Meet Viator's Team of Travel Experts
The Viator team is made up of industry experts and passionate travelers: collectively we've traveled to more than 160 countries, and when we're not busy talking about our last trip, we're busy planning our next adventure. So meet some of the travel-obsessed people behind the scenes at Viator. Who knows, maybe you'll run into one of us on your next trip.
Dawn Ambroise
Dawn Ambroise is our QA and Training Manager for our call center in Las Vegas. Dawn is a transplanted New Yorker and has been in Las Vegas since 2002. Dawn has worked in the travel industry for 14 years and loves learning about (and visiting!) new and exciting places. Although she has visited many great places, NY remains her favorite place in the world. She is looking forward to more travel time in the future and is always on the lookout for family friendly activities to enjoy with her husband and two daughters.
Sam Baker
Sam is one of Viator's senior developers. He works in the background, making sure all the cogs keep turning, usually holding an oil-can. He grew up in Dubbo, which is in central western NSW, then moved to Sydney after finishing Uni. He has been to Hong Kong and New Zealand, and just got back from a trip around the north-eastern US and parts of Canada.
Alexandra Bardsley
Alex Bardsley is Viator's London-based Copywriter, writing up all-things-exciting in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Having worked in several travel-related industries including ski and hospitality, it's no surprise her biggest passions are skiing and cooking! When not on the slopes, in the kitchen or hard at work for Viator, Alex can be found planning her next big trip.
Michelle Bassil
Michelle is Viator's Product Manager for Asia Pacific, based in our Sydney office. After spending many years living in London and Hong Kong and traveling to all corners of the globe, Michelle returned to Australia and now is loving discovering so many great experiences in her own backyard. Some of her favorite things she has done recently include seeing the Great Barrier Reef from above and below on a Great Barrier Reef Scenic Helicopter Tour and Cruise from Cairns, experiencing the magic of Australia's Top End on a 3-Day Kakadu National Park and Katherine Camping Tour from Darwin, flying high over New Zealand's magnificent scenery on a Remarkables Mountain Range Helicopter Flight from Queenstown and improving her Japanese cooking skills on a Kyoto Cooking Class & Sake Tasting Tour.
Casey Brusch
Casey is an Online Marketing Assistant at Viator's San Francisco Office. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she's a fan of good weather and great wine. It is no surprise that some of her favorite travel trips include exploring the reefs of St. John in the US Virgin Islands and sipping fine wines in Tuscany. Not the type to hang by the pool on a vacation, Casey enjoys getting out and discovering every new place she visits. Some of her best memories include snorkeling in the dark, limestone-filled cenotes in the Yucatán with bats flying overhead; as well as experiencing Rome with the guidance of her local 'Couch Surfing' housemates. She's been to seven different countries and is ready and eager to explore many more.
Sila Cameselle Vila
Sila is a Product Sales Manager for Viator. Currently based in London, she's originally from Spain and loves telling people about the cultural differences within her country. Her favorite travel experiences include roughing it with kiwis on a road trip around New Zealand, eating freshly made focaccia in Cinque Terre, seeing Manhattan's landscape at night, and lounging in the European Caribbean, the Islas Cies, only a short boat-trip away from her hometown in Galicia, North Spain! When not traveling, you'll find Sila dancing, cooking, writing short stories or enjoying time with friends and family.
Maria Chatterton-White
Maria is our European Marketing Manager, responsible for all the marketing activities across our 9 multilingual sites. A Londoner through and through, Maria loves talking about all that's new and cool in the Capital. But when she is not exploring her home town, her second love is her Italian heritage and with that indulging in Mediterranean food and wines. Never one to shy away from an adventure — her life dream is a buy an old school VW caper van and travel the world one road at a time. Maria's travel tip: Eat where the locals eat, be sure to learn a little of the local language and don't be afraid to try something new!!
Melanie Christof
Melanie joined London's product team as a Product Coordinator for Europe (EMEA) in August 2012. Originally from Austria, Melanie is a true cosmopolitan and has lived and studied/worked in Italy, Germany, Hawaii and Brazil. Melanie loves exploring new destinations, trying out local specialties and getting in touch with the locals.
