Ana Lafuente is Head of Area in the General Subdirectorate of Strategy and Services to the Tourism Sector in the Spanish Institute of Tourism, Turespaña. Between 2019 and 2024 she was Director of the Spanish Tourism Office in Guangzhou, China. Within her administrative career she has also held positions in the Secretary of State for Communication in the Presidency of the Government.

Previously she worked as a translator, interpreter and university lecturer. In 2008 she began studying Chinese language and culture, with a special interest in intercultural communication. With a degree in Translation and Interpreting and a Master’s Degree in Integrated Communication, she has completed numerous studies on communication, public speaking, non-verbal communication, emotional intelligence, coaching and Neurolinguistic Programming. She also speaks English, German and Italian, and is currently studying Japanese.

Björn Bender joined Rail Europe as Executive Chairman & CEO in November 2022. He is a mobility expert with a 20-year experience in the sector, and brought his rail expertise, customer centricity and spirit of innovation to the company. Before joining Rail Europe, Björn was Head of Innovation, Research and Incubation at Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), prior to which he led the companyʼs business unit New Mobility Services.

He is a regular guest lecturer at the University of St. Gallen (CH) and a member of the advisory board of the Institute of Mobility. Furthermore he founded Mobility Allstars e.V., a non-profit association pursuing the goal of accelerating the mobility transition in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Björn is 44 years old and he has a daughter. He holds a Masterʼs degree in general management, majoring in tourism and transport.

Vanessa Pérez Miranda is a lawyer specialised in international business with a master’s in international tourism by the Pantheon Sorbonne University. She has more than 15 years of experience in managing projects focused on innovation and internationalisation mainly in the railway sector.

As responsible for customer service and quality of tourism trains of the Spanish Railways for 4 years, she became a senior expert on tourism by rail. Now she is in charge of UIC TopRail, whose aim is to enhance the visibility of tourism opportunities for railways.

She is also responsible for the UIC sector dedicated to Commuter and Regional Train services and coordinator of the UIC groups of railway experts on Customer Experience and Accessibility, also run by the UIC Passenger Department.

Freek Bos is the CEO of Rover, the leading Dutch passenger advocacy organisation dedicated to improving public transportation in the Netherlands. He has been actively involved in the public transport sector since his student years. Bos studied political science and spatial planning, equipping him with a strong foundation in public policy and urban mobility. His expertise spans public transport policy, European Union affairs, and sustainable development.

He was also a member of the Management Board of the European Passengers’ Federation (EPF), where he now holds the position of advisor of the board. Bos advocates for a seamless, unified public transport system, emphasizing the need for integrated ticketing and better connections between different modes of transport.

Professor Santana Quintero has contributed to conserving precious world heritage sites worldwide thanks to his innovative digital documentation methods. He is cross-appointed in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism, both in the Faculty of Engineering and Design at Carleton University. Also, Carleton Immersive Media Studio Lab (CIMS) faculty member. Besides his academic work in Canada, he served as the immediate past Secretary-General of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), treasurer of ICOMOS Canada, and he is one the Honorary President of the ICOMOS Scientific Committee on Heritage Documentation (CIPA). He has collaborated on several international projects in heritage documentation for The Getty Conservation Institute and UNESCO, among others.

In recent years, he was awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Liege (Belgium) and the Association of Preservation Technology College of Fellows membership.

Ana García Pando is a tourism specialist based in Ecuador with over 30 years of international experience in sustainable, community-based, and innovative tourism development and management across Latin America and Europe. She has held leadership positions in public institutions, private companies, and multilateral cooperation organizations within the travel and tourism sector. As a consultant, she currently advises UIC’s TopRail sector on the Classification and Categorization System for Tourist-Friendly Railway Services and Experiences, drawing on her expertise in tourism innovation and cross-sector collaboration.

Joerg Bruchertseifer has been active in the passenger association “Fahrgastverband PRO BAHN” for decades.
In the jury for the “UIC TopRail Tourist-Friendly Awards” he is in his role as spokesman for the Federal Tourism Committee of the passenger association “Fahrgastverband PRO BAHN”. He co-authored the association’s position papers on increasing the attractiveness of public transport for tourism purposes. As a passionate user of trains and buses, he believes that public transport as a system is an alternative to individual car travel if the continuous travel chain from A to B works smoothly and the tariffs do not require prior study. The passenger representative sees himself as a customer of the public transport system and not of individual transport companies.
The graduate engineer studied communications and computer technology and works as a requirements manager in the automation technology sector.

Peter Lewis Currently serves as WATTRAIN’s Communications Director. He came to an interest in railway history – and the emphasis is on the “social impact of railways” – relatively late in life, though he did manage a couple of iconic photographs on the Dawlish sea wall in the mid-1960s! He was co -founder of “Steam Tube”and edited “On Shed”, a monthly magazine. Currently edits and compiles “Rail Tube” on Facebook. A pictorial volume on the Stratford-upon-Avon & Midland Junction Railway was published in April 2019. He presents two programs on Internet radio stations. He edits the WATTRAIN newsletter, and is getting to grips with the WATTRAIN website.

Tim Fairhurst manages the European Tourism Association’s non-commercial activity, including working groups and destination engagement, with a particular focus on governance and the business environment, capacity optimisation and product diversification, and enabling climate action. He leads its external dialogue with policy makers at all levels, industry partners, academics and DMOs, and contributes to public debate through panels and publications.