TICOS Staff
Management Team
John Gillies - Chairman
John is a member of the Council of AITO, the Association of Independent Tour Operators: he is a past Chair of its Responsible Tourism Committee and is currently the Association's Deputy Chairman. He was a founder member of the adventure travel specialist, Exodus, in 1974 and as Managing Director remained with the company until 1999 by which time it was established as one the world's leading brands in the sector. Much of this position was based on the leading role that Exodus took in Responsible Tourism and Sustainable Development - helping pioneer the principles and practice that have now been widely adopted by mainstream travel.
Dick Sisman - Founder
Dick has been actively involved in the climate change debate since the early 1970's when he commissioned one of the first ever reports which looked at the impact of global warming on coastal areas. He has consistently pressed for action to deal with non-sustainable development and the use of fossil fuels since the publication of 'Limits to Growth' by the Club of Rome in 1972. Dick has recently retired as responsible tourism advisor to the 150 tour operator members of AITO.
David Gillespie - Commercial Director
David Gillespie took a leading role in the development of Responsible Tourism initiatives as far back as the 1980s in his role as Product and
Operations Director of Exodus and on the AITO RT Committee. He became MD of
the First Choice Adventure Travel Division, acquiring and managing a
portfolio of 15 companies worldwide, assisting with the formulation of RTP
policies and serving on the First Choice Group Health and Safety committee
which encompassed corporate governance issues. He took early retirement at
the end of 2006 to concentrate on the development of TICOS and a number of
other companies both in and out of the tourism industry.
Kate Ansell- Communications Manager
Kate
has worked for Dick Sisman and Associates since 2002 and for TICOS since its launch. She has a background in tourism and coastal planning and is currently TICOS' Communications Manager. She is responsible for producing print and multimedia outputs and the design and maintenance of the TICOS and DS&A websites.