Transforming Connections

Jonathan Worsley

Chairman & CEO

Jonathan is one of the founders and organisers of multiple leading international conferences for the hospitality industry including AHIC (UAE); AHIF (Africa); SHIC (Saudi) and SAHIC (Latin America). Jonathan branched out into aviation and F&B, through AviaDev and GRIF. In 2020, the Bench team pivoted quickly to virtual and hybrid conferences with the launch of the www.hospitalitytomorrow.com series and the Future Hospitality Summit for the G20 Saudi Secretariat.

In 1997, Jonathan co-founded the annual IHIF (Berlin) which today attracts over 2,500 delegates. Earlier in his career, he worked for real estate consultants CBRE & Hotel Partners, hotel advisors PKF and hotel operator Forte & Holiday Inns. Jonathan was a board director and co-founder of STR Global until 2019 and is on the advisory board of inHovate and Hotel Swaps. He also sits on the Advisory Board for RAK TDA, a member of Women in Hospitality (WiH) and is a Trustee of Future Talent, a charity that provides financial support to gifted young musicians.

Jonathan’s drive is building great teams and communities around him to propel industry transformation.

Matthew Weihs

Managing Director

Matthew Weihs is Managing Director of Bench. Within this role he focuses on the development of new business opportunities and sales for Bench and partners, whilst also supporting the direction of the business and providing commercial support for new product launches.

First and foremost a passionate development director who has been involved in business-to-business conferences for over two decades. Matthew’s key skills are creating business proposition and finding support to launch and support new events and services for Bench. Having started his event career with IQPC in 2000 he took on many sales related roles before moving to the Guardian News and Media as Sales Director in 2007. Joining Bench in 2020 his main responsibilities have been to develop the business and enact upon a vision for growing and diversifying the business. Since joining the portfolio of events and services has grown to wider hospitality as well as strengthened the existing hotel investment events. With divisions focused in aviation, restaurants and real estate Bench is the leader in hospitality services in EMEA. In 2012 he successfully founded and launched the African Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) which, in 2019, developed the sister conference (FIHA) Forum de l’Investissement du Hotel Africain. In 2013 development of the Morocco Tourism Investment Forum (MTIF) – gave Bench the impetus to work for clients to produce and deliver invitation only events to aid their marketing. Across Europe (2015) he launched the Mediterranean Resort & Hotel Real Estate Forum (MR&H) (not owned by Bench) and recently negotiated the acquisition of the Adria Hotel Forum and placed this brand in the newly formed IDEEA – Investment, Development in Eastern Europe Assets portfolio. As well as negotiating the partnership with Hotel Analyst to develop the Operational Real Estate Festival (OpRE).

Always keen to spot an opportunity and try new things during the decade with Bench, Weihs has also worked as a Director of the African Chapter of Destination Develop, a full service marketing platform for our investment customers and launched his own business Africa Event Services (AES) where he launched an event for real estate professionals (SPACE – Efficient Buildings Africa) that is now part of the Bench portfolio as it strives to support education and support for sustainable growth and investment in hospitality.

Outside of work Matt, when not busy with his wonderful girls, he is a keen cricket supporter and player and was part of the organisation team behind KiliMadness – the world record breaking “highest game of cricket” – played at 5750m in the crater of Kilimanjaro (raising almost £300,000 for Tusk (conservation) and Cancer Research. Fun and fundraising is never far from his mind and in 2019 he completed an ultra-marathon (100km) raising money for MIND (the mental health charity). Annually he’s been organising a cricket match raising over £8000 for local and international charities.

M: +44 (0)7858 511012
E: matthew.weihs@benchevents.com

Jennifer Pettinger

Managing Director, Middle East

Since joining the Bench team in 2008, Jennifer has been an integral part of growing the events portfolio. In 2013 she introduced the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC) Regional Briefings Series, expanding AHIC’s presence throughout the region and in 2014 launched the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) in Dubai. When not at a conference bossing around the hotel industry’s movers and shakers, Jennifer is working tirelessly to bring hotel and restaurant investors scintillating conference sessions. During her time with Bench, she has amassed a large number of air miles, running conferences on most continents. In doing so she has taken full advantage of exploring the shopping, nightlife and restaurants on offer from Kigali to Casablanca as she firmly believes the world is there to be explored. One of her proudest achievements is being a part of the Bench Mt Kili Madness team which broke the World Record for the highest game of cricket ever played raising over £200,000 for charity. Currently residing in Dubai she has lived on four continents but will always call Sydney home.

