Meet Your 2026 Summit Speakers

Lisa Bauer is President and CEO of Starboard Cruise Services, the world's leading vacation retailer at sea, proudly serving 14 global cruise line partners, and its sister company, Onboard Media, the leading provider of media solutions for the worldwide travel and hospitality industry. Both companies are part of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton group, the world’s leading luxury provider.

Lisa is an accomplished travel industry leader passionate about driving retail customer experience through innovation. She holds an enviable track record in the airline, hotel, cruise and leisure travel sectors. Among numerous honors received, Lisa was selected as one of the Most Powerful Women in Travel by Travel Agent Magazine; awarded Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Florida by The Commonwealth Institute and named among the Top Women in Travel & Hospitality by Women Leading Travel & Hospitality.

Throughout her career, Lisa has served various leadership positions across a multitude of industries, such as the Vice President of Onboard Experience at Delta Airlines, Executive Vice President of Global Operations and Chief Operating Officer for International Cruise & Excursions, Inc. (ICE), a global travel and leisure company with a worldwide network of innovative travel alliances, and Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at Royal Caribbean International, overseeing worldwide marketing and revenue management.

Over the years, Lisa has been involved with charitable causes, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida, for nine years.

Matt Cornelius joined ACI-NA in November 2012 and is currently Executive Vice President. Since joining ACI-NA, Matt has served in various positions and has been essential in strengthening our relationship with U.S. Customs and Border Protection as well as leading key initiatives to improve airport operators’ standing in commercial aviation.

Cornelius oversees ACI-NA’s regulatory work, the ACI-NA committee system and serves as the committee secretary to the ACI-NA U.S. International Air Service Program. His aviation industry experience has allowed him to provide insight and support for many issues including U.S., Canadian and international aviation regulations, air service development, international bilateral air service issues, airport/airline business relations, passenger facilitation and more.

Matt has served several terms as a member of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection User Fee Advisory Committee and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness. He served as the co-chair of the FAA’s Aviation Rulemaking Committee on UAS Detection and Mitigation Systems, which delivered recommendations to the FAA on Counter UAS policies in January 2024. Prior to joining ACI-NA, Matt served as Airline Affairs Manager with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. He also held roles in Frontier Airlines’ finance and commercial strategy departments and worked in airport operations at Denver International Airport. He began his career with the aviation department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where he held various positions in the central office and in airport operations at JFK International Airport.

Cornelius is a graduate of Villanova University, with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and also holds an MBA from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Dermot Davitt is one of travel retail’s most experienced editors and commentators. He joined what was then The Moodie Report in April 2006 as Deputy Publisher, becoming President in August 2015. He manages the company’s flourishing digital and magazine division and plays a key leadership role on the industry’s leading B2B website, MoodieDavittReport.com. Previously Dermot spent ten years at Duty-Free News International, six of them as Editor-in-Chief.
Based in Galway, Ireland, Dermot is a highly experienced conference moderator. He has chaired and facilitated many of the travel retail industry’s leading events over the years, including The Trinity Forum, The Airport Food & Beverage Conference and Awards, the TFWA Asia Pacific Conference, MEADFA, plus Summit of the Americas and ASUTIL conference sessions, along with many others.

Amy Del Gatto is a seasoned leader in cruise retail and luxury brand engagement, with over 18 years of experience spanning shipboard operations, premium retail strategy, and global brand development. Her career began onboard luxury cruise lines, where she drove high value sales and events for prestigious brands across spa, art, port & onboard retail. She went on to lead shoreside advertising, promotions, and category driven retail initiatives for cruise and airport channels, shaping 360° brand activations and elevating luxury storytelling at scale. Today, as Global lead for Diageo’s cruise retail business, Amy oversees growth strategies and innovation, delivering premium guest experiences and market leading performance for some of the world’s most iconic brands.

Rafael Echevarne is the Director General of Airports Council International – Latin America and the Caribbean (ACILAC). Previously he was CEO of Montego Bay Airport, Jamaica, and held positions in international organizations and airport companies in Europe, Australasia and the Middle East, specialising in airport economic regulation, privatisation and infrastructure and business development. 