Having worked as an incoming manager in Brazil, Melanie got the chance to travel this vast country and explore places such as Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Sao Paolo, the Iguassu Falls—for free! Her travel tip: Rather than staying in a chain hotel, try out the local pousadas where you have a greater chance to get to know the local people and other travelers.
Jenny Crossling
Jenny Crossling is the Product Director for North America, based in our Las Vegas office. Jenny has worked at Viator since 2000 and loves to try out new experiences around the world. Some of her favorites have been playing with lemurs & penguins, swimming with dolphins & sharks and feeding rhinos & stingrays. Her job has taken her all over the Americas, from New York to the Caribbean, with Las Vegas being the favorite spot! She loves what she does and is always looking for those new, cool experiences to sell on Viator.
Kirsty Edwards
I have just joined the Viator team in London as a Product Coordinator to help organise and manage tours in the French market. I spent two years living in the French Alps where I developed my passion for skiing and then enjoyed a few years working in the ski industry in London. I've been fortunate enough to ski most of Europe but haven't yet made it over to Whistler or the resorts in Colorado. When I'm not in the mountains, I love exploring the cities of Europe, but my dream trip would be to spend a few months travelling around South America.
Marissa Evans
Marissa Evans works in our Las Vegas office and helps look after many of our North America destinations. Originally from Northern California, Marissa likes to travel throughout both the US and abroad. Recently returning from a 2-week trip to Europe, Marissa got the chance to practice her Spanish in Barcelona, try her luck at the Monte Carlo Casino and go wine tasting in Sardinia. Marissa's new favorite method of travel? By segway! Marissa loves that her job helps create travel experiences and memories for others and looks forward to making many new traveling memories of her own.
Jaime Fitzgerald
Jaime Fitzgerald is Viator's Call Center Manager, working out of our Las Vegas office. Jaime's been all over the world from Nova Scotia and Puerto Rico to Costa Rica, France, Italy, Hawaii and Australia. She's even had a private audience with the pope! When she's out and about trotting the globe, she loves to take in the outdoors. Her favorite activities include snowboarding, camping, and hiking. Jaime's travel tip? Get familiar with where you are going before you get there so that you can make the most of your trip.
Julia Fleury
Julia works in Viator's Las Vegas office as a Product Sales Coordinator looking after the Southwest United States and Theme Parks nationwide. Hailing from New Jersey (exit 161), Julia has been an avid traveler since 6 months old. She has traveled to over 100 cities throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, China, Taiwan, and Europe by the age of 22! Julia's travel tip: turn any opportunity into a memorable experience whether it's drinking Snake Wine down the Yangtze River, parasailing over the French Riviera, pub crawling in Prague or taking a 16-hour train ride across Europe. Some of the best memories, friends and experiences are made by letting loose and having fun!
Ian Frentz
Ian Frentz is Viator's quality assurance manager, based in our Sydney office. Ian has been kicking around the travel industry for the last 23 years, and even doing a bit of work when he hasn't been heading off to another country (40 countries visited at the last count). He has a passion for rugby union, good wine and exotic cuisine, and strives to combine all of them when traveling. Ian's best trip? Always the next one coming up!!
John Gates
John recently joined Viator as Director of Finance in the San Francisco office. John just got back from driving around Costa Rica. He loves to travel and likes to navigate through places that are off the beaten path, whether that's remote areas in Bolivia, Thailand or Crete. His favorite country that he has visited so far is Burma.
John Gibbs
John is our Director of Client Services, working with our major distribution partners. He has had the travel 'bug' since a teenager and attributes his early love for travel to his Aunt, who worked for an airline. When not at work or traveling to somewhere fun, John enjoys hiking -- check out his blog at www.weekendhike.com.
Heather Gilmour
Heather recently joined Viator as the Director of Product Management, Website. She has been working in Internet Product Management for more than ten years and is overjoyed to be part of the Viator team. Heather's recent travels have been by bike, including a trip down California's coast, a ride from Seattle to Portland, and many day trips in the Bay Area. She is currently planning another coastal ride in the fall and a trip to Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona. If she could live anywhere it would be Rome. Or maybe Istanbul.
