About Flavio Melo
Flavio Melo - Professional Summary:
• 14-year experience in holistic business management, change management, change of paradigms, initially as a consultant in those areas and then as the creator of a new market niche in the Brazilian Tourism Industry. Experience in working under pressure and in changing environments.
• 9 of those years spent in the hotel business, as the creator and founder of Exploranter Overland Hotel, with international operations in Chile, Brazil and Argentina and cross-training and sales representation of Hotel Bucsky in Nova Friburgo, State of Rio de Janeiro.
• Business consulting experience in change management, business process redesign, tax law and strategic planning.
• Multi-cultural exposure, having lived 4 years among Germany, Canada, Chile and Argentina.
LANGUAGES
Fluent in English, German, Spanish - Native in Portuguese.
Professional Experience:
Dept.Y Aug/08 to present
Business Intelligence in Generation Y
Researcher, Speaker, Blogger and Partner
Sixpix Content Aug/08 to Feb/09
Publishing
Strategic Planning Director and Partner
Exploranter Jan/00 to Present
Hotel on Wheels – Overland Expeditions
Managing Partner
• Creation of a new niche in the Brazilian Tourism Industry. The concept was featured on the cover of the New York Times.
• Implementation of the company in record time, with 15 trips done after only 1 and a half years of the first Idea.
• The first and only truck registered as a hotel at Embratur (Brazil’s Tourism Board), and probably in the world.
• Management of the construction of the truck, including everything related to steel structures, electric and electronic components, hydraulics, ergonomics, industrial kitchen, creating innovative building concepts and taking it to be approved by INMETRO (Brazil’s technical regulation agency).
• Launching of the company in mid 2001 and survival to the 2-year stagnation in world tourism due to 9/11.
• Attraction of massive media, ranging from a full page in the New York Times to all kinds of publications in Brazil and abroad, from Korean and Swedish television, to being twice in Ana Maria Braga, Brazil’s Oprah, to European coffee table books in German, English, Spanish, French and Dutch. The list is endless.
• Became an industry reference, being a speaker and newspaper columnist.
• Successfully management and consolidation of the Exploranter brand, with high recall rates from within and outside the tourism industry.
• Management of complex logistics, such as being the support truck/hotel for competitors at the Rally dos Sertões, greatest off road competition in Brazil.
• Part in trade fairs, in Brazil and abroad, being responsible for the entire process, by defining which fairs to take part, creating promotional material and welcoming clients to the company’s booth.
• Establishment of the international operations in Chile and Argentina, which became leader in sales.
• Close relationship to educational institutions, being a visitor speaker at dozens of them. The Exploranter was mentioned in a couple of technical books and was the central theme in several graduation papers.
• Deep understanding of the typical psychics of Exploranter´s guests, anticipating their desires and creating ways to fulfill their dreams.
• Became an expert in the visited regions, in themes like geology, history, economics and curiosities sharing them with guests, so that they felt safe and closer to the visited environment.
• Creation of own travel agency, so that guests and product would receive special attention.• One year living in Bahia, Northeastern Brazil, still working in the Tourism Industry as a Service Provider for Txai Resort delivering high quality excursions in several languages for foreign and national guests.
Arisco Jan/99 to Dec/99
Food Industry
Strategic Planning Analyst
• In a 2 person team, reporting to the Strategic Planning Director, in a classified Project, analyses of all 300 product lines and proposition of changes to increase profitability. The goal was reached rapidly with noticeable increase in profitability.
• Along with the CFO, disclosure of Arisco’s amazing numbers to international investors. As a result, the company’s debentures in the USA market moved from the worst risk classification to BUY recommendation from investment banks, with steep increase in trade value.
• The result of both actions was a successful acquisition of Arisco by the USA based Best Foods.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Oct/95 to Dec/98
Consulting in Change Management, Business Process Redesign, Tax Law and Knowledge Management
Trainee, Assistant and Assistant Consultant
Education:
• Studied Law at USP (Brazil’s Best Law School)
• Graduate studies in Business Administration at FGV – CEAG (Brazil’s Best Business School)
• Specialization in Entrepreneurship in Babson, Boston.
• Specialization in Tourism – Travel Agency Module at FGV - CEAG (Brazil’s best Business School)
• Travel Agency Management Modules at SENAC (Brazil’s best Technical School)
• High School – Germany, Brazil and Canada
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