners while reinforcing the company’s legacy products.

With more than 30 years of experience in media and events, Shalise is passionate about mentoring talent, fostering collaboration, and advancing Northstar’s role as the industry’s most trusted resource for meetings and events professionals.

She holds a BA in International Business, MBA with a specialization in Hospitality Management and maintains the Certified Meeting Planner designation. Based in South Florida, Shalise enjoys traveling with her family and spending time on the water.