Advisory Board
Independent & Voluntary
TourCert Advisory Board
Our council members support and advise the further development of the TourCert standards independently and on a voluntary basis.
Members
Christian Baumgartner studied landscape ecology and leads the “Sustainable Tourism and International Development” competence area at the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden (CH). He is also the owner of Response & Ability GmbH. Christian specializes in the development of sustainable tourism, including monitoring and certification processes, and has led tourism development projects in Europe, Central, and Southeast Asia. He serves on the advisory boards of several national and international ecolabels and is a member of the “Together 4 EU Tourism” expert group of the European Commission.
Sven Wolf is the Sustainability Officer for Tourism at the German National Tourist Board (DTV). He studied Geography (Diploma) as well as Sustainability and Quality Management (Master’s). At DTV, he leads various sustainability projects and shares his expertise in seminars. In addition, he teaches at several universities with a focus on sustainable tourism.
Since January 2022, Romy Bacher has been serving as Head of Sustainability, overseeing the development of the Sustainability Competence Center (KONA) at the Swiss Tourism Federation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on Tourism & Mobility, as well as a Master’s in Business Development & Promotion from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Through her professional experience in the hotel industry and various tourism organizations, she is deeply familiar with the sector’s needs and maintains close collaboration with numerous sustainability certification programs on the market through the Swisstainable initiative.
After completing his studies in ecology, Wolfgang Günther initially worked as a specialist in tourism and marine conservation at the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) in Kiel. He then established a consultancy for tourism and environmental issues at the Schleswig-Holstein Tourism Association. Since 1999, he has been with the Institute for Tourism and Spa Research in Northern Europe (NIT), where, as authorized officer, he leads the Sustainability in Tourism division. His work focuses on research, consulting, concept development, and facilitation, particularly on topics such as measuring and understanding demand for sustainability, as well as climate protection and climate adaptation in tourism.
Prof. Dr. Conny Mayer-Bonde is a Professor and Dean at the DHBW Center for Advanced Studies. Before her academic career, she served as a member of the German Bundestag and held leadership roles as Managing Director of a destination, Project Manager at a regional marketing organization, and City Manager. She is actively involved in numerous industry and political committees in the tourism sector and teaches internationally, while also providing her expertise to companies as a member of advisory and supervisory boards. Her teaching and research focus on the intersection of politics and tourism, with a particular emphasis on sustainability and international development.
Petra Thomas is Managing Director of forum anders reisen e.V., the umbrella organization for sustainable tourism. Founded in 1998 and comprising around 140 member companies, the association promotes the development and dissemination of sustainable tourism based on substantive criteria, with a focus on people and the environment.
A trained archaeologist and art historian, she has represented the interests of forum anders reisen to politicians and the public as Chair of the Board since 2010. In 2014, she transitioned to the role of Managing Director. Prior to that, the Hamburg native was responsible for product management and development, sustainability management, and public relations at a&e erlebnis:reisen, a tour operator specializing in socially responsible travel.
Petra Thomas is also active on the boards of Human Rights in Tourism e.V., founded in 2012, and the Studienkreis für Tourismus und Entwicklung. She contributes her extensive tourism expertise to numerous advisory boards and committees.
Alien Spiller holds a degree in Business Administration with a focus on Tourism Management and furthered her studies in Public Affairs. She completed her part-time Master’s in Strategic Sustainability Management in 2024, with a research and practical focus on sustainable consumption. Alien brings extensive professional experience in international relations, with a particular emphasis on politics and economics. Since 2024, she has been heading the Tourism Watch unit at Brot für die Welt, which advocates for socially responsible, environmentally sustainable, and economically fair tourism practices.
Anja Szczesinski, a trained biologist, is committed to sustainable tourism development in the Wadden Sea World Heritage region through WWF Germany. For the past 15 years, she has worked both at a strategic level – contributing to the development of a sustainable tourism strategy for the Wadden Sea destination – and on practical projects and programs at regional and cross-regional levels. Her work includes developing the Wadden Sea Tourism Radar – designing tourism offerings that support nature conservation – and participating in the evaluation board of the National Park Partner Program. As a member of the trilateral Network Group Sustainable Tourism, she contributes her expertise to international collaborations aimed at protecting and sustainably developing the Wadden Sea region and beyond.