American Express, BellSouth, Boise, Disney and Hilton are some of the successes on the list of companies Lawrence Hefler has branded.
Founder of BrandShares International and Hefler International, he has more than 20-year-long experience in marketing and company branding. Branding, marketing and the establishment of close relations with customers is not only a science, it is an art, Hefler says. He continues to provide consultations for companies of various profile.
His biggest successes in marketing include Disney Vacation Development and Hilton, which, thanks to his projects, have improved their financial performance several times through combined use of the Internet, direct sales and telemarketing.
In 2006, Hefler set up BrandShares International – a company operating exclusively in the hospitality industry. He supports the “green” hotels cause and helps traditional hotels cope with the challenges of the new time. He takes part in international conferences dealing with environmental protection, promotion of eco-hotels and the new products they create.

Theme of the presentation: Branding of eco-hotels as an instrument to gain marketing advantages on the market.
Why to be eco? What are the advantages of eco-hotels? Is branding suitable for eco-hotels? Is the money put in building eco-hotels or environmentally managed hotels an investment or waste of funds? How to turn the investments in the establishment of environmentally managed hotels into a marketing advantage? Lawrence Hefler will provide answers to all these questions.

Juergen E. Seidel, Group Director of Property Maintenance, Engineer &Innovation in Six Senses Resorts&SPAs

He oversees all properties' engineering departments and supporting projects, energy and environment, Green Globe® 21 benchmarking and certification, plus new project development, construction and openings. His responsibilities also include his role as project leader of zero carbon emissions for the group and the Green Globe® 21 Spa benchmarking and certification process development.
Juergen joined Six Senses in 2002 focusing on the Evason properties in Thailand and Vietnam.
Prior to joining Six Senses, Juergen was project manager for Siemens Ltd Thailand - Power Transmission & Distribution, following a stint as Risk Survey Engineer for AON/Alexander & Alexander on the Bangkok BTS Skytrain and the MRTA subway system projects. He has held roles as Chief Engineer at Banyan Tree Phuket & Allamanda Phuket, Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Bangkok and was Director of Engineering at Hotel Sofitel Raja Orchid in Khon Kaen.
Perhaps a company like Six Senses Resorts&SPAs does not need presentation. In the hospitality industry it is fabled for combining successfully five-star services and luxury with the strict observance of environmental standards and protection of the environment.
Maybe the secret is that the comfort the hotel chain provides is never at the expense of nature. The company manages some 20 luxury vacation hotels in the Maldives, Thailand, Vietnam, Fiji, Oman and Spain. It has become emblematic for using recycled materials, energy saving technologies, biofoods and beverages and so on.

Theme of the presentation: The experience of Six Senses Resorts&SPAs in protection of the environment and introduction of environment-friendly technologies.

Zoritsa Stavreva, Executive Director of the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism (BAAT).

For her seven years at BAAT, Zoritsa Stavreva has taken part in a number of projects concerning eco-tourism. She is a consultant on the development of standards, training programmes and strategies for the promotion of eco-tourism.
She has lectured at over ten training workshops and seminars. She has spoken at international conferences and congresses on the development of tourism: the Second Congress on Rural Tourism in Yalta (Ukraine), Traditional Architecture in the Balkans in Veria (Greece), Investments in Tourism – Development of Regional Entrepreneurship in Istanbul (Turkey), First European Congress on Rural Tourism in Jaen (Spain), International Conference on the Revival of Crafts in Skopje (Macedonia).
She authored a series of publications on eco- and rural tourism.

Theme of the presentation: Bulgarian Eco-hotels: a challenge in near future.

The lecturer will discuss the concept about eco-hotels in Bulgaria and to what extent their definition is in line with the meaning of the term. Effective use of water and energy, environment-friendly land use, informational servicing of visitors, environment-friendly transport, what is expected to happen in regard to the introduction of eco-practices in Bulgaria – the attendees can learn all this and a lot more from BAAT Executive Director Zornitsa Stavreva.

