OUR PEOPLE

Asian Trails’ success has been, and always will be, personified by its people; our ambassadors of blazing new paths in travel.
With decades of experience and the mutual passion we share for our Asia, it is our executive team that leads by example.

Decades of experience, and all extremely passionate about travel in Asia, every member of the Asian Trails family has added value in bringing the person up front. We consider our industry a very much human-touch industry, supported by technology to drive your business into new directions.

Ongoing investments in training and inspections form an integral part of our endeavours to keep our team on par inside an ever-changing climate, yet with a deeply-rooted feeling of personalized advice for all what we do.

  • Luzi Matzig
    Luzi Matzig Chairman

    The founder of Asian Trails and the brainchild behind the success of the company’s growth since its inception in 1999 have been the cradle of his interest in expanding his entrepreneurial drive into other sectors in the Asian travel industry. Having taken a slight step back in the daily operations of Asian Trails Ltd, he is still involved in strategically placing the company with its eyes towards the future.

    A passionate pilot and, currently, sharing his decades of travel experience for the betterment of Asian tourism, Luzi’s endeavours to provide sustainable means to drive his businesses to new heights are now moving like a red thread through his core commercial values.

  • Laurent Kuenzle
    Laurent Kuenzle CEO

    Calling Asia his beloved home for decades, Laurent prefers to call himself ‘a citizen of the world’ in the broader sense of the definition. His true passion lies with everything that is related to travel and finding new ways, paths and mountains to conquer in seeking means to find and cross into new frontiers.

    His hunger for exploration has brought him into the furthest corners of Asia, aside being a gifted entrepreneur with a human touch. Under her guidance, he has elevated the definition of Blazing New Paths in Travel to new heights and continues on his quest to show our customers the finest of what Asia has to offer.

  • Virginie Kury General Manager

    The travel bug hit Virginie at a young age. She departed from her native Switzerland in her early 20s and lived in various places including Borneo, Bangkok and Barcelona. She worked in hospitality and aviation. She has been loyal to the Asian Trails family joining first the Vietnam team before taking up a position in our Bangkok office, to then manage the teams in Laos and more recently in Cambodia.

    A free-spirited person with a positive view on life, Virginie thoroughly enjoys a challenge and loves the chance to surpass herself and discover new things. Virginie is very dedicated to her responsibilities and delivering great guest experiences.

  • Chinda Ney Siem Reap Branch Manager

    Blessed with a kind heart for the less-fortunate and inspired by the smile of a guest, Chinda’s travel experiences has crossed many sectors yet it is the creativity of a Destination Management Company that truly fuels her desire to deliver expectations beyond the call of duty.

    Under her guidance, Cambodia’s most popular destination, Siem Reap, has flourished where she steers our team in an understanding and professional way. Chinda is an excellent example of a hands-on manager, eager to turn left where others turn right to explore the untrodden paths in a responsible and eco-friendly way.

  • Diego Santacroce Product Manager

    Drawn to foreign culture, food and travel, Diego’s decision to leave his hometown of Domodossola, Spain in December 2009 with nothing but a suitcase and a one-way ticket paved his way towards employment with Asian Trails. Equipped with abundant working experience in Thailand and Vietnam, Diego next headed to Cambodia, a place he now calls home.

    A colleague with a positive look on life, filled with exploratory ideas and a passion for turning travel dreams into reality, Diego’s feel for what customers truly want has been his forte. With his ever-present smile, Diego is a colleague who works tirelessly to exceed travel expectations and deliver exceptional results.

  • Xiaolin Zhang Managing Director

    For Xiaolin, China is a traveling playground of immense proportions, and her vast knowledge in putting extraordinary itineraries has made her our first Chinese national heading our team in this vast country. Since 2008, she has been an Asian Trails’ cornerstone of information, an example of how team spirit is pushing the boundaries, of what initially deems to be impossible, to tailored experiences in both leisure and incentive markets.

    Fluent in English and French, her operational and advisory skills for discerned travel professionals has seen our China operations grow beyond expectations. Aside from having a travel bug, you can find Xiaolin often being immersed in broadening her knowledge in Chinese history and art.