M: +971 (0)558 840 145
E: jennifer.pettinger@benchevents.com

Ali Shahid

Marketing Director

Ali heads up marketing strategy, brand management and content distribution across Bench. Working closely with event directors, he plays a key role in developing marketing systems and infrastructure while deploying new digital campaigns for key products across priority markets.

With over 10 years' experience in international B2B marketing, Ali has delivered high ROI marketing for several categories of events including: trade shows, leadership conferences, investment forums and professional training. Passionate about working in teams - he has recruited, trained and managed more than 35 marketing managers and executives in his career.

M: +971 (0)50 920 7595
E: ali.shahid@benchevents.com

Jana Bader

General Manager, Saudi Arabia

Jana is from Saudi Arabia; she holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and Public Relations from the American University of Sharjah. She spent most of her professional career in Dubai working alongside creative teams in advertising agencies with a large spectrum of clients.

She then joined Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts as the youngest Regional Marketing Manager creating and heading marketing teams in 6 different hotels in the region. After which she welcomed her first daughter and opened; Eventulize, her B2B events company where she connected professionals, created round table discussions, online panel discussions and a consulting service focusing on market entry level businesses in the GCC. She also opened a retail shop and an ecommerce service prior to moving back with her family to Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.

Jana loves spending time in the outdoors with her three kids Tia, Noah and Julia. She also has a passion for cooking and… secretly… sings and playing piano on her free time – what free time?

Conversations and communication come naturally to Jana, and she is always happy and welcoming to any new opportunity that could benefit our clients.

Marina Franolic

Managing Director Central and Eastern Europe

Marina began her hospitality career at the Glion Institute of Higher and the Hotel Savoy, Rocco Forte group, in Florence. After several years outside of the hospitality industry, in 2012 she established her own company with the goal of bringing global trends to the regional industry.

In 2013, Adria Hotel Forum was launched with an idea of showcasing world trends, sparking the creation of new ideas and partnerships and overall development of the hotel industry. Within a couple of years, AHF was the only internationally recognised hotel investment conference within South-East Europe whose partners are global companies.

In 2017, the company started a unique event with a goal of bringing trends into everyday hotel operations – HOW /Hotel Operations Weekend/ Festival that gathers every year more than 600 participants.

In 2018, the company rebranded as HESA Group and served as the connoisseur of the regional market and opportunities.

In 2019, Bench acquired the Adria Hotel Forum and Marina joined Bench as the Managing Director for Central and Eastern Europe. Marina is responsible for developing and launching IDEEA - a series of events that will explore the hotel investment and development potential in CEE/SEE/CIS regions.

In addition, Marina serves as an Industry Advisory Board Member at Glion Institute of Higher Education and holds both Croatian and Italian citizenship.

M: +385 91 761 0885
E: marina.franolic@benchevents.com

Jon Howell

Founder and CEO, AviaDev

Jon Howell founded AviaDev Africa upon joining Bench in July 2015.

This event is now firmly established as the leading event in the field of African air service development, attracting over 250 delegates annually.

Additionally, Jon launched AviaDev Europe in 2018, which focuses on Regional European aviation development.

In 2019, Jon launched AviaDev Consult, a boutique consultancy targeted at the European and African markets, plus the AviaDev Air service development training programme began.

Jon regularly speaks at African aviation conferences and has a deep-seated passion for Africa’s development. He co-founded the Aviators Africa Academy which delivers training, mentorship and inspiration for students across Africa addressing the human capital crisis that exists in the industry.

In 2016, Jon was appointed to the position of Global Ambassador for the Gorilla Organization, in recognition of his fundraising efforts.