Ryan Ginja
Ryan works at Viator's San Francisco office as a Product Sales Coordinator, developing activities in Canada, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii. After growing up in New Hampshire and graduating from college in upstate New York, he made the trip across the country to San Francisco, further satisfying his appetite for travel near and far. Ryan has traveled extensively throughout Europe and North America, falling in love with cities like Lisbon, Berlin, Copenhagen and Washington DC. The next stamp he hopes to get on his passport? Too many to list. But Brazil, Thailand, Egypt and Israel are definitely up there.
Daniel Hackett
Daniel looks after everything south of the US border here at Viator. After having lived most of his life in various European countries, he decided to move to the United States to pursue both educational and professional goals. He is currently enjoying life in San Francisco although he would prefer the warm climate of some of his destinations, such as Mexico and the Caribbean!
Duncan Hall
Duncan Hall is our IT Director, outback adventurer and longest-serving member of staff. Duncan is equally at home driving across deserts in central Australia, air boating in wetlands near Kakadu, skiing in New Zealand, going bush in Far North Queensland, circumnavigating Bali on a motorcycle, sailing on San Francisco Bay, landing in a helicopter in the Grand Canyon or working in our data centre making sure the web sites are up and running. Life is too short to only dream of traveling, the adventure is just outside your door.
Katie Hammel
Katie Hammel is Viator’s Commissioning Editor, developing content for the Viator Travel Blog and network of Things to Do sites. She was previously the editor at the BootsnAll Travel Network and has written for travel publications including BBC Travel, Gadling.com, and National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel blog. Katie is from Detroit and lived in Seattle and Chicago before moving to San Francisco in early 2012. Her favorite places in the world are Iceland and Berlin, though closer to home she loves visiting the wineries of Napa Valley.
Chris Handy
I've been employed with Viator since the long bygone days of February 2011, or the roaring 11's, as they are commonly known. I am a huge history buff and love reading and enjoy travel, regardless of how much of it I actually get to do, and have plans of visiting much of Western Europe to visit various battlefield sights. The idea of standing upon the same ground as the hard men who landed on D-Day, or of the valiant citizen-soldiers who rose up against oppression in occupied Europe excites me to no end. I have two boys at home and love old reggae, ska and soul music, and the favorite destination (so far) I've been has been the Santa-Maria / San Luis Obispo area, beautiful scenery, great people and amazing food. Also, I am a die-hard West Ham United supporter, or "Hammer" as it were.
Melinda Harrington
Melinda is Viator's project manager (and amateur blogger!). Crossing the equator when she was five months old, Melinda developed a love for traveling early. Back at home, her family crisscrossed the United States, adding 49 of the 50 states to her traveling portfolio (why not just go to Alaska and cross them all off the list?). Now based in Australia, she is busy exploring the Southern Hemisphere, sampling the snorkeling in Fiji, New Caledonia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Maldives, and - of course - Australia. Melinda has now managed to visit most Australian states and territories. Check out Melinda's posts on the Viator Travel Blog for her latest adventures.
Brooke Heiner
Brooke Heiner started with Viator in 2006, working in the accounting department. She still works closely with the accounting team, but her job description these days has opened up to include working with the product and call center teams. She moved to Las Vegas from Salt Lake City in 1994, which keeps her close to her favorite vacation spot - San Diego. Brooke is a big fan of the outdoors, especially being by the beach and the ocean.
Melinda Hernandez
Melinda Hernandez works out of our Las Vegas office as a customer support / reservations agent. Melinda She has worked at Viator for more than 3 years and has enjoyed every minute of it. She also enjoys the road (she's visited 28 states in the USA) and is an adventure seeker! Some of her joys come from camping, hiking, and rafting. The next destination on her to list is Alaska. Melinda's top travel tip? Travel, travel and travel. Remember you only have one chance at life so do it right and see as much as you can!
Broerie Klein
Broerie is our Director of Analytics. Prior to joining Viator, he had worked with premier global brands providing digital insights and analytics. When it comes to travel, he is a classic snowbird traveling to warm weather destinations with a soft spot for beaches in the Bahamas, Hawaii, Australia, Greece and Indonesia.