Rafael holds a PhD in Air Transport Economics from Cranfield University, UK. 

Ekaterina “Kate” Herzig is Executive Vice President, Duty Free North America & Canada Operations, of Avolta, the leading global travel retail and food & beverage player. Kate assumed this role in June 2023 following the business combination between Dufry and Autogrill, parent companies of Hudson and HMSHost, respectively. In this role, she heads operations for all duty free stores across the U.S. and Canada and also manages Avolta’s Canadian duty paid business. 

Kate has over three decades of experience spanning international beauty, luxury, fast- moving consumer goods, food and beverage, QSR, and travel retail. Her experience includes eight years at the Nuance and Dufry Group where she held key executive positions across multiple countries. As the Managing Director for Duty Free and Duty Paid Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, and Global Managing Director for Retail Services and Distribution. Kate led by example, spearheading transformative projects and pioneering consumer-centric concepts. Her visionary approach resulted in elevating the customer experience through embracing digitalization and driving innovation within the industry.

Her previous roles include Corporate Vice President Strategy and Alignment for McDonald's International, where she played a pivotal role in collaborating the company's strategy, innovation, and growth across internationally operated markets, as well as global and regional leadership positions at Marionnaud - A.S. Watson Luxury Group.

Beyond her professional achievements, Kate has actively contributed to various boards and initiatives, empowering talented women and minorities, fostering inclusive environments through global DE&I boards and advisory committees. She also collaborated with the United Nations to raise awareness about sustainable development goals, reaching 2 billion travelers during her time at Dufry.

With a BBA from the International University in Geneva, an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and an Advanced Diploma in European Board of Directors Governance from French ESSEC Business School, Kate's commitment to personal and professional growth remains steadfast.

As an Executive-in-Residence at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and at the Swiss Association of MBAs, Kate shares her wisdom and experiences, providing invaluable mentorship to alumni and current MBA students, fostering economic empowerment for the next generation of leaders.

Brent Jenkins, Director of Retail & Port Shopping at Carnival Cruise Line. With more than two decades of experience in the cruise industry, Brent brings deep expertise in retail strategy, partner collaboration, and guest experience enhancement.
In his current role, Brent leads Carnival’s global retail and port shopping operations across a fleet of 29 ships, overseeing both in-house and partner programs. His leadership and operational focus play a key role in delivering engaging and memorable shopping experiences for millions of guests each year.
Prior to joining Carnival, Brent held senior roles with Royal Caribbean, The PPI Group, and Diamonds International, building a broad and well-rounded perspective on cruise retail operations.

Anna was born and raised in Italy. She is a mother of a son and a daughter. Anna always loved traveling, and studied in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Canada, before gaining working experience for various communication agencies in Germany, until finally settling in Switzerland. She holds a Master of Science in Management, with specialization in Marketing, from the prestigious HEC Business School in Switzerland. Additionally to Italian, she also speaks English, German and Spanish. After joining m1nd-set in 2018, she worked as a project manager for various global key accounts. In 2020, Anna was promoted to Head of Business Development. She is also responsible for all Marketing and PR activities, and is often invited to speak at Travel Retail and Travel related Conferences around the world.

Peter has a Norwegian passport, is a passionate father of four children, loves travelling around the world, has visited over 70 countries (and counting), and to play golf, tennis or mountain bike in the Swiss mountains whenever time allows. Peter has lived and worked in six countries and speaks German, English, Swedish and Dutch. Peter has a Ph.D. in Business Psychology from the renowned University of Göttingen, Germany. After his academic career, he has been working in market research on the agency side. He worked for research and consulting agencies such as The Gallup Organization, TNS Infratest, DemoSCOPE and P. Robert and Partners. He has been in executive-level industry positions (CEO, Executive Board Member) since over 20 years. After extensive business experience, Peter co-created m1nd-set in 2007, and is now the 100% owner and CEO of the company. Additionally, he is one of the most frequent speakers at travel retail industry events in Europe, Middle East and Asia, as well as in North and South America. Peter has been selected as the Swiss country representative for ESOMAR (the world's leading Market Research Organization) for six years. 

