Maisa Fernandez - President / Chairman
Born a traveler and ever so curious about new surroundings, Maisa has loved the art of voyage since she was a young girl. Now with fifteen years in the travel industry, Maisa has dedicated herself to the betterment of tourism practices worldwide. Her passion lies in introducing travelers to special experiences that maintain the integrity and cultural sense of a destination; while also providing elements of surprise and allure along the way.
Maisa began her career at the famed Carlson Companies, Inc. in early 1998 working in Communications and Public Relations for the Carlson Wagonlit Travel Agency franchise where she was exposed to some of the biggest leaders in the industry.
Lured to the international scene in 2002 by Hank Todd, former Vice President of Carlson Leisure Group and Carlson Destination Marketing Services (CDMS), the Destination Marketing arm of the company, Maisa moved into representation for government tourism boards. There she went on to oversee the CDMS team as Director - working with a variety of clients like: The Kenya Tourist Board, PromPeru, The Singapore Tourism Board, The Nepal Tourism Board, The Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Diethelm Travel, Arauquen, Patagonia, and several others.
In 2009, Maisa oversaw the sale of CDMS to Myriad Marketing in order to grow the business into a bigger marketing powerhouse. There she served as Vice President of Public Relations and Business Development for clients such as: PromPeru, The China National Tourist Office, The Kenya Tourist Board, The Taiwan Tourism Bureau, the Northern Territory of Australia, the Singapore Tourism Board, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Signature Travel Network and assisted on a variety of other clients.
Maisa prides herself on the relationships she creates and helps maintain for clients. She helped over triple arrival numbers to Kenya since first working with them (2002-2009), she has introduced key distributors to private clients to help grow their business, built valuable partnerships for clients, managed a myriad of tourism crises (devastating earthquakes, terrorism, internal strife and more), and built a network of close confidants that help support her clients and build their brands.
Emma Fontanet - Principal Consultant, Outbound Latin America
Handling IMPACT Latin American Representation, Emma Fontanet provides immense Latin American industry knowledge to clients looking to expand their source markets into the Latin American region of Mexico, Central and South America. A South American native, Emma is a well-connected industry veteran based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She helps IMPACT clients understand the unique needs of operators serving Latin American travelers and assists them in capturing their target market. Emma is a graduate of La Universidad de la Marina Mercante with a degree in International Commerce and received her Masters in Business Administration at the Univesidad del Cema. She has worked as a professor of International Business in the Universidad Catolica Argentina, and the Argentine Chamber of Commerce. Currently, Emma is an acting professor for International Business and Market Research for the Standard Bank Foundation. She has worked for the Ministry of Commerce in Small-Medium Business Enterprise Development for the Argentine government and provides consulting on special projects for the Standard Bank (Formerly Bank Boston).
Emma began her travel industry experience in 2002 developing tourism product for the region of Patagonia in the U.S. Marketplace and helped grown exposure for the region. She has managed inbound business for the large Latin American tour operator, Group Online, as well as managed the MICE market for the company. As the Principal Consultant for the Latin American outbound market, Emma will open doors to the Spanish and Portuguese speaking markets of the Americas to clients looking to expand their business in those regions.
