Elke Dens

Elke Dens was one of the driving forces to lead VisitFlanders into ‘Travel to tomorrow’, a vision on tourism that is based on regeneration. As a former chairwoman of the Marketing Group of ETC, she aligned the marketing directors from 28 countries in Europe around one and the same brand and strategy with a focus on a long term sustainable added value. After COVID-19 she decided to take a few years of leave from the government, and help other destinations as an independent freelance expert. As a rewarded place marketer, she has been assigned as expert of the COVID-19 tourism recovery program of the UN. She also does a lot of voluntary work, like helping FairBnB to launch in Europe. Recently she co-founded The Hive for place regenerators, and she currently is the Director of Global Programmes at The Travel Foundation.