Pooran Desai
Co-Founder of Bioregional and International Director of One Planet Communities
Pooran is an environmental entrepreneur, advisor, real estate developer and author.
In 1994, he co-founded, international environmental network, Bioregional Development Group. He has established for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises in sustainable farming, forestry, community energy, recycling & green real estate development.
In 1998, he drew together the partenership to construct Beddington Zero (fossil) Energy Development (BedZED) which remains the UK’s foremost eco-village where he lives and works.
He coined the term « One Planet Living » and has led Bioregional teams creating sustainability plans for over $30 billion of mixed-use developments, including in resorts and tourism, around the world : UK, France, Portugal, South Africa, UAE, China, Australia, Canada and USA. These include the branded « One Planet » destinations, Villages Nature (EuroDisney and Groupe Pierre et Vacances) in Paris and Singita Serengeti (a private wildlife conservation reserve and luxury safari destination in Tanzania).
Pooran is also a real estate developer, for example of the 172 unit One Brighton project in the UK – a zero carbon car-free development.
Pooran has co-authored or authored three books. His last book « One Planet Communities » was commissioned and published by John Wiley in November 2009.
Stefano Testa
Founder Architect of Leap Factory Architect (Italy)
Milan, 1966. Architect with a PhD in Interior Design. Stefano has taught Interior Design and Architecture and Urban Design at the School of Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano, and Industrial Design at the New Academy of Fine Arts (NABA) in Milan. Co-holder of Cliostraat, a multidisciplinary design office inclined to research and experimentation based in Turin since 1996 (www.cliostraat.com).
He founded LEAPfactory in 2012, to explore the contamination among his two souls: architecture design and mountain.
Mountains became his test-lab. The extreme conditions, the essential dialogue with a marvelous and strong nature, the loosening of human rules and customs - all this makes the alpine territory the best setting for renew the customs, by now unsuitable, of the traditional way of building. (
www.leapfactory.it)
Gérard André
President of TEMPO Hospitality Switzerland
Expert in the fields of Wellness and Tourism, Gérard brings with him an in-depth expertise in conceiving, launching and implementing health, water and sports-related projects. He is in charge of designing, programming and performing forward-looking operational and financial analysis, as well as establishing management models.
Gérard has over 25 years of experience in managing leading thermal and recreational baths in Andorra, Belgium, France and Switzerland. He has been involved in all phases of the development of these resorts, supervising their design and construction, coordinating operators and managing their launches. These facilities welcome over 1.5 million visitors every year and all are profitable. In addition to this, Gérard has provided consulting services to various projects and operational management in several countries.
Gérard was a French Foreign Trade Advisor and Vice-president of the Tourism Commission for many years and was the author of several reports for the French Minister of Tourism. He was involved in composing France’s tourism policy and managed all activities for the city of Vichy. He has equally been invited to give lectures at universities and specialised schools in higher education throughout France and Spain.
Gérard is French and holds a PhD in Law along with the French post-doctorate certification Docteur d’Etat in Political Science. He speaks French, English, Spanish and Catalan, and understands Portuguese.
David Nahon
3DEXPERIENCE Lab, Immersive Virtuality (iV) Director, Dassault Systèmes
David Nahon has been a pioneer in the commercial history of software solutions for VR, having directed the development of the first Immersive Room running on PCs (the SAS Cube in 2001) and the first commercial game engine for VR (Virtools VR Pack in 2003).
Since 1995, he has built dozens of immersive user experience for public exhibitions (begining with Z-A.net) and have been actively involved in the VR scientific community, giving him a highly qualified view on both technologies and human factors.
Within Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Lab, David incubates new business experiences, researching value in the 12 industries addressed by the group, leveraging the network of emerging technology partners he animates.
Gregory Pourrin
Managing Director of Paris Inn Group
"Passionate autodidact, my 15 years of professional experience in the hospitality industry remind me constantly that
rigour and determination are not only important — they are the keys to success."
Managing Director of Paris Inn Group since 2011 and member of the Executive Committee, Grégory Pourrin has built an innovating organisation and a growth strategy enabling this leader in hotel management and investment to successfully negotiate its move towards the more premium sector of the market as well as its entry into international markets.
Before joining Paris Inn Group, Grégory Pourrin held various positions in which he developed extensive and multi-skilled expertise in the hotel industry. He began his career as a Sales Manager at Compagnie Hôtelière des Alpes in 2000 before creating his own business in 2005, specialising in hotel and holiday residence marketing and services. He joined the Compagnie d'Hôtels Holding in 2008 as Deputy Managing Director.
Grégory Pourrin is a graduate of the Ecole Hôtelière Internationale Savoie-Leman.
Jean Bernard Falco
Director of AhTop
"It is not because things are difficult that we dare not, but because we do not dare that they are difficult. » (Sénèque)
Founder and Chairman of Paris Inn Group (2005), an asset management company of 32 hotels (4-5*) mainly located in Paris. With 1000 associates and €80M annual turnover in 2015 the company plans to reach 1 billion within the next 15 years.
Founder of a hotel investment vehicle to deploy “Maison Albar” brand ($1billion)
Co-founder and President of an Association for Professionalism in Hospitality and Tourism (30,000 members).The objective is to provide a professional service and high-quality accommodations in order to welcome 110 million tourists in France in 2020
Founder of the 1st Sino-French JV with “Plateno Group” in order to manage 150 five star boutique hotels in Asia (2014)
Winner of the “PALME DE L’HÔTELIER” trophy (2014)
Nomination as Federator of the “Tourism Export Industry” by the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs and International Development (2014)
Founder of a JV with MORGAN STANLEY REI (Parisian hotel investment fund of €250M in 2013)
Founder of a JV with PGIM (Prudential) - Parisian hotel investment fund of €60M in 2011
Partner and CEO of a company specialized in Parisian hotel transactions
Member of the National Chamber of Expert Financial Advisers : 2002-2005
Consular Judge in the Commercial Courts of Paris (2009-2013)
Coach of a 130-member group to run the 2016 New York Marathon (employees and partners)
Winner of the “Best Hotel and Tourism resort” Award at 2017 MIPIM