Jon joined Bench in July 2015. He holds a Marketing and Management degree from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is based in Manchester, England. He has over 15 years’ experience in the travel and tourism sector, with particular expertise in the B2B events sector, specifically in the field of aviation. In 2016, Jon was appointed to the position of Global Ambassador for the Gorilla Organization, in recognition of his fundraising efforts.


M: +44 7752207064
E: jon.howell@benchevents.com

Michelle Turney

Head of Strategic Partnerships, Real Estate

Sally Marwaha

Event Director

With more than 20 years’ experience in conferences and events, Sally's specialities include event management, marketing communications, budget management and logistics. Since joining the team in 2008, Sally has been an integral part of Bench supporting the development and launch of new events across the portfolio.

Sally is currently managing the Global Restaurant Investment Forum and launching the new event Operational Real Estate Festival (OpRE) in 2020, as well as the sponsorship liaison for the Arabian Hotel Investment Conference and the Saudi Arabia Hospitality Investment Conference. Sally is also supporting the development and launch of IDEEA - a series of events that will explore the hotel investment and development potential in Central Eastern Europe and CIS.

M: +44 (0)7815 081926
E: sally.marwaha@benchevents.com

Mala Patel

Event Director

Mala is responsible for supporting the development and launch of new events across the Bench portfolio. With over 18 years of event management experience; she is an expert at delivering on many different formats of business-to-business events and in her career has led the logistics teams for hosted buyer events as well as conferences. In her previous role as Head of Production she delivered high profile public policy conferences, working with top governmental officials.

Since joining Bench, Mala has worked on client partnered events; the Morocco Tourism Investment Forum (MTIF) and The Hospitality & Tourism Summit. She has successfully managed the Global Restaurant Investment Forum (GRIF) which is now in its 4th year and taken ownership of the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) driving and growing the event as the must attend event in Africa. In 2016, she launched AviaDev in 2016 alongside Jon Howell to add the aviation industry to this growing portfolio of events, Mala continues to develop new events and strategies to take Bench further into the African and the Middle Eastern markets.

M: +44 (0)7930 573621
E: mala.patel@benchevents.com

Tanja Millner

Programme Director

Tanja is a goal-driven self-starter. Her imaginative leadership style is all about team spirit and the ability to maximize the value for money and efficiency of all the projects she is involved in. With over 20 years of experience to her name in a dynamic global environment, turning opportunities into events comes as second nature – thanks to her outstanding talent for organisation and passion for detail.

After graduating from tourism college Austria, she joined Hilton Hotels in the UK where she worked for several years before moving to Bangkok where she joined an event management company focusing on corporate events in Asia. Back in Europe, she re-joined Hilton to open Hilton Vienna after a major refurbishment as Austrias’ largest conference hotel before moving to Hilton Hotels Munich to oversee their sales department.

Following five years in the People’s Republic of China where she set up her own event planning company, she settled in Austria to work on consulting projects within the hospitality industry. At the same time she was responsible for growing IHIDC – International Hotel Investment & Design Conference into one of the leading annual hotel investment conferences for the DACH region

Muhammad Ahmed

Marketing Manager

Ahmed has recently joined Bench as a fresh graduate, having a bachelors in Management Sciences. His expertise includes programmatic advertising, account-based marketing, in-depth demographic targeting, conversion tracking. Ahmed loves understanding data to drive content marketing campaigns and has already taken on projects including Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) and Forum de l'Investissement Hôtelier Africain (FIHA). In his free time, he loves travelling, watching cricket, working out at the gym and playing e-sports.

M: +971 58 803 1917
E: muhammad.ahmed@benchevents.com

Joan Calimpong

Investor Relations Manager

Joan joined Bench in December 2019. Her responsibilities vary from anything administrative to events coordination. Prior to Bench, she worked in a coding institute handling compliance, recruitment, contract management, partnerships and client relationships. She has also worked in a couple of industries which specialise in education, training, consultancy, F&B and healthcare.

With a background in nursing and clinical experience, Joan dedicates her spare time promoting child development and education.

