Florian Sengstschmid

CEO, Azerbaijan Tourism Board

Florian Sengstschmid, holds a degree in tourism and sociology and has worked in almost every field within the tourism sector over the past 20 years. He started his professional career within the private sector, initially as an incoming and incentive operator in Austria before working for an international luxury brand 5 stars-hotel as its sales and marketing director.  In 1999 he joined the Austrian National Tourist Board as their regional director for Russia and CIS countries. Whilst in Moscow he also worked as a Commercial Attaché at the Austrian Embassy. In 2003 he returned to Vienna, joining the headquarters of the Austrian National Tourist Board to oversee the international markets and partner management system.  In 2006, he founded his own consultancy, providing tourism promotion and destination management to public bodies, including several government institutions, the European Union and the United Nations. He supported a wide range of countries - Estonia, Greece, Vietnam, Bhutan, Hungary, Lithuania, Georgia among others. This led him to oversee an EU Twinning project between Austria and Azerbaijan to strengthen the latter’s tourism industry. Following the conclusion of that project, he established the Azerbaijan Convention Bureau under the former Ministry of Culture & Tourism. After serving as the CEO of Pasha Travel, he became the CEO of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board in April 2018.