Laura Knight
Laura is the Social Media Coordinator in Viator's San Francisco office. After growing up and going to university in central Illinois, she said goodbye to the flatlands of the Midwest and moved to Seoul, Korea. There, she taught English for two years and spent a few months traveling all over Asia. Now in California, she's exploring all that the Bay Area has to offer, which seems to be an endless list of amazing sights and activities. Her last trip was to Panama and next up is Maui!
Tim Lewis
Tim Lewis, Product Manager Americas, recently moved 'over the pond' from London to join Viator's San Francisco team and help create memorable experiences in America and Canada. Tim is a great believer in packing as much into his holidays as possible, so often arrives home more tired than when he started off! Favourite Viator trips to date include the adrenalin-filled Golden Circle Super Jeep and Snowmobiling Tour in Iceland, and a beer-fuelled visit to Munich's legendary Oktoberfest. Tim's top travel tip? Stuff your socks and underwear into your shoes when packing, it'll stop them getting squashed and save you space in your suitcase!
Baidi Li
Baidi Li is our Product Sales Manager for Asia and is based in our San Francisco office. A local Beijinger, Baidi studied industrial design in Germany before following her heart and joining the travel industry. She had previously worked for Intrepid Travel before moving to the Bay Area in 2010. Baidi loves to explore new destinations, capture precious moments with her beloved 7D and learn how to prepare local cuisines. Some of her favorite travel memories are roaming along the Silk Road, exploring the Chatuchak Market in Bangkok, celebrating New Years with a friend's family in Tiblisi and digging in a hotpot in Chengdu. The next adventure? Hiking in the Andes!
Catherine Linn
Catherine has recently joined Viator as the Online Marketing Assistant in the San Francisco office. Her family is very interested in traveling, and she spent her childhood exploring Europe and Asia, and living in Lyon, Los Angeles, Nice, Stockholm and lately Berkeley. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2009, she's had the pleasure of living in San Francisco for 2 years. Most recently, she visited her 5th continent, Australia, and can't wait to one day explore them all. Her next adventure? A trip throughout Southeast Asia.
Blanca López de Uralde
Blanca recently joined Viator's London office as Product Manager for Southern Europe. Originally from Spain, she takes every opportunity she has to travel to different destinations (sunny ones whenever possible), and is often described by her friends as Willy Fog. Some of her favorite travel memories include snorkeling and elephant riding in Thailand, cooking yummy dishes in Vietnam and wine tasting in the south of France. Blanca's travel tip? Stick with the locals and you´ll taste the most authentic food and will have the best experience ever!
Melissa Lux
Melissa is new to the San Francisco area having transferred from the Las Vegas office to become the product coordinator for New York and San Francisco. Though born in Germany, she's spent most of her life in the warmer climes of Thailand, Hawaii, and Florida. She's made her way around, visiting Scotland, France, Singapore and Malaysia to name a few. Immersion is the word when it comes to travel! She delights in experiencing new cultures and bringing some of the local flavor—whether it's food, fashion or superstitions!—home.
Amy MacKinnon
Amy is the Office Manager for the San Francisco location. She is a Jill of All Trades, having worked in tech, design, and non-profits over the last 10 years and enjoys getting to help all the different teams with a multitude of projects. She was born in California but has lived in Idaho, Colorado, and Virginia before returning home. Having traveled all over the U.S., she's looking forward to doing more traveling in other countries soon. In the meantime she is enjoying learning about destinations all over the world while working at Viator.
Dan Marchese
Known as "Mobile Dan" due to his involvement with Viator's mobile initiatives, this east coast transplant works in San Francisco where he's lived since 2000. His love of travel began with a high school trip to Spain that left him wanting more. 12 years later he finally made it back. Since then, Dan's been trying to make up for lost time by obsessively planning more trips than he should each year. His favorite Viator experience to date has been Skip the Line: Vatican Museums Walking Tour including Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Rooms and St Peter's
Isabel Marthy
Isabel Marthy is our Product Manager Europe (EMEA) and just recently joined Viator's London office. Isabel was born and raised in Switzerland and before she moved to her all-time favourite city (London), Isabel lived in San Francisco and Munich. She has traveled all over Europe and the United States with Berlin, Florence and New York being her favourite destinations. Isabel's ultimate travel tip? Don't be afraid of getting lost in a city, keep walking and you will discover some of the most authentic places!
