The first round of speakers at the TBEX Europe 2025 in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland, is a collection of 11 highly skilled professionals who will provide travel media – including travel content creators, vloggers, Social Media specialists, influencers, and photographers – with constructive information, tools, and innovative strategies for success in the current travel and tourism space.
This TBEX event will also provide a wealth of information for travel and tourism industry providers – including tourism boards, tour operators, hotels, and marketing agencies – on how to develop a powerful online presence and work effectively with content creators.
Based on the very positive feedback we received from the TBEX Summit in Alaska with its extended 80 minute single sessions, TBEX Europe 2025 will introduce more content that spans two 50 sessions, providing 100 minutes of learning on more complex or detailed topics.
Megan Indoe is an award-winning content creator and publisher at both Bobo and Chichi and Your Brooklyn Guide with over a decade of professional experience. Megan, alongside her husband and business partner, Scott Herder, have worked with dozens of international and domestic destinations, global brands, and have worked as ambassadors throughout their careers in tourism marketing and publishing.
Scott Herder is an award-winning content creator, photographer, and videographer at both Bobo and Chichi and Your Brooklyn Guide with over a decade of professional experience. Scott, alongside his wife and business partner, Megan Indoe, have worked with dozens of international and domestic destinations, global brands, and have worked as ambassadors throughout their careers in tourism marketing and publishing. Scott’s work has also been featured in the Los Angeles New Media Film Festival.
Megan & Scott will explain how to license and sell your photography.
Devon Brown has nearly 20 years experience in digital and print media. Her previous work was featured in National Geographic Traveler, Time Out New York & Essence Magazines. Initially, she told the her story on Instagram about being a black woman traveling around the world solo. She attracted an audience who wanted a similar adventure for themselves and didn’t realize it was possible. She started to build and inspire a real community of people who needed to see a representation of themselves thriving. Devon is the founder of Let’s Write Your Future.
Having launched into digital marketing and brand management straight out of university, Rebecca Vest is the Operations Manager and Senior Brand Strategist at Let’s Write Your Future, and she is well versed in the most cutting edge industry knowledge. Previously she’s worked in Glasgow and London as a Digital Marketing Executive and Digital Marketing Consultant respectively. Rebecca specializes in viral content strategy with a strong editorial eye. She loves languages, café-hopping, and trying new sports.
At TBEX Europe 2025, Devon & Rebecca will provide a double session workshop on how to write titles that go viral on Social Media.
Jose R. Lopez is a former staff photographer and picture editor for The New York Times. During his 31 year career there, he covered a variety of assignments that included 8.5 years in the White House Press Corps covering the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He has photographed both Winter and Summer Olympics, Super Bowls, World Series and other sporting events. He was sent to Bosnia in 1995 to cover the end of the war and the United States Armed Forces taking up the peace keeping duties as ordered in the Dayton Peace Accords.
He is a member of the Pulitzer Prize winning photo editing staff for their work on the terrorist attacks of 9-11. He was the photo editor for the new app called NYTNOW and the work that he did was used as a cornerstone in developing the workflow for nytimes.com. For the past ten years, he has continued to work for the Times as a freelance photo editor editing the National section, and other sections, of the daily newspaper.
Jose will demonstrate how to select attention grabbing images because of their story telling impact.
A former reporter for The Globe and Mail, Montreal Gazette and New York Daily News, author of “Blown Away: American Women and Guns” (Pocket Books, 2004) and “Malled: My Unintentional Career in Retail” (Portfolio, 2011), Caitlin Kelly has written for the Financial Times, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Chatelaine, Canadian Business, Maisonneuve, Toronto Life, and many more. She won a Canadian National Magazine Award for humor, coaches writers worldwide, and was an assigning editor at two national business magazines.
Caitlin will share how to make compelling story pitches to media outlets.
Lori L. Tharps is an award-winning author, educator, speaker and podcaster. A journalist and literary influencer, Tharps has written for publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Glamour and Essence magazines. Lori is also the author of the travel memoir, Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain (Atria/Simon & Schuster).
In 2021, Lori moved to the south of Spain, where she launched Reed, Write & Create, a platform that celebrates and supports global stories and storytellers with online content, writing retreats in Spain and Portugal, and a weekly podcast. The Reed, Write, & Create podcast was named Best Literary Podcast by the Black Podcasting Awards in 2023.
When she is not creating literary content for the Reed, Write, & Create brand, Lori is creating content for her personal brand, Literary Lori, where she creates videos and blog posts about literary tourism.
Lori will explain how to use storytelling to improve audience growth, retention, and sales.
Todd Hata is a digital content creator and a full-time one bag minimalist traveler, specializing in videos that inspire people to explore new destinations. Food and travel are his two passions in life, along with photography and film-making. Todd is on the road most of the year and he tries to make the best of each trip by eating with the locals, seeing what each city has to offer once you get past the tourist spots, and making photographs and videos of his adventures.
Todd will deliver a double session on how to create effective hotel and destination promotional videos.
Joanna Kalafatis is a Greek-American travel writer and actress who has visited over 50 countries and recently wrote “Moon: Best of Greece” for Moon Travel Guide. In addition to running her blog at LosetheMap.com, her work has appeared in Time Out New York, Business Insider, Viator, and Matador Network. She lives for experiential travel and likes to focus on cultural immersion and adventurous activities and destinations. Every country in the world is on her bucket list.
Joanna will explain how to write a travel guide, whether online or in the printed form.
Dan Bagby is a seasoned content creator, travel advisor, and digital marketing expert who has successfully turned his passion for travel into a thriving business. As the co-owner of HoneymoonAlways.com, Dan combines years of experience in corporate digital marketing with firsthand expertise in luxury travel to help couples plan their dream getaways.
Michelle Burnett is a content creator, digital marketer, and co-owner of HoneymoonAlways.com, a luxury couples travel website she runs with her husband, Dan. She combines her years of experience in corporate digital marketing (Whole Foods Market, Target, Coca Cola) with her passion for travel, photography, and creative development, to promote destinations, travel-related businesses, and share the experience of living abroad in Lisbon, Portugal. You can follow along @honeymoonalways on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Dan & Michelle will demonstrate how to monetize your content as a travel advisor.
Whether you’re a seasoned travel creator, an emerging influencer, a marketing pro, or a tourism industry leader, TBEX Europe 2025 in Letterkenny, County Donegal, offers an unmatched opportunity to learn from the best, level up your content or campaigns, and connect with a global network of creative professionals. This first round of speakers is just a glimpse of what’s to come—stay tuned for more exciting announcements and get ready to be inspired, challenged, and equipped for success in the ever-evolving world of travel media. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the conversation—register now and start planning your Irish adventure with TBEX!
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