Alexandria, VA (December 15, 2011) — GBTA is pleased to announce the creation of a new position within the Association to support GBTA’s ongoing commitment to providing a buyer-led association to a global market. 

Welf J. Ebeling will serve as the new regional director of GBTA Asia.  Ebeling previously was the managing partner of the Syngenuity Group, LLC, a worldwide network of hospitality and technology experts founded in 2009.  Prior to this, Ebeling was executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO) of The Leading Hotels of the World, where he joined in 2000 after having been a board member of the company since the early 1990’s.  During his time as COO, Ebeling was instrumental in transforming the company from a not-for-profit club into a highly profitable organization, as well as establishing a number of subsidiary companies.  Also, Ebeling played an instrumental role in The Leading Green Initiative, the first carbon-offset program for the hospitality industry.|

He has been part of the luxury hotel industry for over 35 years and has worked on three continents while holding senior executive positions, including at Mandarin Oriental, Regent International and Rafael Hotels, and managing some of the most iconic hotels in Europe and Asia.

 “The Asia-Pacific business travel market continues to expand quickly meaning there is both a real demand for buyer driven education and training and wider interest across the globe in the region,” said Paul Tilstone, GBTA chief global development officer and European managing director.  “GBTA is thrilled to welcome Welf Ebeling to the Association.  He is an accomplished hotel professional with proven leadership experience and is the ideal leader for GBTA Asia.  We have great plans for the year ahead.”

CONTACT:  Meghan Henning, +1 703-236-1133, mhenning@gbta.org  
                      Jamie Colunga, +1 212-446-1877, jcolunga@sloanepr.com

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings organization. Collectively, GBTA’s 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 17,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy. For more information, visit gbta.org