Jens Thraenhart

Jens Thraenhart is a global tourism and hotel strategist who specialises in leveraging new media and emerging technologies. He has been marketing travel online since 1995 and established his consultancy Chameleon Strategies in 1999 to help firms adapt to an ever-changing business environment.

Jens successfully deployed his considerable expertise as a leading practitioner of e-marketing and CRM strategies on behalf of the Canadian Tourism Commission. Earlier, he had established Fairmont Hotel’s digital presence to international acclaim.

Recognising the emerging opportunity for travel and tourism brands to connect with relevant consumers through social media technology and digital marketing strategies, Jens developed a unique ‘think global-act local’ methodology. Focusing first on the Chinese consumer market, he partnered with a Chinese travel technology company to create Dragon Trail and launched the resource portal ChinaTravelTrends.com.

Jens has worked with such companies as Fairmont, Four Seasons, Ian Schrager Hotels, Kempinski, Marriott, and the Canadian Tourism Commission. He founded and operated a successful food catering company, started a New York-based Internet company for upscale leisure travel and managed a luxury golf resort in Germany.

Originally from Germany, Thraenhart holds an MBA-accredited Masters of Management in Hospitality from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, and a joint Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the University Center ‘Cesar Ritz’ in Brig, Switzerland. Jens is currently based in Beijing.