Sarah McGhee
Hailing from the north of England, Sarah started her travel career with a stint in Barcelona before returning to study for a tourism degree in Sheffield. She then moved to Austria for a couple of years to work, snowboard and soak up the sun before hitting London, where she's been ever since. Sarah's top travel destinations? Too many to list, but Thailand, Bali, Gili Island and Singapore are definitely up there.
Nicholas Merrett
Nick joined Viator as Product Manager for the UK, Nordics, Egypt, South Africa and the Russian Federation. Originally from South Africa, he has lived in London for three and a half years, and still finds it an exciting city with endless opportunities and discoveries to be had. His favorite holiday destination was Lebanon, which surpassed every expectation he had, and he recommends everyone takes their next holiday there, immediately. When traveling in South Africa, though, he recommends a first stop in Cape Town with its dramatic landscape of beaches, mountains, and vineyards. In other parts of the country, few things are more spectacular than a game safari on the Highveld; more exhilarating than shark cage diving; and as horrifying, but inspiring as the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.
Loryanna Michalek
Loryanna Michalek works out of our Las Vegas office as part of our customer care team who handles chat, social media, and general customer support. Originally from Florida, Loryanna's favorite travel experience was the week-long drive across country to get to Las Vegas. She's having a great time in her new hometown taking in the Cirque shows and musicals on the Strip. An adventurer at heart, she's thrilled to be working for Viator, where she can start planning her globe trotting experiences, and keep up with the news abroad. Her next destination plan? London!
Jenna Millemann
Jenna recently joined Viator as the Social Media Manager based in the San Francisco office. After spending five years in a marketing agency she now loves being part of the Viator team. She has resided in San Francisco since 2007 after graduating from the University of Oregon (Go Ducks!). Besides exploring the city and all it has to offer she loves traveling whenever possible. Her favorite spots are Cambodia and Croatia but would love to live in Italy if she had a chance. She is already working on planning her next overseas trip.
Katie Moore
Katie joined Viator as a Product Coordinator based in San Francisco. She will be assisting with the management of tours and activities for Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America. After graduating from college, Katie spent the summer road tripping across the United States and working in Boston before joining Viator. Katie is a big fan of the outdoors, enjoys hiking and camping, and is looking forward to doing more traveling in the future.
César Mozo
César is one of our foreign reinforcements. Although he is our Financial Analyst, he loves to travel too. As an avid scuba diver, he enjoys destinations were he can get in contact with the abundant marine life, especially in tropical destination. His last trips include two great diving destinations in the Caribbean. The islands of Cozumel in the Riviera Maya (Mexico), and Roatan (Honduras) were he saw amazing animals like spotted manta rays, green turtles and a big amount of coral reef dwellers. When he is not diving, he is learning to fly and keeping in close contact with nature by road and mountain biking in beautiful Marin County, California.
Robin Murphy
A history and outdoors buff, Robin Murphy has been all over the United States, including Washington DC, Orlando, Los Angeles and Seattle. Robin has worked in Viator's Las Vegas office for 4 years and is Team Leader of our call center. She has a worldwide wanderlust and hopes next to visit Japan, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Rachel Nichols
Rachel Nichols is our Call Center Manager working out of our Las Vegas office. Rachel transplanted from Chicago, IL in 2002. Having lived and traveled around the US she has also explored places around the world including Canada, Mexico, Cayman Islands and her favorite so far has been in Ocho Rios, Jamaica climbing up the Dunns River Falls. Rachel loves what she does and is always looking for a new place to add to her list of places to explore on the radar next would be Australia and New Zealand.