  • Annie Ding Head of Finance

    Annie’s financial acumen has gone from strength to strength since joined Asian Trails China. A key driver in assuring that our books are in order from all aspects, her interest in further exploring the other sides of the tourism industry has led to an even more prominent place in the daily operation of our business across her native China. Adapting to the changes in the word of accounting and financial analysis, Annie’s passion lies actually in connecting the dots and collecting the data to fully contribute to the success story. With close to 2 decades of accounting and financial experience in her pocket, she sees the travel industry, and the constant changes that come with it, as an added value to further expand her desire to learn.

  • Bjorn Schimanski Managing Director

    The drive and motivation for Bjorn to pursue a career in the tourism industry is because of the people. Obtaining a master degree in Sociology in Germany, adventure trails called out his name and from tour leading groups across the globe, he soon after decided to call Asia his home.

    A passionate traveler himself and fluent in English, German and Spanish, Bjorn commenced his managing director career in Laos before successfully taking over the helm in Indonesia. His ever-expanding knowledge of Asia, alongside his zest to put his team first when steering the company into new paths, has attributed to new collaborations beyond his own area of Asian Trails’responsibility.

  • Aida Puspasari
    Aida Puspasari Financial Controller

    Little goes unnoticed in the world of accounting with Aida firmly controlling all the financial strings.

    Since 2009, in her capacity as Asian Trails Indonesia’s Financial Controller, her care and devotion to assuring all transactions are recorded and fulfilling the needs of local authorities and national laws. A deeply caring colleague for the wellbeing of the company, her commitment to giving her undivided support and attention ventures beyond Asian Trails. Aida is regularly involved in volunteering and making donations to the less fortunate outside office hours.

    When time permits, she is completely at ease when tending to her plants and flowers in her garden.

  • Ni Ketut Wirati Product Manager

    Knowing the ins and outs of Indonesia is her forte but also a must when taking up the position of Product Manager. Her in-depth knowledge has made Ni Ketut Wirati a very valuable source of information when creating, advising and quoting new products. Her enjoyment working with Asian Trails has not gone unnoticed: her loyal service and passion in delivering value-for-money products for our customers.

    She loves the art of negotiating with our suppliers and those offering auxiliary services and with a friendly demeanour, both inside and outside Asian Trails. She still is one of these examples that have embraced the Asian Trails culture to the fullest.

  • Phouangsy Phommixay Administration and Finance Manager

    Keeping the back office and accounting books neat and tidy under her supervising eye, Phouangsy has manned the back office since 2013 impeccably. Graduating from the United Kingdom with a degree in international management and accounting, her positive relationships with local accounting and taxation offices has been as much valued as how our customers are taken care for when exploring Laos.

    Vientiane-based, she is overseeing all financial transactions throughout our offices in the country with passion and precision, and delivering the needs in keeping everything within the legal brackets with a modest and humble human touch.

  • Santixay Vongsanghane Inbound Manager

    For more than a decade, Santixay and Asian Trails Laos have formed an almost inseparable bond. Starting as a file assistant in 2005, this energetic colleague with a compelling enthusiasm for all that is Laos has climbed the proverbial ladder over the years in an exemplary way.

    In his tenure as Inbound Manager, Santixay continues to set an example as driven by giving mindfulness service standards and thoroughly understanding our customers’ needs in detail and with Laos as a wonderful playing ground in crafting, he surely is eager to keep on learning. For him, the team spirit to achieve more together always prevails.

  • Emir Cherif Managing Director

    Responsible for all aspects of our Asian Trails operations in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, Emir’s extraordinary achievements in managing and stimulating teams commenced in his native Switzerland with Kuoni. Since 2010, when putting on the captain’s hat at one of the groups most promising regions, his hands on involvement continues to further fine-tune all aspects of the business with a human touch.

    His dedication for service excellence continues his involvement in striving for child protection in tourism-related business, nature preservation and keeping the region’s beaches clean embraces his motto of sustainable operations in both his business role as well as a caring family man.

  • Julien Collot General Manager

    Following his dreams to pursue a career in hospitality from a very young age, Julien’s experiences crossed many time zones and the various aspects of the hospitality and tourism. From London to the Sultanate of Oman with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Julien learnt to become a pragmatic and understanding general manager with a natural aptitude for positiveness in his daily routine.

    Supporting Emir on various aspects of our operations, his sales and extensive hotel back ground have paved the way for innovative approaches in supporting our on-the-ground teams and customers from across the globe visiting Malaysia and Singapore.

