Joan E. Capellà SomHotels, Spain

Joan E. Capellà left his comfort zone several times to pursue his passion for knowledge, creation, and development. After completing his Master in Tourism Management (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) and of his PhD (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain), he entered the business world, working for a first-class vacation hotel chains. In parallel to his executive job, he got involved in politics and dealt with the media taboos. Later he resigned from his hotel position to face the enormous challenge of creating a business of his own in a country in which being an entrepreneur deserves a gold medal. He is Founder and Leader of SOM SomTourism, a company devoted to locally-rooted hotel and destination management services.