SOVEREIGN TOURISM - Key Persons
Amandine was born in France and studied Business Administration at the University of Paris, before pursuing her studies in Economic Development at the University of Murcia in the south of Spain. She then followed this with voluntary, environmental and various other projects in Morocco and a number of other countries.
Amandine joined us in 2022 as an Operations Executive. She is enthusiastic and proactive, with a proven track record of providing a high level of customer service, handling complex logistics, and the ability to oversee and manage multiple projects in fast-paced environments.
When not working, she enjoys exploring London's dining scene, going to the latest exhibitions, being active and cooking.
Passionate about travel and culture, she does not miss an opportunity to discover new places whenever she can!
Amandine's passion for travel has taken her to most European countries and this, plus her languages and skills in travel & tourism, mean that she is a big asset within our Operations team and we are sure you will all enjoy working with her.
Anastasia grew up in Nizhny Novgorod (formerly Gorky), in central Russia, where she studied and got a diploma in Accounting and Bookkeeping and BSc in Applied Physics & Microelectronics from Nizhny Novgorod State University.
Her first taste of the travel industry was during her student years when she worked as a train attendant on a railway line running from Nizhny Novgorod to the Black Sea. Years later, she chose to make travel her profession as well as her passion.
In 2001, Anastasia help set up a new office in London for an Inbound Tour Operator from Russia. Many years later, she joined another Russian Inbound Tour Operator as Senior Manager in the Groups Department where she also helped develop products.
In recent years, Anastasia worked for an English Tour Operator in London, looking after Educational, Special Interest and Performing Groups where she was responsible for all aspects of group travel from costing, itinerary planning and negotiating with suppliers, right through to operations.
As well as operations and management, Anastasia's other skills include financial analysis, accounting, legal procedures, marketing, product development and contract negotiation.
In the past, Anastasia has sung in choirs and she also plays the piano, however, these days her favourite hobbies are mountain skiing and sea swimming.
Job Titles:
- Head of German Market & Operations Executive
Brought up in the Eastern part of Germany, Carolin had an American accent when she first joined our team, due to spending a year at school in Texas. However, a few years of living in London have turned her accent into a very English one!
Carolin studied Cultural Engineering and Tourism at University.
She joined Sovereign Tourism in 2011 as an Operations Executive, later taking responsibility for our German-speaking markets as well. Over the years, Carolin has operated some very complex tours as well as itinerary planning and quotations for the German-speaking markets.
Carolin is highly motivated and enthusiastic about her work. One of her passions outside work is baking and over the years, she has delighted her colleagues with a selection of her legendary cakes!
Ilenia was brought up in a village near Rome. She has always had a passion for travel and has a Degree in Tourism Sciences and a Masters Degree in Project and Management of Tourist Systems.
Ilenia started her full-time career with Sovereign as an Operations Executive in 2013 and later became Operations Supervisor and then Operations Manager.
As the Manager, she looks after an ever-growing team of Operators and provides support for them as well as taking care of workload allocation, training, trouble-shooting and sourcing primary products. Ilenia also has a key role in liaising with our clients to ensure we meet our customer-service goals.
When not working, Ilenia likes travelling, dancing, photography, street art, watching documentaries and going to art galleries. Being Italian, she is naturally passionate about food and is always up to date with the food scene in London!
Isabelle was born in France and studied tourism in Paris for 2 years before moving to England in the 90s, when she started her career in travel and tourism at the European HQ of American Express in London.
During her 10 years at American Express, she worked in the Special Groups Movement department and operated numerous special interest incoming groups to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Isabelle's career in travel continued with a number of other well-established tour operators over the years, as she built on her experience and skills in operations, quotations, sales and customer service.
Joining our busy Operations team in early 2022, Isabelle is taking care of many of our Educational and Special Interest groups, travelling mainly from the USA to the UK and rest of Europe.
Isabelle is very fond of London and is always keen to discover new hotels , venues and places of interest. She regularly travels to France and to Paris in particular, where she enjoys visiting museum exhibitions and other new attractions in the city.
Outside of travel, Isabelle's other interests are literature, history of art, current affairs, painting, cycling, swimming , music, art and craft.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Manager
Having studied Spanish and management at Leeds University, Jill started her career by working overseas for a UK tour operator in Spain, France and Greece. Upon her return to London, she spent two years working for a Spanish tour operator before joining Sovereign Tourism in 1988.
Jill's responsibilities include liaising with our key partners to research, develop themes and itineraries and price them for both adult and student groups. Her vast product and destination knowledge also means that she is often the first point of contact for any Events or Performing Group tours which need to be organised.
Jill's enthusiasm and positive nature is truly infectious and never wanes! She loves proposing fresh and exciting experiences for groups and also loves hearing about their experiences afterwards!
Jill enjoys art, current affairs and all film, especially French & Spanish films. She loves 20th century American Literature and is passionate about music, cooking, swimming and cycling.
Job Titles:
- Director
- in 2008 As General Manager
Having left Iran in 1979, Kourosh and his family swiftly adopted England as their home.
Kourosh started his education at the quintessential English boarding school of St Bede's in the depths of rural Sussex and it was here where he learned to appreciate English humour, culture and even food!
In the ensuing years, he has lived mainly in London apart from a couple of years in Sydney, after finishing back-packing around the world.
Kourosh's first experience of working in the travel industry was when he was 18 and worked as a resort rep in Majorca (one of Spain's Balearic Islands), looking after groups of young, unruly Brits! Despite a whole summer of this rather challenging experience, he chose the travel industry as his profession after studying Travel and Tourism and Business Management.
