Tom van Gessel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Originally from Taiwan, Tom has lived his entire life ‘abroad’ across 5 continents making travel part of Tom’s DNA. A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, his passion for travel combined with an affinity for e-commerce has contributed to an online travel career spanning over 17 years.

Tom successfully challenges the status quo to create value whether launching a new business, driving negotiations, or leading and inspiring teams. Tom’s extensive career is grounded in financial analysis through his New York based consulting and real estate/hotel finance roles. He made a career shift to online travel in 2003 when he was presented an opportunity to launch and grow Expedia’s Asia Pacific footprint across all travel products initiating a relocation to Australia, his adopted nationality. Tom transitioned to Google as it offered an opportunity to understand the digital consumer and their expectations in a perpetually evolving travel space. He has since moved to The Netherlands in 2016 with Google and to experience his Dutch roots.