Consultant and professor for company management and agritourism, educational farms, rural tourism and typical local products, he is a founder of Fattorie Faggioli - an educational farm which focuses on rural activities and hospitality. During his presentation Fausto Faggioli will give the focus on: what are the advantages of having a holiday in green hotel, what we should do to ensure the well-organized stay of our guests and what additional services and activities we could propose to them.
"It is important that together with the accommodation one should offer to the clients a special treatment, culture and knowledge for the locality where the hotel premises are situated", explained Faggioli.
Through "Fattorie Faggioli" he aims to combine ancient traditions and culture together with an entrepreneurial approach for territorial management, which includes valorisation of the local area with its typical products and the revival of local traditions.
Apart of being green hotel the "Fattorie Faggioli" is a base for educational courses, seminars and trainings. Fausto Faggioli is also teaching professor in several universities, agencies and institutes in Italy and abroad. The Fattorie Faggioli has received recognition from European Union organizations as a role model company.

Theme of the presentation: How to set up a “farm” or a green hotel for bio, agro- and ecotourism. Whom it is designed for? What the tourists in these type of acomodations are attracted by and what are their expectations?

Boyan Rashev is managing partner at d e n k s t a t t Bulgaria - a consulting company of unique format which provides services in the area of sustainable development and environment management.
His consultancy experience extends from water and resource management to climate changes, environmental conservation and environment management systems.
He has expertise with environmental non-governmental organizations, company consulting and international projects. He believes that the power of business can be used to find profitable solutions to current and future challenges.
The establishment of d e n k s t a t t Bulgaria gave him the opportunity to apply his approach for the achievement of sustainable development. Rashev is one of the first providers of strategic consultancy for the business and various organizations as to how to turn the commitment to the environment and corporate responsibility into an engine of growth.

Subject of the presentation: Boyan Rashev will offer some good ideas for mitigating the environmental impact of hotels by taking into account the realities in Bulgaria. Describing the concrete steps, the lecturer will outline the path to achievement of the label “eco-hotel” specifying each eco-level and its meaning.
The eco-certificate is neither the beginning nor the end of this process. The lecturer will discuss two basic scenarios representing the steps towards minimization of the environmental impact of a hotel: a) an existing hotel; b) a future hotel.

Denimila Dencheva has been a senior expert at the Preventive Activity Department, Section “Indutsrial Pollution Prevention”, of the Ministry of Environment and Waters since 2003. She worked at the Bioindication and Enmvrionmental Risk Department of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. She graduated from the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia in ecology and environmental conservation and specialized at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. She has experience in the application of the European Union regulations concerning the European Union’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and the Eco-Label Scheme.
She took part in the provision of training for ministries, municipalities, non-governmental, sectoral and business organizations in laying the foundations for development of environment-friendly practices in tourism and the application of the European legislation on the systems for environmental management. She has made a number of presentations and gave seminars on eco-labelling and EMAS focusing on the introduction and administration of the schemes by local governments.

Subject of the presentation: The step of responsible business toward the establishment of sustainable tourism with an emphasis on eco-labelling as an important element of eco-hotels. Presentation of the European Eco-label Scheme and the related marketing activities of the European Commission. The lecturer will answer the question “What does the eco-label prove and how your hotel will benefit from it?

Kamen Chipev, Director for Projects and Programmes, TIME EcoProjects Foundation

Kamen Chipev has been with the TIME Foundation for two years, working on projects related to various aspects of sustainable development – management of environment and waters, biological agriculture, environmental education. His activity focuses mainly on the promotion of voluntary environment management schemes – the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme of the European Union (EMAS), the Eco-Label Scheme, etc., thus helping institutions and businesses to apply the European environmental legislation.
Chipev believes that it is through the employment of voluntary approaches that an organization can demonstrate its commitment to a given cause – the major factor for success.

Subject of the presentation: The subject of the presentation is where and how funding could be found to finance an eco-hotel or structure. The participants will be briefed about an initiative of the TIME Foundation, the purpose of which is to construct an eco-building. A review will be made of the opportunities for financing at national and international level.

12 март,
Holiday Inn Sofia