Maria Olegario
Maria works at Viator's Sydney office, helping to look after the Asia-Pacific region. She aims to visit all corners of the globe in order to experience local cultures and local cuisines! Some of her unforgettable experiences include dining at the piazza in Siena on spaghetti marina, drinking cava with local Fijian villagers, devouring Belgian chocolates in Brussels, and sipping cocktails on a balmy Bahamas cruise. Yes, she feels very fortunate to have a job that offers both work, fun and play! Maria is currently planning her next adventure to South America.
Patricia Pagenel
Patricia Pagenel is Viator's Online Marketing Manager, working out of our San Francisco office. A French national, Patricia lived in Scotland, Taiwan and Germany before finally calling the San Francisco Bay Area home. Patricia is passionate about outdoor adventure: she spends summers backpacking and windsurfing, winters snowboarding and snow camping. An international traveler, Patricia explored over 30 countries and is always planning new trips. Her next adventures? Patagonia or Costa Rica. Her favorite Viator Trip? Flying under the Golden Gate Bridge with our San Francisco Vista Grande Helicopter Tour.
Pauli Payne
Pauli is a Marketing Associate supporting aspects of email, marketing for mobile and database marketing efforts for Viator. She joined Viator early in 2012 after moving to San Francisco from Detroit. Pauli realized her obsession with travel after her first study abroad near Paris at age ten. Since then, she has traveled to Europe and Central America several times, as well as Western and Eastern Canada and about half of the United States. With a penchant for heights, rivers and snow, Pauli can usually be found searching for mountainous terrain to explore.
Kathleen Pedersen
Kathleen joined Viator as the Sales Operations Manager in January 2013. A proud Texan with a knack for baking, she lived in Europe for four years before moving to San Francisco, and she loves everything about Romance languages. She also loves planning rockstar trips that hit multiple destinations and squeeze in as much fun (and serendipity!) as possible. She would happily spend her life commuting between Paris and London, but first she wants to see the rest of the world. Next up? Burning Man and then Asia!
Al Pontes
Born and raised in Brazil. I lived and worked in four countries in 10 years. (UK, PORTUGAL, BRAZIL and USA). Fun fact: Landed in London and I couldn't speak English nor knew a single person. Have been in SF now for 7 years, and love the city.
Love music, languages and accents. My favorite destination is Hawaii.
Emily Radevsky
Emily has recently joined the Viator team as a Product Coordinator based in London and will be assisting in managing tours and activities in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Some of her best travel memories come from the 7 weeks spent travelling round South-East Asia after graduating. Her favourite places for holidays are the French Alps and the vibrant city of Seville. When Emily is not planning her next trip, she enjoys cooking (saying that she is not the best cook in the world but she likes to try!). She recently travelled in South America and loved the salt flats in Bolivia and the Inca Trail in Peru and as usual brought back some great soundtracks from her trip.
Terry Roberts
Terry is a Java developer based in our Sydney office. Terry has lived in London (for almost a year) and Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland (3 years). During that time he extensively explored parts of Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Switzerland, Hungry, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy and the Greek Islands. He loved being immersed in the different cultures that Europe had to offer within an hour or two flight. Awesome.
Alberto Rodriguez
Alberto is Viator's Business Development Manager, based in our San Francisco Office. After having lived most of his life in Central America, he decided to move to the United States to pursue both educational and professional goals. Alberto has traveled all over the Americas and the Caribbean from a very early age, with New York being his favorite destination. Alberto's next country to check off his list? Australia.
Fernando Santos
Fernando works in the Business Development in the EMEA and LATAM regions, being based in the London office. Before joining Viator, Fernando lived and worked in Portugal (his motherland!), Ireland, Germany and Mozambique, having gained along the years a strong (and strange) affection for African music, frankfurters, espressos, Guinness and football. Thailand has been one the most amazing destinations he has yet visited. Among the many great Viator experiences, he recommends the Flamenco Night at Tablao Cordobes in Barcelona, and the Floating Markets of Damnoen Saduak Cruise Day Trip from Bangkok.
Katrina Sohriakoff
Katrina Sohriakoff has a spot on the marketing team in the San Francisco office. Originally from the California Bay Area, Katrina feels at home in the fog and is loving life in the Big Little City. When the travel bug bites, Katrina dreams of return trips to Spain. If leaving town isn't an option, she satisfies the itch with trips to local tapas bars and listening to Spanish guitar.