Over the years, Kourosh has worked in various roles in both outbound and inbound travel (retail and wholesale), including Sales & Marketing, Product and Business Development.
Kourosh joined Sovereign Tourism in 2008 as General Manager, later becoming the Director. He is responsible for the overall direction, management and growth of the business.
Apart from his passion for travel and visiting far-flung corners of the world, Kourosh follows politics and current affairs, enjoys reading and loves going to the theatre.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Executive
Laura grew up in sunny Barcelona where she completed her degree at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Business Management and Administration, with a year abroad in the Netherlands. She then moved to Athens, Greece, where she lived for a number of years, working in the tourism, hotel and hospitality industry, before moving to London in 2017.
Laura is motivated and hugely enthusiastic, with extensive knowledge of group travel, which she gained while working for a well-established tour operator in London. She has broad knowledge of most European destinations, particularly the UK, Spain, Italy, Greece, France and Germany.
Laura joined our creative Business Development team in early 2022 and is responsible for designing and pricing unique, custom-made itineraries and programmes for our partners.
As a native fluent speaker of both Spanish and Catalan, Laura loves connecting with people from different places. Having studied and lived abroad, she has an international network of friends, who she always tries to meet up with in different locations around the world, where she also enjoys discovering new neighbourhoods and sites.
In her spare time, Laura loves cooking, photography and planning her next trip to exciting places where she can eat good food, visit museums and relax in the sun!
Job Titles:
- Senior Operations & Business Development Executive
Lyn was born in London where she gained a degree in Business Studies, before starting her career in inbound travel in 1992.
She joined Sovereign Tourism in the year 2000. Her excellent knowledge of London and the rest of the UK and Ireland plus her passion for travel across Europe, bring yet more knowledge to the team.
Lyn also has a broad knowledge of many areas of Special Interest tours which include Sports, Methodist / Baptist trails, Literature, Garden tours and World War II.
Outside of travel, her other passion is sports (she is a big fan of Chelsea soccer club), as well as history, art, music, walking and photography.
Job Titles:
- Senior Operations Executive
Born in London, Maire studied Economics and Geography at University and later, Law at the University of Westminster.
Maire has been working at Sovereign Tourism since 1987, bringing extensive knowledge and experience to our Operations team.
Her attention to detail and logistical excellence is essential whilst operating large and complex touring groups. Over the years, Maire has successfully operated hundreds of groups including Educational and Performing groups as well as large events. She is also involved in the planning and implementation of various in-house projects and handling different aspects of training for the company.
Maire has a broad knowledge of many areas of Special Interest tours which include Faith-Based tours, Theatre and Drama and World War I groups.
Outside of work, Maire enjoys reading, gardening, cycling and going to the theatre. She also spends a lot of time watching her son play soccer.
Job Titles:
- in 2005 As Operations Executive
- Senior Business Development Executive
Although born in Zug, Switzerland, Marisa was brought up in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the first ten years of her life.
Having completed a degree in London, she then joined a tour operator running educational tours across Europe.
Marisa joined Sovereign Tourism in 2005 as Operations Executive, later becoming a Business Development Executive. In both roles, Marisa has loved perfecting travel plans for our groups and building lasting relationships with our partners.
Marisa has a particularly strong knowledge of Britain, Italy, Spain and Germany.
In her free time, she enjoys travelling, cooking, dancing and going to the theatre.
Born in Mauritius, Rosie joined Sovereign Tourism in 1987 and is an invaluable member of the team, responsible for all aspects of finance within the company.
In addition to this role, Rosie is also responsible for all our computer systems and technology, all of which keep her quite busy!
In her spare time, Rosie enjoys decorating and painting her house and gardening and later relaxing in a Spa.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Executive
Stiina is Estonian but has lived most of her life in Finland before moving to London. She joined our Business Development team in 2018 and is responsible for designing itineraries and pricing for our European programmes.
Stiina is an all-rounder with excellent project management skills. As well as operating quality tour programmes in her previous roles, she has experience in delivering a wide variety of events including conferences and award ceremonies.
Stiina loves hiking and very long walks; it is not unusual for her to walk about 2 hours to work some mornings!
Tita studied Management & Events in Tourism in Slovenia for 3 years before moving to London, where she worked in Operations and as a Local Host for a couple of major tour operators, handling tailor-made and luxury holidays.
She joined us in 2019 as Operations Consultant. The primary role of the Operation Consultant is to assist in early operation of confirmed groups.
This means that most of you will be working with Tita at some stage which is a great bonus as she is one of the most helpful and charming people you could ever wish to work with!
Tita has a confident and outgoing personality with a good sense of humour. She is highly motivated, has excellent customer service skills and is also well-travelled.
Job Titles:
- Performance & Special Interest Expert
Brought up in the South West of England, Valda has travelled extensively around the World; just check the list below!
Valda's career started by working in Paris for a French tour operator, and this inspired her to become a Tour Manager where she spent three years travelling across most parts of Continental Europe. During this time Valda built up an immense knowledge of different countries, cultures, attractions and itineraries.
A key member of the Sovereign team since 1991, Valda has a passion for travel and as Performance & Special Interest Expert helps ensure that our groups have enriching and unique experiences too!
When not working or travelling. Valda enjoys languages, running, gardening, cooking, arts & crafts and volunteering with the elderly, children & for environmental issues.