Birka Valentin

Sustainability Lead, Strategic Projects, Amadeus IT Group

Birka Valentin has been in the tourism development space for ten years, with focus on sustainability and data. She holds a BBA in International Tourism Management from Breda University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands); a Master of Arts in Business from Management Center Innsbruck (Austria), and a Master in Geoinformation Technologies from Complutense University in Madrid (Spain).

After starting her journey with Sustainable Travel International (STI), she was part of the sustainability team of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for seven years, where she played a key role in the development of the organization’s database and reports on travel facilitation; the creation and growth of the International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO); the research on transport-related CO2 emissions of the tourism sector, and the organization of the 1st and 2nd World Conference on Smart Destinations.

From 2020 until 2022, she worked as independent consultant, supporting destinations developing strategies and technological tools to become more data-driven, while also working with the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) on several sustainability projects, including the development of the Net Zero Roadmap for the Travel & Tourism sector. Throughout her journey, she has further collaborated with organizations such as Madrid-based startup Nommon Solutions & Technology and the West Coast University of Applied Sciences in Germany and has joined Amadeus IT Group in mid-2022 as sustainability lead for strategic projects. As part of the central sustainability team, she is working on the development and implementation of the corporate ESG strategy and its decarbonization roadmap.