E: joan.calimpong@benchevents.com

Laura James

Accounts

Laura joined the Bench Events team in July 2019 via her current employer Stephenson Smart based in Norfolk, England. Her role is to keep the day-to-day accounts for the business up-to-date for Bench Events UK, Middle East and AviaDev Ltd, as well as assisting the team with any financial related matters, such as expense claims, supplier payments, etc. Also collaborates with the Chairman in producing the annual budget, rolling forecasts and cash flow statements.

Laura has over 12 years’ experience in accounting & bookkeeping and qualified with the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) in 2012.

Laura loves exploring the local Norfolk coast, finding new places to eat and attempting to learn stand up paddle boarding (not yet successfully!).

Asma Eladaoui

Account Manager

Asma joined Bench in August 2022. Her previous experience includes working in the hospitality and tourism sector for 3 years in Greece before finding her passion in events management, where she worked on several projects overseas for the international promotion of Morocco. Her latest experience was at the Expo 2020 Dubai where she worked in PR and protocol.

In her professional life, Asma is passionate about working with people, and building connections that result in disruptive positive change. She hopes to have an impact on the world and contribute to a sustainable future for our generation and those to come.

Benevolence and giving back are what give her the most joy in life after travel. She started volunteering at the age of 13 in her hometown at the local elderly home and since then she has volunteered at orphanages, hospitals, and youth centers at home and abroad.

M: +971 (0)543747867
E: asma.eladaoui@thebench.com

Anna Kucharska

Database Manager

Anna works as the Database Manager for Bench and oversees an extensive database covering the key executives from the hotel, tourism and restaurant investment industry in the EMEA. Anna is a marketing specialist with a passion for database management and research and holds a Master degree in Psychology.

Usama Aslam

Marketing Associate

Abdur Raffey

Marketing Associate

Raffey joined Bench earlier in 2022 as a Junior Digital Marketer. He graduated from LUMS with a degree in Management Sciences in 2021 and had been working in various marketing positions, part-time and as an intern, during his time at his university. He has worked on the Future Hospitality Summit (FHS), Destination Tomorrow, and Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) so far and continues to learn all things events as he spends more time in the company. Besides work, he likes to spend time in his small recording studio where he either records or listens to all kinds of music. He is also completely confused about his life goals as of now - more on this as the story develops.

Mariam Hussein

Junior Graphic Designer

Mariam Hussein joined Bench for an internship programme in the first quater of 2022. She has since moved up the ladder as a Junior Graphic designer. She has always been interested in crafting and drawing as a child and fortunately this hobby has led her into the design field. She is an aspiring designer who is looking forward to make her mark in the design industry.

She has had the opportunity to work on Future Hospitality Summit (FHS), Destination Tomorrow, IDEEA Hospitality Investment Forum, Africa Hospitality Investment Forum (AHIF) as of now and is continuing to refine her skills as she is advancing in her career path.

Whilst she is experimenting with passion projects, she spends way too much time obsessing over aesthetic illustrations, typography and lettering styles by other designers. She also enjoys playing sudoku and is insanely curious about different cultures.

Arturo Garcia Rosa

President & Founder

With more than 35 years of experience in hospitality, Arturo is regarded as one of the leading authorities and advisors in the hotel, travel and tourism industries in Latin America. He is also highly regarded as an exceptional professional and superior mentor. His publications, articles, and presentations reflect his passionate interest in keeping current with industry developments, particularly in his beloved South America, as well as his profound insights, vision, and in-depth knowledge of the industry.

Arturo’s career is as extensive as it is prestigious in the hospitality sector in Latin America; he was President & Managing Director of Buenos Aires’ renowned Alvear Palace Hotel from 1984 to 1995, where he led the project to rebrand and reposition one of most iconic hotels in the world.

He also served as President of Welcome Argentina (1992-1994) and was Founder and CEO of Destino Argentina (2003-2005), a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote Argentina as a travel destination. Arturo was also the force and brainpower behind the Argentina 2010 Travel & Tourism Plan, the first-ever destination marketing strategic plan for the country.