  • Naw Eh May Htoo Deputy Managing Director

    May Htoo is living proof that when you set your mind to something, anything is achievable. From her humble beginnings in 2000 as a fresh graduate and trainee of one of the leading educational institutions in the country, her stellar mindset for this ‘rags-to-riches’ career growth has taken her up to the General Manager position.

    An explorer in its finest form, May Htoo ensures that service standards in her beloved Myanmar remain above par, steering her team and abilities through training and supervising our Burmese colleagues with a smile and the ability to positively motivate her peers.

  • Patrick Cegarra
    Patrick Cegarra Inbound and MICE Manager

    When travel is part of your upbringing, it stays with you forever. Patrick is an excellent example of seeing the world from a very young age; from the jungle of South America to the diversity of Africa, it is these unforgettable experiences that have shaped him as the explorer he is.

    Since 2012, Asia is his new homestead and with a particular fondness for Myanmar, he decided to settle in this amazing country. Building experience in the art of travel design and customer satisfaction after so many years of exploring the globe, we are extremely proud to have Patrick as part of our Inbound and Incentive team in Yangon.

  • Sai Wunna Bagan Station Manager

    Living in one of the most historically enthralling regions of Myanmar, it was almost a given that Sai Wunna would pursue his professional career in the tourism and hospitality industry.

    Dedicated and with an eye for detail, our Bagan Station Manager is a natural customer service professional from the moment he started his career at a hotel in Bagan. Through hard work, putting the clients first, and learning the tricks of the trade during his tour guiding years, his desire to expand his responsibility further landed him the manager job where he remains fully committed in exceeding expectations.

  • Marc Albert Managing Director

    Passion drives this tech-savvy travel professional.

    From the outer corners of jungle-clad Thailand to the untrodden paths of Laos, Marc’s roots are firmly planted in South-East Asia. He is living by his credo “A journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step”, translated in his steady yet structured approach in taking the Thailand team to the next level of exceeding expectations.

    Active, a man, and a keen reader, our native-Swiss chief of Asian Trails’ largest destination has proven to be a perfect fit. In Marc’s business philosophy, a corporate goal is infinite as there is always something new around the corner that complements our corporate vision.

  • Sirichit Pruksanubal General Manager

    Working tirelessly behind the screen since day one, Khun Sirichit’s vast experience in the inbound tourism industry has made her an invaluable asset to the every-changing environment in her native Thailand.

    Heading the administration, human resources and legal aspects of Asian Trails Thailand, her easy-to-approach character and deeply caring for the welfare of everyone under her proverbial wings have made her a mother figure for the team on the ground and in the office. Travel is in her blood from a young age and still, she enjoys exploring the natural wonders of the world when taking a break from her daily tasks.

  • Surapon Vutivakinsakul Product Executive

    With an ever-expanding knowledge on the ins and outs of his home country, little extra needs to be said about the stalwart support Surapon has provided during his Asian Trails’ career. As one of the first to join the Thailand team, Surapon is driven to exceed expectations and stay abreast of the latest product developments, spearheading the company’s sustainable efforts with continued zest and renewed energy.

    His decades of experience are now transferred over to the younger generation; as a well-respected travel trade alumni, involved in various tourism-related NGOs, Surapon now also fuels the interest of university graduates about the impact and diversity of tourism and destination management.

  • Bui Viet Thuy Tien Managing Director

    The majestic tourism landscape of Vietnam has kept our long-serving managing director on the prowl for travel novelties in her native country. Since 2001, Thuy Tien has been the architect behind the success story of Asian Trails and with multiple offices throughout the country, the quest for exceeding expectations continues to be her purpose in running the business.

    For her, the driving force of the tourism industry are the smiles, the people and being able to get out in her Vietnam to seek out new ventures, tailored to the demand of staying on top of the travel game.

  • Vu Thanh Binh Hanoi Brand Manager

    Our man in the capital since 2001, Vu Thanh Binh is no stranger of pulling up his sleeves and ensures he is there to do what it takes in supporting his team on the ground. One of our operational pillars in Vietnam since the inception of our Vietnam office, his interests primarily revolve around the ethnicity of the country’s culture, its natural treasures and sustainably designs travel products high in the north.

    A man that loves a good game of football and keen to stay abreast with anything new, eager to pursue his life’s philosophy that every day is a new day to learn something new.

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