Strategy
Linking
Development
Story
Content
Communications
Media
Marketing
Sustainability
What We Do
We think big. We hate mediocrity. Seek breakthroughs.
Step off the path. Defy convention. See what others don’t. We give you the ideas you always wanted. We help you think for yourself.
Almont Global works worldwide in the field of development and marketing support for all players in the luxury tourism and lifestyle sectors, including (but not limited to) state and federal ministries, destination marketing organisations, hotel owners and operators, travel service providers and all peripheral luxury industries.
We only work with others who, like us, truly want to make the world a better place.
About Us
The company offers support to destination marketing organisations, hotel owners and operators, tourism organisations and peripheral luxury industries. Almont Global combines the assets of three top figures in the travel industry with a network of service providers that are without equal in the industry. The expertise of the three managing partners stretches well beyond a century.
Richard Barnes is founder and owner of Barnes Media International, and editor-in-chief at Cleverdis – producers of a host of travel trade show dailies for such keynote events as ITB Berlin, ITB Asia, ITB China, or IFTM Paris, and is editor-in-chief of the Travel and Tourism SMARTreport. An Australian journalist with over 40 years’ experience, he has also overseen numerous Cleverdis consulting missions for such partners as European Travel Commission, Tourism Malaysia, Sarawak, Atout France, and the Islands of Tahiti. Barnes is a two-time winner of Australia’s Pater Award for radio journalism.
Mary Gostelow is the face behind luxury travel’s annual “Nobel”, the Gostelow Award, from International Luxury Travel Market ILTM. Since 2016, this unique accolade has also been given to such icons as Matthew Upchurch, Chairman of Virtuoso, and Valerie Wilson, of the eponymous travel advisory. Mary Gostelow is global ambassador for ILTM. She is owner-editor of the monthly Gostelow Report global luxury hospitality market intelligence briefing. She has weekly columns in HOTELS online, and on LATTE, reaching Australasian luxury advisors, and, monthly, on Travel Market Report, predominantly for the USA luxury advisory sector.
Yuriy Horovyy is CEO of Almont Travel – a luxury and VIP travel management company that provides bespoke services to high-level business and leisure clients worldwide. His team organises exclusive tailor-made VIP travel to the world’s most exclusive hotels and exotic destinations thanks to the fact that Almont is a proud member of the exclusive Virtuoso network, giving unparalleled access and a wealth of resources. Almont Travel offers highly bespoke luxury services to highest-level business and leisure clients worldwide.“For several years, in my talks with owners and senior executives of hospitality companies, destination marketing organisations and receptive agents, it has become increasingly evident that there is a need for knowledgeable unbiased high-end advice and support when it comes to development, marketing and communication. By bringing Richard Barnes and Mary Gostelow, along with an extraordinary Advisory Board, into this equation, Almont Global offers a combination of talents and contacts that I believe are without equal in the industry” – Yuriy Horovyy – founder and director.
Advisory Board
Almont Global’s strengths come not only from its three founders, but also from an extraordinary gathering of the world’s most brilliant brains in diverse industry sectors:
Filip Boyen – Filip is CEO of Forbes Travel Guide – the only global, independent luxury ratings association that offers objective, professional incognito evaluations to determine the very best properties in the world. Alongside ratings and training, Forbes Travel Guide also offers quality assessments, visiting hotels as often as every month to offer instant feedback on service standards. Boyen was previously CEO of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Filip’s entire career has centred around luxury service culture and what that entails. “I believe that it always starts with people”, says Filip, adding, “Culture is the people, their attitudes, behaviours, and beliefs.”
Costas Christ – Costas is no doubt the most prominent figure in the world when it comes to defining and promoting sustainable tourism and CSR. Founder and President of Beyond Green Travel, Costas has gained many titles: Ecotourism Pioneer, Sustainable Tourism Visionary, Award-Winning National Geographic Travel Writer – to name a few – and his life’s work has helped shape the world of travel and tourism as we know it today. Costas has served as a top advisor to CEOs, philanthropists, tourism ministers and heads of state, helping companies and countries achieve success based on a business model of doing well by doing good. He was honoured as an “Eco Warrior” together with Dr Jane Goodall, CNN founder Ted Turner, and oceanographer Sylvia Earle, and was also recognised as a “Tourism Visionary” by the International Restaurant and Hotel Awards.
Susie Ellis – Susie is chairman and CEO of the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), and heads up the organisation’s annual Global Wellness Summit and Global Wellness Tourism Congress. Recognised as one of the leading authorities on the multi-sector wellness industry, she is frequently cited in major global publications, from the New York Times to the Financial Times. Ellis is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne; a member of the Spa Advisory Board for the University of California, Irvine, Spa and Hospitality Management Program; and on the Aspen Brain Forum Board of Advisors.
Michel Gicquel – For two decades, Michel was a key player working with the Accor group. Engineer, architect, interior architect, designer, he designed and carried out emblematic projects around the world and it was in this capacity that he was asked, by the founding presidents of the Accor group, to become “Global Director of Artistic Design” for the Group – a position he held for 20 years. This unique experience allowed Gicquel to conceive and oversee the construction or renovation of some of the world’s most beautiful properties (Old Cataract, Scribe, Winter Palace, Santa Clara, etc.), Sofitel (New York, London, Rio, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Beijing, Los Angeles, Vienna,…) in more than 100 countries. Michel is also Vice President – Innovations & Design for Almont Global.
Fraser Hickox – Executive Director of the exclusive conceptual:™group, serving as a Director of both the unique conceptual:hotels™, and specialist conceptual:™hospitality services where he is also a principal consultant. The former Group General Manager of Research and Technology for The Peninsula Hotels is a noted hospitality technology visionary, innovator and pioneer. Across 3 decades with The Peninsula Hotels, he has been behind the introduction of a number of hotel industry technology innovations since the mid-1980s – from the first hotel with a computer and internet access in every room, to sophisticated and intuitive bed-side panels, among various unique in-room technologies that complement rather than compete with the design and ambiance.
Edie Rodriguez – Edie is a Member of the Board and a decisive leader with 35+ years’ experience in the global cruise, travel, hospitality, luxury and technology industries. She is recognized as an expert and thought leader in the luxury and travel sectors with a strong financial acumen and broad-based sales, marketing, including social and digital, distribution channels, and operations experience. Ms. Rodriguez sits on the board of Rand Corporation Center for Global Risk and Security (CGRS) and she is actively involved in the global travel industry where she has served on the Board of Directors of the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), and is currently on Robb Reports Private Aviation Board, Air France’s Advisory Board for French Tourism and is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the Promotion Marketing Association.
Preferred Partners
World Travel Essential
New weekly podcast ‘cuts to the chase’ in the Global Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Sectors.
Introducing World Travel Essential – WTE for short – the brand-new, time-saving podcast from world-covering London-based Almont Global. Every Tuesday, a new edition covers everything travel professionals need to know, accurately, on luxury in travel, hospitality, and in a broader sense…
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