Leah Still
Born and raised in Missouri, Leah Still is Viator's Editorial Coordinator, combining her love of travel with her love of all things grammar-related. She graduated from the University of Missouri and has been writing about travel and other fun things since 2003. Aside from a couple of international stints in London and Perth, Leah has slowly been making her way west across the US, living in Boulder, Vail and finally San Francisco. Some of her favorite destinations are Bali, Lake Como, the Whitsundays, Big Sur, Jericoacoara, Melbourne and Lake Tahoe.
Alesia Stochel
Alesia Stochel is the general manager of our Las Vegas office. Alesia has more than 20 years of experience in the travel industry (from hotels to vacation packages to air operations - though, by far, the tours and activities part of the industry is her favorite!). Alesia is originally from Michigan; she's spent 12 years in Dallas, Texas, before continuing west to her new home in Las Vegas. Alesia loves to travel and explore new destinations. Some of her favorite tours / activities in and around Las Vegas: helicopter tours to the Grand Canyon's West Rim and fixed-wing tours to the South Rim. For an adrenaline rush the ATV ride at the edge of the North Rim ranks among her top experiences.
Irene Stolyarov
Irene is an Online Marketing Assistant at Viator's San Francisco Office. Born and raised in San Francisco, she enjoys constantly discovering new and exciting things that the city has to offer. With a strong passion for travel, Irene took advantage of different study abroad programs during her years at UC Santa Barbara and lived in Rome, Italy and Glasgow, Scotland. She is eager to continue to explore different parts of the world and hopes to get in touch with her Ukrainian roots on her next travel adventure!
Viggy Chaowei Tao
Viggy Chaowei Tao is one of Viator's UI developers and graphic designer (also an analytics guru!), based in our Sydney office. Viggy joined Viator in 2006 and has been busy ever since with html, css and design. Viggy majored in game design at university, and loves all kinds of computer games, especially adventure and role play games. She also loves adventure in her real life, too! Viggy's spend most of her travels exploring China and Australia.
Fleur Vandermeer
Fleur Vandermeer was born and raised in the Netherlands. She worked as a sales rep, travel agent and international airline hostess before finally packing her bags 12 years ago to explore the world. After a 6-week stint through New Zealand Fleur landed in Australia and has been there ever since. She's worked on Viator's Sydney-based customer service team for almost 7 years! Fleur's favorite Viator experiences: Heli Hiking Franz Josef, the Kaikoura Swim with Dolphins Tour from Christchurch, the Cairns Sky Dive and Great Barrier Reef Helicopter Tour. Her next trip? Somewhere in Europe.
Vina Vongvarotai
Vina Vongvarotai, based in our San Francisco office, manages Viator's ever-growing private guides network and supports new initiative projects within the marketing department. A truly global citizen, Vina is Thai by nationality, American by accent and Swiss by education. She has previously lived in Somalia, Nepal, Singapore and the UK to name a few. Vina's favorite part of traveling is getting lost. And trying new delicious dishes!
Taylor Withrington
Taylor is a Product Manager based in San Francisco, and she helps develop exciting products for Canada, the Pacific Northwest Hawaii, and San Francisco. Having worked with one of our top producing suppliers in SF, Taylor is now excited to be on the other side of things and finding amazing tours and experiences. Like most of the Viator staff, traveling is Taylor's passion and she likes a good mix of adventure, relaxation, exploration and even the good mishap or two. Her mom always told her that you learn more while traveling than you ever could in a classroom, and that philosophy has definitely stuck!
Lija Zalte
Lija joined Viator in January 2013 as a Product Merchandising Manager based in San Francisco. Born and raised in northern California, but a proud Latvian by heritage. Some of her favorite adventures include bungee jumping in Uganda, white-water rafting in Ecuador and sailing in Belize. Always looking forward to her next trip, Lija prefers to travel with a relaxed agenda; the best parts of a trip tend to be unplanned. Her top destinations yet to explore: Patagonia, Brazil, South Africa and Japan.
