WISE RAM – Activates tourism and hospitality growth

Activates tourism and hospitality growth.

about

Wise Ram SA is a consulting company providing tourism, hospitality and marketing services to destinations, public and private entities, in order to create growth and enhance their international footprint.

By deploying a pro- active blend of policies, including international relations, networking, traditional and non-conventional marketing tools, we aim to create a positive brand echo translating it into tangible profit and benefit.

In a global, competitive and savvy world full of non-substantive public relations and communication, we bring up content and results.

We provide an extensive tourism network and a wide pool of international contacts. Our clients are cities, regions, countries, private and academic entities with whom we build a strategic partnership in order to achieve growth and expansion.

Progressive thinking, daring and disruptive methods are part of our toolkit. In a constantly changing socioeconomic environment we constantly apply an up-to-date and forward way of acting.

We deploy our broad knowledge with a twist of creative fantasy in order to narrate the true story which can only lead to a truly successful outcome.

philosophy

The concept of tourism development as defined in previous years is fading away. The way that societies, cultures and private entities have experienced it seems to be coming to an end. Today, new ways of conceiving and applying examples of development and extroversion are needed. Required are innovative and subversive thinking, radical, disruptive ideas, which will finally be more inclusive and will bring horizontal diffusion of benefits. Respect for the environment, digital awareness and sustainable directions are prerequisites for a dynamic business policy.

Destinations, operators, accommodations and tourism professionals who understand the big and rapid changes and feel the need to implement new development models will meet in Wise Ram S.A. executives the appropriate partners.

Wise Ram’s goal is to create growth and enhance its clients’ international footprint. Growth should be sustainable and shareable. Long-term, strategic goal-setting is a priority.

team #1

Spiros Pengas

CEO, Wise Ram S.A.

spiros@wise-ram.com

Spiros Pengas was born in Thessaloniki. He served as a Deputy Mayor in Thessaloniki from 2011 -2019. During his term, he managed to reverse Thessaloniki’s cultural profile from an introvert and ethnocentric into a cosmopolitan, multicultural and open to the world city. He co-organised international events such as the ‘15th Biennale of Young Artists of the Mediterranean Countries’, the ‘World Music Expo 2012’ and the ‘World Rowing Coastal Championship 2014’. He initiated various innovative programs, such as ‘Sleepover –Kids in the Museums’, ‘Free City Tours for the Citizens’, ‘Teenage Angst’, ‘Support Your Local Heroes’ - Festival, ‘Thessaloniki’s Food Festival’ and ‘Future Library’, a joint venture with Stavros Niarxos Foundation renovating and renewing four Kids’ Libraries in Thessaloniki. He is the instigator of 'Cities’ Diplomacy', an awarded by 'Greek Hospitality Awards 2016' project, and various 'spin offs', ideas and projects.

He has been founding member and board member of the Convention Bureau of Thessaloniki (TCB). He also served as Deputy President of the ‘Thessaloniki Tourism Organization’, President and CEO of the ‘Metropolitan Development Agency of Thessaloniki SA and as member of the board of the ‘Thessaloniki International Expo SA’ and the ‘Thessaloniki Film Festival’.

In 2019, he gave birth to Wise Ram, a company which promotes tourism and hospitality growth. He has been cooperating and advising municipalities and regions, organizations and companies on matters of tourism development.

team #2

Spiros Pengas

CEO, Wise Ram S.A.

Academic Background & Career

He attended the German School of Thessaloniki.
He then studied at the Albert-Ludwig-University in Freiburg i. Br., 1986 -1989 (Vor-Diplom in Political Science)
He continued his studies at the Ludwig-Maximillian-University in Munich, 1989 – 1992 (MA, Magister International Relations, Contemporary History, Amerikanistik)
He then moved to Brussels where he worked as an Intern at the local United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Office (UNHCR)
In June 2011, he was invited to attend the Executive Seminar ‘Public Leaders in Southeast Europe’ from Harvard University, J.F. Kennedy School of Government – Kokkalis Program in Athens
2013, he participated at Urbact’, the First Pilot Training Seminar for Elected Representatives of the European Union in Brussels
2014 – 2016 Spiros represented Thessaloniki at the German Marshall Fund’s METROS Program, a joint project with the cities of Torino, Genova and Bilbao
2020 he worked for the American Farm School as Project Manager and Academic Consultant.
Since 2019 he is Adjunct Instructor at the American College Thessaloniki, MS in Tourism & Hospitality.

Spiros Pengas has been writing to various national media outlets. He has also been featured in international media outlets from Spiegel Magazine and ARD to Neue Zuercher Zeitung and BBC World. He has been a frequent and sought-after speaker talking and presenting in international fora and conferences around the world. He is fluent in Greek, English and German.

team #3

Laura Argyropoulou

Marketing & Communication Strategist

laura@wise-ram.com

Laura Argyropoulou is a marketing & communication expert with a focus on the destination marketing. After studying Finance & Business Administration, she obtained a master degree in Communication and Digital Media. During the same period, she was working for the International Film Festival of Thessaloniki in the department of Public Relations. Following this experience, she got involved in organizing festivals, congresses & corporate events, working for a Professional Congress Organizer. Since 2017, she had been working for “Thessaloniki Convention Bureau” as an Executive Coordinator. She got involved in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions) tourism industry, representing the destination in international exhibitions and B2B forums. Group presentations to MICE buyers, familiarization trips coordination, B2B forums, educational events and the annual marketing & business plan for the city of Thessaloniki as a MICE destination were some of her job responsibilities. After one-year break, experiencing in managing corporate projects abroad on behalf of “Liberty international tourism organization”, she is back in Greece working in Wise Ram SA for the destinations' tourism development. She is also working as a researcher and communication advisor in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for educational projects related with the growth of Nautical and Watersports Tourism in Greece.

team #4

Jolda Latifi

Content Marketing Manager

jolda@wise-ram.com

Jolda Latifi has an expertise in the field of digital marketing especially in the industry of tourism with focus on content creation and social media management.
After studying International Relations & Diplomacy at the American College of Thessaloniki, she received her Master’s degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management. During these years she has worked for five-star hotels, in the front office department as a certified Guest Experience Expert (GEE) in Tourism, by TUV Austria.
Interested in combining tourism and new media, she obtained her Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing & Social Media. She worked for a digital advertising industry, as a content marketing expert. Moreover, she was in charge of content management responsibilities for successful digital marketing campaigns. She takes part in many educational meetings and conferences about the new trends of tourism digitalization.