Speaking Bio

Known internationally for his expertise in social media and online tourism, Seattle-based Andy Hayes is a busy guy.  When he’s not travelling to support his popular travel lifestyle magazine, Sharing Travel Experiences (www.sharingtravelexperiences.com), he is out giving workshops under the guise of his travel marketing organization, Travel Online Partners (www.travelonlinepartners.com). He’s been featured in publications like CNN, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and National Geographic Traveler. His media company, Hayes Media Group, now operates nearly 30 travel-related websites.

Now known as “That Travel Guy,” Andy was born in the United States and lived in several cities, most notably Amsterdam and Edinburgh.  He has a degree in both Organizational Leadership as well as Information Technology and spent many years working in enterprise web software as well as the financial sector before moving exclusively into the travel and tourism industry.

Described as “young Internet star,” Andy has spoke a number of tourism workshops in both the US and the UK, as well as noteworthy conferences such as Travel Bloggers Exchange 2011 (TBEX) and was the moderator of Eye for Travel’s 2010 Prague Summit as well as a workshop speaker in Las Vegas for Blogworld and New Media Expo 2011 in addition to Sabre’s 2011 Travel Marketing University (TMU).  His down to earth and real-world view of social media marketing, as well as website usability and other web technologies, have proved to be a massive hit with small business owners both online and offline.

Andy is responsible for the marketing of online travel startup Matador Network, and he is also a published author, the Historic Walking Guide to Edinburgh, not to mention iPhone apps and an entire line of eBooks for small business. He’s also an entrepreneurial coach to small businesses, helping them realise and execute on their ideas and plans.

That Travel Guy may have created for himself the greatest job in the world—connecting travelers with destinations, tourism businesses with travel consumers, and small business owners with big ideas—but he’s still looking to help you make your own work the greatest in the world.

For more information, or to find out more about Andy’s writing or speaking services, contact Andy directly.

Press Photo