Directors

Esther leads the Major Events Team at UK Sport, an arm’s length government body in the UK. Her team works with partners across the UK to strategically identify and invest in major sporting events. A key part of this role is to identify and programme out all the major and mega sporting events the UK looks to host on a rolling 5-10 year programme.
Esther has a passion for sport at all levels and a former hockey player and umpire Esther has been involved with a huge range of sports events across the globe formally working for England Netball and London 2012 Organising Committee.

Esther was appointed to serve as IAEH director in June 2021.

Paul leads VisitScotland’s Events Directorate which includes Industry Development, Business Events and EventScotland. The directorate takes a strategic role in the Scottish events industry and is responsible for attracting, bidding for and securing major sporting, cultural and business events worldwide. Over the past decade, Scotland has brought some of the biggest event properties to the country, including The Ryder Cup and Commonwealth Games in 2014, many European and World Championships and the MTV Music Awards.

Paul was appointed Chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland in May 2015 and previous roles include Chef De Mission for The Scottish Commonwealth Games. He was awarded an OBE for Services to Commonwealth Sport.

Paul was reappointed to serve as IAEH director in May 2019.

As Events and Experiences Director at Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ), Peter leads a team that works collaboratively with government, industry and destination partners to identify, attract, develop and promote high value events in Queensland that attract visitors, contribute to the economy, raise the State's profile and foster community pride. Peter's time at TEQ has also seen him lead leveraging activity to optimise the tourism value of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and contribute to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Value Proposition Assessment as part of the Queensland Government's 2032 Taskforce. Prior to his time at TEQ, Peter led the lifestyle events portfolio at Destination New South Wales and has rights holder experience having led the delivery of surfing events for domestic sports federation Surfing New South Wales for 6 years.

Peter was appointed to serve as IAEH director in June 2021.

Robert is a seasoned veteran in the major event and sport bidding/hosting industry for over 20 years based in Canada, with exposure of working with major international, national, provincial and independent events rights holders. He has served on the board of Sport Tourism Canada (formerly Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance) for over 10 years, including board and executive committee roles.

Robert was appointed to serve as an IAEH Director in June 2022.

Al Kidd is the President & CEO of the Sports Events & Tourism Association (Sports ETA). He joined Sports ETA in April 2017, bringing more than 35 years of advertising, sales, marketing, venture capital investing, risk management, executive leadership and non-profit experience to his role with the association.

Kidd manages the strategic and financial direction at Sports ETA, while overseeing events, education, marketing and communications, membership, and sponsorship. Since joining Sports ETA, Kidd has repositioned and rebranded the association establishing a more inclusive brand to lead the sports events and tourism industry and its membership. He has also implemented a new strategic plan, 2020 Vision, to advance the future of sports tourism.
Kidd serves on the board of directors for USA Fencing, and the International Association of Event Hosts (IAEH).

Alan was appointed to serve as IAEH director in July 2020.

Lars has been the head of Sport Event Denmark from the outset. With enthusiasm and commitment, Lars Lundov has lead the way for his team of employees all through the years. Lars Lundov’s main focus is on international relations within the international sports world / Olympic Movement and bidding for major international sports events. Through his wide, global network and because of the remarkable Danish results on the market for sports events, Lars Lundov is requested as a speaker at international conferences/congresses.

Lars was reappointed to serve as IAEH director in June 2021.

Andrew has worked and volunteered in the events industry in New Zealand for over two decades primarily in the arts and culture space. In his early career he participated in the EFA Atelier for Young Festival Managers and he has a CFEE accreditation with the IFEA. He has extensive event delivery experience including; WOMAD; World of WearableArt; Cricket World Cups; Lord of the Rings premier. For the last seven years, he has been involved in major event prospecting; for local government as a small host city (Wellington), and currently working for New Zealand Government as a host nation investment partner.

Andrew was appointed to serve as an IAEH director in June 2022.

Perttu started his work in the event sector at the end of last century. He produced music festivals, TV-productions and theatre plays, and was also the festival director of Scandinavia’s largest comedy festival. In 2009−2012 he was the Deputy Mayor of Tampere, Finland and in charge of economic development, sports and culture. In 2012 the city decided to open Tampere Major Event Office and Perttu went from politics to life as a civil servant as the director of the new department. In 2017 Tampere Major Event Office joined forces with Tampere Convention Bureau and Visit Tampere, and now Perttu is the COO of Visit Tampere Ltd… Still developing event business.

Perttu was reappointed to serve as IAEH director in July 2020.

With over three decades of expertise within the business events industry, I fuel my passion by building successful business models. I combine my strategic foresight and global connections to vigorously seal foundational work – particularly in the areas of organisational culture and policymaking. I also had experiences in organizing Mega Events in Thailand such as International Horticulture Exposition for His Majesty the King; Royal Flora Ratchapruek in 2006 and in the last couple months AIPH also granted Thailand to host International Horticulture in 2026 in Udon Thani as well.

Nichapa was appointed to serve as IAEH director in June 2022