Positive Places, Experiences and Practices
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Catherine Germier-Hamel
Destination Mekong, CEO
Millennium Destinations, Founder & CEO
Herost, Founder & CEO

Sustainable Tourism Development, Management and Marketing Consultant, Trainer and Facilitator
Travel, Tourism, Hospitality, F&B and Leisure
Trying my best to make our world a fairer place to live and explore
For over 25 years, Catherine Germier-Hamel has built an international career dedicated to sustainable global and local development in a variety of sectors including tourism, hospitality, leisure and environmental utilities -water, sanitation, waste. 
After working for 9 years in a subsidiary of Suez group offering consulting and technical assistance for environmental utilities management in developing and emerging countries, particularly in Africa and Latin America, she decided to embrace a career in sustainable tourism. 
In 2005, Catherine started a new life in South Korea where she created the initiative Wine & Women Korea, then served as F&B Marketing Manager at Novotel Gangnam hotel (2007-2008) and Director of Global Programs & Sustainable Tourism Consultant at the UNWTO ST-EP (Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating Poverty) Foundation (2008-2013), before becoming an independent Consultant and Trainer in 2014.
​In 2016, she incorporated Millennium Destinations in Seoul, as an impact company providing consulting services and innovative solutions to small businesses and organizations of the travel, hospitality and leisure sectors for their sustainable tourism development and marketing. 
In 2019, she co-founded Herost, an impact platform designed as an online travel guide and toolkit promoting sustainable, community-driven travel places, experiences, and practices. Since 2020, she has acted as the CEO of Herost. 
In 2021, Catherine was appointed CEO of 
Destination Mekong, ​a private-sector-led DMO aimed at championing the Greater Mekong Sub-region as  a sustainable tourism destination creating value for all. 
Catherine holds a Master's degree in Business Administration and Management from Neoma Business School (1992), and a post-degree in Sustainable Tourism Development from University Paris Nanterre (2004). 

​Catherine's core competences

  • Impact entrepreneurship and business development
  • International cooperation, networking and partnership building
  • Strategic and operational marketing and communications
  • Development of tourism product, experiences and destinations 
  • International project design, coordination and management
  • Sustainability tourism strategies, solutions and practices
  • Public speaking, presentations, storytelling
  • Information, awareness-raising, and advocacy
  • Education, training, capacity-building and mentoring

Core sectors

  • ​Tourism, hospitality, leisure, F&B and well-being (since 2004): Destination Mekong, Millennium Destinations, Herost,  PlayForest (travel cooperative), Millennium Hikers (association, Founder & President), UNWTO ST-EP Foundation, Novotel, Wine & Women Korea, Visa 21 (association, Founder & President)
  • Environmental utilities (over 10 years): Lyonnaise des Eaux Services Associés (Suez group), Partenariat Français pour l'Eau, Secrétariat International de l'Eau, Saunier & Associés

Geographic experience

  • ​Long-term: France (mother country), Brazil (São Paulo, 1 year), South Korea (Seoul, 17 years; 2021 Seoul Honorary Citizen), Cambodia (Phnom Penh, since 2022). 
  • Short missions: Benin, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Peru, Panama, Senegal, Togo, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
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Membership / social and professional engagements

Impact Collective, Community-driven Investment & Acceleration for Impact Makers, Expert, 2021
World Trails Network: Member, since 2020
Skål International Seoul: Member (2020-2022), 2021 Board Secretary
Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Korea - ESCCK: Tourism Advisor, 2019​-2021
Global Sustainable Tourism Council - GSTC: ​ Member, Trainer, since 2018
AMFORHT - World Association for Hospitality and Tourism Education and Training: Delegate for Korea (2016-2021) and the Greater Mekong Sub-region (since 2022)
Cercle des Entrepreneurs Francophones de Corée - CEFC : Member, President in 2018-2020
Green Drinks Seoul: Founding Member and Member of the Organizing Team, 2017-2022
Chris & Partners, Global Event Solution Provider: Partner, Global Marketing & Sustainability Consultant, 2017 - 2018. 
K-Move Mentoring program, supporting young Koreans in becoming global professionals: Foreign Mentor, 2016 - 2017.
PlayForest, travel cooperative promoting sustainable forest tourism: Founding Board Member, 2015 - 2020.
Conseillère du Commerce Extérieur de la France (French Trade Adviser for Tourism and Sustainable Development), appointed by the French Prime Minister, 2013-2015
Wine & Women Korea wine club: co-Founder, Honorary Member, since 2006

