Muna Haddad is the founding CEO of BARAKA, a social enterprise in sustainable tourism development that provides consulting services for governments, NGOs, and private sector looking to utilize tourism as an economic development tool. BARAKA operates Baraka Destinations, a cluster of community owned, locally embedded tourism experiences in secondary tourism destinations including two bed and breakfasts that offer a unique taste and experience of Jordan’s villages.

Muna has been contributing new models of community-based tourism, revitalizing secondary tourism destinations in 9 countries, engaging women in rural areas in the workforce and developing community driven micro-enterprises that are creating thousands of jobs and restoring dignity to marginalized communities. Muna is the Founding President of the Jordan Trail Association, and was instrumental in the creation of the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan.

She sits on the board of the Global Ecotourism Network, bringing the world’s regional and national ecotourism associations, networks and destinations, together with indigenous and rural peoples, global operators, professionals and academics, to grow the industry, provide advocacy, encourage thought leadership and innovation, and add greater authenticity to ecotourism. She is the recipient of the Tourism Cares Agent of Change Award and King Abdullah Bin Al Hussein Royal Decoration of the Second Degree for excellence and recently Business Woman of the Year in Jordan.

Tumediso Anicia Mbanga is the Founder and Managing Director of Comfort Palace Guesthouses. She has over 10 years of experience in the tourism industry, and holds a Diploma in Mathematics Education and she is currently pursuing a Bachelor degree in business administration leadership and change management.

She has served on the boards of various organisations in Botswana such as The Botswana Qualification Authority as a member, the City of Francistown Council’s Trade Licencing board as a Chairperson, and the City of Francistown Council’s Liquour Appeals board as a Chairperson. She is also a member of Business Botswana and Local Enterprise Authority.

In addition to her impressive career, Mrs. Mbanga is a dedicated and passionate community leader, using her platform to make a positive impact in Botswana. She is committed to improving the lives of those in her community through education, economic development, and social justice initiatives. She is a role model for other women in business.

Mr. Liang Wang is the Resident Representative of the World Bank for Botswana since 2022. Based in Gaborone, Mr. Wang leads the World Bank’s engagement in Botswana that includes an active lending portfolio, a vibrant knowledge partnership and a dynamic dialogue with the government and a wide range of stakeholders.

Mr. Wang brings more than fifteen years of experience working at the World Bank across regions globally and the headquarters in Washington DC. He was the coordinator for the China, Korea and Mongolia country program—one of the largest programs at the World Bank from 2019-2022.

Prior to that, Liang worked on the operational policy of the International Development Association—the concessional financing window of the World Bank, led tasks to formulate the World Bank’s country strategies in Tanzania, Burundi, Guinea Bissau and Burkina Faso, and advised the Managing Director of the World Bank overseeing the Bank’s operations in Africa, South Asia, and Europe and Central Asia regions.

A Chinese national, Mr. Wang holds graduate degrees from the University of Hong Kong and the George Washington University.

The Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC) at The Grand Palm Resort is an award winning conference centre which offers a variety of venues from small to large, high-end support and a business centre for essential business services.

Whatever your event requirements are – be it Exhibitions, Conferences, Product Launches, Corporate Functions, Live Shows, Weddings and more, the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC) at The Grand Palm Resort is the place to be. Botswana’s award-winning conference centre offers a variety of venues from small to large, high-speed internet WiFi and a business centre for essential business services. This world-class conference centre offers uninterrupted power supply and banqueting facilities for up to 1 800 delegates.

The GICC also has extensive technical resources and is equipped with state of the art audio visual equipment including multi-media capabilities and flexible lighting designed to suit all needs. Peermont Walmont Hotels also houses two venues that can accommodate 100 to 250 people respectively.

Kagiso Koyabe is a development and finance professional with over ten years of professional experience in the financial services sector and development. Often this included the assessment of not only individual companies, institutions and sectors, as well as analysing the conditions of businesses in Botswana across various sectors, to shape and influence the design of policies, strategies and intervention programmes for improved competitiveness. This has in recent times, been integral to developing new initiatives and programmes to further support the growth and competitiveness of the private sector and its support services.

As Coordinator of SMME Development under the EDF funded, Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) Botswana, he assisted in designing and delivering specific programmed interventions to meet strategic challenges regarding day-to-day operations of small medium and micro enterprises and community-based organisations. This included coordinating technical consultants on projects in various parts of the country to ensure effective and impactful service delivery on projects, within budget and aligned to respective objectives. This opportunity also provided the opportunity to work alongside international experts from organisations such as the International Trade Centre – Geneva, International Labour Organisation – Pretoria (ILO), African Development Bank (AfDB) as well as regional non-for-profit organisation Phyto-Trade Africa, resulting in the publication of a series of 8 Value Chain studies and other business development tools.

As Technology Entrepreneurship Advisor for the Acceleration component of the Botswana Innovation Hub’s First Steps Venture Centre, Mr. Koyabe continued to play the liaison role between the organisation and regional and international partners and collaborators who share the development objective of catalysing economic prosperity through mainstreaming innovation and innovative processes in businesses and programmes. This included support and coordination of the regional Southern African Innovation Collective (SAIC) Boost Up Regional Innovation Pitch Programme from 2020 through 2023. Other notable partnerships maintained during this time include; Venture Capital for Africa (VC4A) Mentor Driven Capital Start-up Mentorship programme, The UNDP Youth Connekt, ITC Ye! Youth entrepreneurship programme as well as supporting the operationalisation of the World Bank IBP Platform.

Mr. Koyabe holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Econometric & Economics from the University of Johannesburg

Marcela Lizarraga serves as WTTC Director of Engagement and Projects based in London. In her role, Ms. Lizarraga is responsible for the Engagement with WTTC Members, plans, and all special projects, including Strategic Partnerships.

WTTC represents the global Travel and Tourism private sector. For 30 years we have been quantifying the impact of Travel & Tourism in 185 countries in our Research. WTTC Research highlights the economic value of Travel & Tourism, fair economic policies for the sector, and long-term sustainable growth.

Ms. Lizarraga joined WTTC in 2021, following a 25+ year career in the travel and tourism industry in various executive roles with Expedia and Sabre, based in several countries. Ms. Lizarraga has an Executive MBA from the University of Texas, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the Anahuac University.