Birgitta S.

Marco Polo Reisen GmbH

With over 30 years of experience, I design tailor-made luxury travel experiences for high-end clients across the DACH and BENELUX markets, specializing in destinations such as Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, Japan, Southeast Asia, the UAE, Oman, Australia, and Canada.

🔹 Bespoke Itinerary Design 
Full-service planning of personalized journeys, from pre-trip consultation to post-travel follow-up.

🔹 Luxury Supplier Network 
Close partnerships with top-tier DMCs, boutique hotels, and Michelin-level restaurants.

🔹 Press & Influencer Collaboration 
Lead organizer of press trips for media like Madame, Freundin, and GeoSaison, boosting destination storytelling.

🔹 Trade Show Presence 
Active participant in Loop, ETOA, ITB Now, and other international travel forums.

🔹 Marketing & Destination Branding 
Support promotional efforts through curated content, travel photography, and brand storytelling.

🔹 Responsible Travel Advocate 
Promote responsible tourism by partnering with conscious suppliers and curating experiences that support local communities and cultural heritage.

Senior Travel Designer

Studiosus Reisen München

Tour Operations  | Sustainable Travel Expert | 

I specialize in seamless tour operations management, ensuring exceptional travel experiences while promoting responsible tourism. By leveraging my strong industry network, I coordinate top-tier travel services with trusted partners, maintaining high operational standards.

🔹 Efficient Tour Execution & Supplier Relations – Managing bookings and logistics, collaborating with top-tier DMCs, hotels, and local partners to deliver flawless travel experiences.

🔹 Strategic Industry Engagement – Active in key tourism events and networks, strengthening partnerships that enhance operational efficiency and sustainable travel initiatives.

🔹 Operational Excellence & Sustainability – Streamlining processes to maintain responsible tourism practices, ensuring ethical and eco-conscious travel operations.

🔹 Trusted Administrative Support – Providing essential support to the Area Manager, optimizing workflow efficiency and team coordination.

Operations Assistant

Expert in Tailored Travel Experiences & Sustainable Tourism

Responsible tourism advocate | 30+ years rethinking luxury travel

Culture celebrated. Places protected. Communities empowered. Aligned with the SDGs.
Travel that feels good and does good. From family wine tastings to hidden culinary trails—true luxury is authentic connection.

I share insights, challenge norms, and ask tough questions about tourism’s impact—contributions also featured in BBC Travel.

Always chasing the world’s best food—and the stories behind it.
Let’s connect: open to conversations, collaborations, and what’s next in responsible travel.

Senior Travel Consultant

• Sell individually designed tailor‐made itineraries for discerning clients and travel agents in the DACH & BENELUX. 
Areas of specialty include (but not limited to) Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, Japan, Southeast / East Asia, UAE, Australia & Canada.

• Manage entire sales process and oversee each trip from point of booking to post‐trip follow up.

• Organize individual press trips for DACH ́s most relevant media outlets like Madame, Freundin, GeoSaison.

• Participate in all major online and offline tourism workshops e.g. Loop, ETOA, ITB Now.

• Support all promotional and marketing activities, like brochure creation, travel photography & newsletter.

• Business Development: Maintain regular contact with suppliers (DMC, hotels, restaurants/wine cellars) in order to introduce and promote a destination or tour in accordance with company goals.

Luxury tourism is collapsing under the weight of its own empires.
And I’ve watched it happen from the inside.

Too many properties, too few real leaders. Layers of management replace direction.
“Throwing people” at problems only multiplies mistakes.

Service feels scripted. Systems feel outdated. Guests feel it — even if brands pretend not to.

“Growth” became an excuse for mediocrity.
And now, the shine is fading — fast.

Real recovery won’t come from expansion. It’ll come from depth — training leaders, empowering teams, and using tech to serve humans, not replace them.

→ What if the next luxury wasn’t more — but better?

As a seasoned professional deeply passionate about luxury travel, my approach combines expertise, creativity, and a customer-centric focus to yield a positive impact not only in the planning process but also on the destination itself. With an extensive comprehension of the luxury travel market and a robust network within the industry, I excel in crafting and providing extraordinary travel experiences that not only meet but surpass my clients' expectations. Moreover, I am committed to fostering positive impacts in the destinations we explore, promoting sustainable tourism practices. Whether you envision a personalized adventure, a memorable celebration, or a tranquil retreat, I am dedicated to assisting you in curating the ideal itinerary.

Responsible Tourism Advocate | Challenging the Status Quo

Sugala Senanayake

Travel economy rethink.
Tourism doesn’t have to orbit only hotels and big operators. Cafés, microbreweries, and organic farms can become true anchors of a destination economy — places where travelers meet growers, roasters, and brewers directly. Each stop adds sideways value: money flows to small producers, stories stay local, and visitors taste the region’s creativity instead of a global template. Designing itineraries around these hubs builds identity and keeps cultural and economic roots strong while offering travelers something authentic and alive.
What if travel followed value sideways, not upward?

Overextraction is the quiet collapse we don’t measure.
We track arrivals and revenue — but not reinvestment.
The math is brutal: when destinations extract more than they restore, decline is inevitable.

Real sustainability isn’t about limiting numbers — it’s about balancing value.
Tourism’s future depends on closing the loop between what we take and what we give back.

Because what if the biggest threat to tourism isn’t overtourism — but overextraction?

When a destination keeps taking but never gives back, decay becomes visible everywhere — food markets losing their authenticity to cheap, mass-produced goods, streets that feel unsafe or neglected, even border officers asking for bribes or alcohol. It’s a pattern of erosion — moral, physical, and cultural.

Endless extraction without reinvestment kills the very experience it sells.
That’s not tourism anymore — that’s slow self-destruction.
When greed replaces care, destinations eat themselves alive.

Maybe the real sustainability test is how a place treats what it already has.
Reinvestment, respect, and repair aren’t optional — they’re survival.

Place branding didn’t fail — it succeeded at exactly what it was built for. It gave us slick slogans, postcard visuals, and selfie backdrops that fed quick attention and easy tourism growth. But it was never about care; it was built to lure, not to nurture. In chasing marketability, many destinations lost their voice and borrowed identities that look good but feel empty. The result? Shallow connection, fragile loyalty, and communities left carrying the unseen cost. It’s time to move past noise and invest in true place stewardship — restoring depth, local meaning, and resilience where branding alone can’t reach.
Redesign, don’t repackage.

taplio

Birgitta S.'s Linkedin Analytics

Birgitta S.

Performance ScoreBirgitta S.'s LinkedIn Performance

Birgitta S.'s Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Birgitta S.'s Linkedin Analytics

Birgitta S.

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Birgitta S.'s LinkedIn Performance

Birgitta S.'s Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Birgitta S.'s Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreBirgitta S.'s LinkedIn Performance

Birgitta S.'s Best Posts (last 30 days)