As a seasoned leader with nearly three decades of experience in global travel retail, Pat brings a wealth of expertise to the board. Currently serving as Senior Vice President of Harding+ US, he oversees the company’s retail operations across the United States, working in close collaboration with key cruise line partners to drive growth and success in the region.

Pat’s career in travel retail began with Aer Rianta International, the esteemed Irish travel retailer, where he held a variety of international roles in markets such as Moscow, Egypt, Bahrain, and Barbados. These global assignments allowed him to develop a deep understanding of duty-free and travel retail operations, as well as the complexities of diverse cultural and business landscapes.

An advocate for innovation and excellence, Pat is deeply committed to the evolving role of luxury goods in travel retail, continually challenging industry norms to enhance the guest experience. He is also a passionate supporter of talent development, mentoring emerging leaders and championing the essential contributions of frontline teams aboard Harding+ ships.

John Price is a veteran of Latin America & Caribbean market consulting and one of the leading public speakers and thought leaders on issues related to the region’s business climate.  Since 1993, John and his teams have led over 4,000 consulting engagements in LAC markets, spanning a variety of sectors including: payments, logistics, e-commerce, mining, energy, infrastructure, banking, healthcare, technology, hospitality, education, consumer services, industrial, agribusiness, and professional services. 

John’s consulting career began in Mexico where he founded InfoAmericas, becoming the largest independent market intelligence firm in Latin America.  The firm was sold in 2007 to Kroll, the world’s largest corporate investigations firm and John launched Kroll’s first market intelligence practice.  In 2011, John left Kroll and founded Americas Market Intelligence with offices in Miami, Mexico City, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Medellin, Sao Paulo, and Santiago with affiliates located in another 18 Latin American and Caribbean markets. 

In 2023, John launched Horizontes, a Latin America leadership forum.  Among its functions is to bring together the highest ranking LatAm executives of large companies across dozens of industries in eight private meetings per year.  The public forum of Horizontes informs thousands of LatAm business, academic and government leaders with select readings and a podcast, led by John.   

John has published over 200 articles on Latin American business trends and maintains a column in the region’s largest circulated regional business magazine, Latin Trade.  In 2007, John Price co-wrote and co-edited “Can Latin America Compete?”, which was published by Palgrave.  John teaches as an adjunct professor at Florida International University and a guest lecturer at the University of Miami.  

John is a former board member of Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos, a LatAm orphanage network and an active board member of the Canadian Council of the Americas. He is also a keen supporter of El Techo, an innovative charity that builds sturdy homes in Latin American slums.  John is a BComm graduate (1988) from Queen’s University in Canada.  He is fluent in English and Spanish and somewhat conversant in German and French. 
 

Miguel Ruiz is the CEO of Lagardère Travel Retail Peru, where he leads the group’s operations across all business lines, including Duty-Free, Foodservice, and Convenience stores.

With over a decade of experience, Miguel has a complete 360-degree background in retail. His career spans leadership roles in shopping malls, food chains, and travel retail, giving him a unique command of both local market dynamics and the specialized international travel sector.
Before being appointed CEO, he served as the company’s Commercial and Marketing Director, driving brand growth and market expansion. Today, he focuses on delivering operational excellence and innovation across the entire Lagardère portfolio in the region.

Andy is an airport concessions industry thought leader with more than 26 years’ experience planning, developing, and managing airport dining and shopping programs at more than 40 North American airports. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Airport Restaurant & Retail Association, the trade association of U.S. airport restaurant and retail concessionaires. ARRA’s mission is to collaborate with the airport community to promote sound business policies that help concessions businesses achieve financial success as they elevate the travel experience. 

Prior to ARRA, Andy worked at Paradies Lagardère, Hojeij Branded Foods, and led the retail practice of Unison Consulting. Andy has BA and Master of Management degrees from Northwestern University.