EMEA CHRIE President’s Message 2026-27

To the Amazing EMEA CHRIE Community,

First and foremost, thank you for placing your confidence and trust in me to lead this incredible federation over the next year.

As the first full-term President of EMEA CHRIE, I don’t take this responsibility lightly.  Even though the federation name changed at the beginning of this year, I promise to keep the history of EuroCHRIE shining brightly as the backdrop to all that we will do.

As a long-term member of this organization, I bring with me the rich history and knowledge of where we’ve been – and my goal is to use that to guide usforward.

I wish to begin with a sincere thank you to Yasemin Oruc, our Immediate Past President, for the incredible work she did this past year.  She has handed over the reins in immaculate condition, and my goal is to add to the amazing foundation she profoundly strengthened as President.

I would also like to welcome our new Vice President Ivan Ninov who comes into the role after several outstanding years as Treasurer.  I am really looking forward to putting our minds together to move the federation forward.

And to our new Treasurer, Pasi Tuominen, welcome!  While Pasi is no stranger to the board as he has been the Area Consultant for Finland for many years, I’m genuinely excited to have him as a part of the Executive Committee.

I am very fortunate that there was very little change otherwise within the board for this upcoming year as amazing contributors including Ariane Lengyel (Secretary), Cindy Heo (Director of Research), Kateryna Fedosova (Director of Marketing), Kader Sanlioz-Ozgen (Director of Membership), Amanda Miller (Director of Education), Maroun Aouad (Director of Conferences & Networking), George Ubbelohde (Director of Industry Relations), and Ed Kastli (Director at Large) all remained in their roles.  And we continue to boast the best team of Area Consultants, now totaling 21 from around the EMEA region!

A special thank you also to Florian Aubke, who marked 10 full years of dedication to the board as he completed his time as Immediate Past President.

I am a bit of a unique President in that I come from industry.  While I have worked closely with academia over the past 15 years through my role with Russell Partnership Technology, through facilitating the annual EMEA CHRIE University Challenge, and through being an adjunct lecturer, my feet are planted primarily in the amazing and rich hospitality industry.  I feel strongly that this will position me well as I focus on how to develop more relationships between industry and academia.

The mission of our federation is such an important one: To provide a network for educators from hospitality, tourism, and event management programs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in which they can connect and share best practices relating to teaching, learning, and research.  One of my goals in this upcoming year is to ensure that we align this mission with our ever-evolving industry and ensure that everything we’re doing is with an eye toward best preparing students to head out into industry and showcasing to industry the value of all that we’re doing in academia to provide them with amazing talent.

Looking back on the past year, our incredible annual conference in The Hague, hosted by Hotelschool the Hague, provided members and prospective members alike with those very opportunities.  I have every confidence that this fall’s conference in Dubai (www.emeachrie2026.org), hosted by Dubai College of Tourism, will do likewise.  Registration is open!  I hope to see you there.

Thank you once again for this amazing opportunity. I look forward to listening to you, learning from you, and leading you.

With warm regards,

Heidi Anaya

President of EMEA CHRIE