>  Current work:

»  I have been working as the International Media Relations Officer for the Quito Visitors' Bureau since January 2007.

I have worked for the organisation for three years, editing their website and the monthly newsletter in English, but took on a more permanent role in 2007.

For personal news, go here


&   PIPELINE
PROJECTS

I've had an extemely busy time. There's everything to do. But there is a great feeling that Quito is gaining a place on the tourism and media map, and it's an exciting place to be right now. For example, the city made the New York Times Travel "Places to Go in 2008" in December - a great seal of approval from a world authority.

In 2007-8, I have worked in conjunction with the Bureau's representation company in the UK, copywriting for both advertorial and advertising, working on online seminars, attending trade and consumer shows, and liaising with journalists.

I worked on various Bureau promotional projects in the travel industry in the United States and Canada, including a roadshow titled 'Meet Ecuador' in May, and its second part 'See Ecuador' in October. I was also part of the 'Meet Ecuador' roadshow in May 2008 (see photos here). I was responsible for putting together the presentation on Ecuador given by Pancho Dousdebes. All were regarded great successes.

I worked with my colleagues helping various journalists, travel writers, photographers and film crews who came through the city. The most important of these was probably Travel Channel's 'Passport to Latin America with Samantha Brown'. For more on that, go here. To read this year's press releases, go here.

I put a lot of energy and thought into the city's promotional website. We restructured and reworked the whole thing this year, triplicating the content and hopefully making it a) far more easy to find information, and b) far more inspirational. The new site went live in September. It receives nearly 1,000 visitors a day.
My hope is that it will rank among one of the best 'official' websites worldwide, with great navigation, search capabilities and a degree of interactivity not usually found on such websites. I have great plans for its future.


»  Writing text for a forthcoming book by Ecuadorian photographer Anamaría Chediak on the flowers and flower farms of Ecuador, titled 'Bloom'.



»  Insight Guides: recently-published new edition of their Ecuador guide which I worked on.

»  Tour leading: I have led various tours in Ecuador and the Galapagos over the last years. Due to my work with the Visitors' Bureau, I won't be leading many tours now, apart from for alumni tours for Cambridge, Oxford and Leicester universities run by IMA. In February 2008, I lead an alumni tour to Antarctica. See images here.