Speaking Engagements

CONTACT US

Main speaking & lecturing references

  • Sustainable Tourism Revitalizing Local Economies, lecture as CEO of Destination Mekong, at the 2021 Korea-Pacific SDG Forum in Yeosu (Dec. 2021) 
  • Promoting Urban Ecotourism through Garden Experiences, online presentation on the occasion of the Ulsan International Garden Symposium, Korea (Oct. 2021) 
  • Presentation of Herost at Journées des Respirations Durables in Paris, an event dedicated to tourism restart, recovery and sustainability, hosted by French association Respire, le Tourisme de demain (July 2021).
  • Presentation of Millennium Destinations and Herost, webinar on Positive Tourism, Semaine de l'Amérique latine et des Caraïbes 2021 (June 2021)
  • Speaker of the "French Tech Connect panel on Female Founders in Korea" (March 2020)
  • Interview on Sustainable Tourism for Corée Voyage podcast in French here (November 2020)
  • Full-week course on "Asian Hospitality Today" Shanghai, China, within the framework of the MSc on International Hospitality Management of EmLyon Business School - Institut Paul Bocuse (2018 and 2019; online in 2021). 
  • Smart Sustainable Tourism - Innovative Solutions from France to Korea, Presentation in Gangneung, South Korea, at the 2nd OCOVA Forum in Asia hosted by the Gangneung Science & Industry Promotion Agency - GSIPA (October 2019). 
  • Insights on the Korean outbound tourism market - The growing appeal of European destinations, presentation to a tourism business delegation from Flanders region, Belgium, visiting South Korea (October 2019). 
  • Panelist of the General Session on Travel Industry in Asia Pacific Region Trends and Developments at the 18th Asia Pacific Forum for Graduate Students Research in Tourism (APF) in Daejeon, South Korea (June 2019). 
  • Globalization and Localization Trends in Asian Hospitality, lecture for MScs and PhD students of SIHOM - Sol International Hotel Management Dept. in Daejeon, South Korea (May 2019)
  • Community benefit through Tourism, at the 2019 GSTC Asia-Pacific Sustainable Tourism Conference: Quality Through Creativity, in Chiang Mai, Thailand (Feb. 28-March 2, 2019)
  • Community-Based Tourism Spillovers, within the framework of the 2018 KOPIST Intensive Training Program hosted by Sejong University, Korea Tourism Organization, and Hyundai Research Institute for an audience of foreign tourism professionals (Nov. 6, 2018)
  • Sustainable Smart tourism Principles and Practices, at the International Conference on Tourism in Vietnam "New Tourism: from local to global initiatives" organized by the National Economics University in Hanoi (Oct. 27, 2018)
  • Co-creating Sustainable Smart Tourism Experiences in Cities, 4th Eco-Quartier Seminar in Suwon, Korea (Oct. 4, 2018) 
  • ​Sustainable & Smart Tourism: Dealing with (Big) Numbers and Figures at SIHOM - Sol International Hotel Management Dept. in Daejeon, South Korea (September 2017), on the occasion of the 2017 World Tourism Day.
  • Domestic and International Marketing for Ecotourism Development (in South Korea) at the 2017 Sustainable Growth Jeollabuk-do Eco-Tourism Forum (June 2017)
  • Trends in Marketing & Sales in the Hospitality Industry (or the Art of Converting Strangers into Committed Community Members) at SIHOM - Sol International Hotel Management Dept. in Daejeon, South Korea (May 2017)
  • Panelist specialized in sustainable tourism marketing at the 2017 Busan Sustainable Tourism Forum (April 2017), 
  • Sustainable & Smart Tourism: Going Back to the Basics to Reinvent the Tourism Experience at the 2016 Sustainable & Smart Tourism Forum - Seoul, South Korea (Oct. 2016) : 
  • Sustainable Tourism & the City: Because We're Worth It at the Global Sustainable Tourism Conference - Suwon, South Korea (Oct. 2016) 
  • Presentation on Mountain Hiking at the 9th World Congress on Snow and Mountain Tourism - Mountain Likers hosted by the UNWTO  and the Government of Andorra (March 2016). 
  • Preparation of presentations, speeches for the Chairperson of UNWTO ST-EP Foundation, also UN MDGs Advocate (2010 to 2015) and UN SDGs Advocate since 2016 (2008-2018)
  • Presentations on the South Korean outbound tourism market for National tourism boards and administrations in South Korea (since 2016)

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(Daechi-dong), Nobel B/D, 5th floor
16, Teheran-ro 78-gil, Gangnam-gu,
Seoul, South Korea
Promoting Positive Places, Experiences and Practices​
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  • Home
  • About us
    • MD People
    • Catherine GERMIER-HAMEL
  • Our solutions
    • Training and capacity-building
    • Herost
    • Millennium Hikers
  • Clients & Partners
    • Projects & References
  • Sustainable Tourism
  • MD Stories
  • Contact us