Over the years, Arturo has been involved in consulting and advisory services throughout all of Latin America. In 1995 he founded RHC Latin America (www.rhc.la), one of the most respected consulting firms based in the region. In addition to his role as consultant, he has become increasingly involved as a speaker at major industry conferences around the world. His observations, insights and opinions are frequently published in business, consumer and trade publications worldwide and valued among industry leaders.

In 2008 Arturo founded SAHIC – the premier Latin American investment conference organizer, which annually hosts the South American Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference – the only event of its kind in the region, aimed at promoting hotel and tourism developments and related real-estate projects in this part of the world.

More recently, he has been extensively and passionately working for the development of the industry in Cuba. He was responsible for making possible the first formal meetings between American and Cuban hotel companies, a milestone in the history of the island and an accomplished mission for a professional with one aim: making the world a better place through tourism.

E: agrosa@sahic.com

Florencia Rufino

Managing Director

Florencia joined SAHIC in 2017. Her career, with more than 25 years in the hospitality sector, began at the Alvear Palace Hotel. In that prestigious hotel, she had the opportunity to train with “Great Teachers”, among them Mr. Arturo Garcia Rosa, President & Manager Director in that period. There she assumed responsibilities in Food & Beverage and Public Relations Departments.

For six years, she was Director of Food & Beverage Department at the Hotel Emperador Buenos Aires and for more than 10 years, she assumed the responsibility of being Manager of Ristorante BICE - Buenos Aires - positioning the brand among the Best Italian Restaurants in the City.

Florence has extensive experience in Operations. Their strength lies in the Events Planning & Organization, in Training the Work Teams and offering the best Customer Service.

Convinced that there are no limits ... “Because if you believe it, you can do it”

Pablo Garcia Rosa

Business Development Manager

As Business Development Manager at SAHIC, Pablo focuses on sales management.

His main responsibility is to develop and maintain relationships with existing and potential sponsorship clients aiming at keeping sponsors satisfied and very well treated by developing authentic experiences, as well as bringing new sponsors to the conference.

Pablo is also responsible for CRM for marketing and sales actions. Pablo joined SAHIC in 2015.

Prior to SAHIC, Pablo worked for the HVS office in Argentina for 11 years, first in the operations department and in 2012 after gaining experience in the hospitality industry, he joined the Consulting and Valuation team where he performed market research studies and strategic planning for hotels and mixed-use projects in several countries in South America.

T: +54 11 5217 4544
M: +54 9 11 4195 6701
E: pgrosa@sahic.com

Veronica Bracchi

Finance Manager

Veronica joined SAHIC as Administration & Finance Coordinator in 2012, assuming responsibility for the overall conference budget and registrations management, among others. She also serves as Personal Assistant to Arturo Garcia Rosa, President & Founder of SAHIC.

Veronica has extensive experience in the hospitality industry. She worked for Starwood Hotel & Resorts for more than 8-years, where she successfully served as Area Manager for suppliers’ payment, and then assumed a role on the General Accounting area, performing duties related to tax payment, Cash Flow, Monthly Budget, intercompany controls and account analysis for two of its properties in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She also participated in the start up and operations of luxury independent hotels in the region.

T: +54 11 5217 4544
E: vbracchi@sahic.com

Graciana Garcia Iribarne

Strategic Advisor

After 10 years of her leading role as Vice President SAHIC, Graciana became Strategic Advisor for SAHIC, as from January 2018. Within this new role she will provide critical expertise and knowledge of the business, while being her main task the design of the events program, content development and speakers selection.

With over 25 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, she held a number of key positions in hotel operations for prestigious international hotel companies such as Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. During that time, she took part in numerous hotel openings in the region, gaining valuable leadership skills.

Graciana worked in hospitality consultancy in South America for almost 10 years. During her five-year tenure as Managing Director of HVS Buenos Aires office, she particularly gained experience in strategic planning and hotel & tourism development in Latin American markets.

Graciana is part of SAHIC since its inception. Working closely with Arturo Garcia Rosa, President & Founder, in the launch of the first edition of the conference in 2008, she was part of the initial team which laid the foundations for the premier hotel investment conference in Latin America.

M: +54 911 4147 7519
E: mggiribarne@sahic.com