Board of Directors and Executive Team

Eugenio Yunis / President of the Board of Directors

Eugenio is a Civil Engineer, under-grad of the Universidad de Chile and post-grad in development economics at the University of Grenoble, France, where he obtained a master´s degree.  Between 1974 and 1976 he was associate investigator at Manchester Business School in the United Kingdom and from 1976 to 1982 he worked as a senior consultant in the public policies division of Cooper & Lybrand in London, advising many public and private clients in European, African, Asian and Latin American countries.

In 1982 he moved to Madrid to perform as regional chief for the Americas and Europe and later as Deputy director of Technical Corporation in the World Tourism Organization, a UN specialized organization.

Between 1990 and 1994 he was National Director of Tourism in Chile, position from which he started master plans for the development of tourism in various regions of the country.  He promoted the professionalization of the sector and managed to double the arrival of foreign tourists to Chile in four years.  Through his initiative, the Corporation for the promotion of Chilean Tourism was created, a mixed entity that enhances the Public-Private Corporation known as Turismo Chile.

As of 1997 he returned to WTO in Madrid, this time as Director of Sustainable Development in order to boost sustainable programs in tourism.  In 2007 he was promoted to General Director of the WTO work programme, and between 2009 and 2010 he acted as Deputy Secretary General. Throughout his long career, Mr. Yunis has accomplished work missions in around 80 countries. 

In 2000 he was guest researcher at the Getty Conservation Institute of Los Angeles, USA.  He has published articles and books about the development of tourism, cultural heritage, tourism and poverty, among other theme realted topics and has been guest professor at innumerous universities in Europe and Latin America.

As of March 2010 to date, he leads the Executive team at FEDETUR, a federation that groups together over 1000 leading tourism companies in Chile.

Eugenio Yunis is married and has one daughter.

Juan Pablo Larenas / Treasurer

Juan Pablo studied Business Administration from the University of Chile and received an MSc inManagement Development from the London School of Economics - UK.Larenas is the Co Founder and Executive Director of System B, a global platform that promotes B Companies, companies that redefine the meaning of success and use the market to solve social and environmental problems. In addition, Larenas is the Co Founder of Late! (www.late.cl), a social enterprise that sells purified water and that donates 100% of its profits to projects for at risk children.

Larenas is also currently a board member of the Responsible Citizens Foundation (www.ciudadanoresponsable.cl), which researches, builds, and promotes ethical consumption.  Currently, Larenas is a Professor of social entrepreneurship courses at the University of Chile and Universidad Alberto Hurtado, in Santiago. He is the former director of A Roof for my Country in 10 Latin American countries (www.untechoparamipais.org).

Juan Luis Crespo / Director and Founder

Juan Luis completed his studies at the Catholic University of Chile, where he majored in Business Administration. Juan Luis then went on to earn an MBA in Leisure Management & Business for his graduate studies in Barcelona, Spain.

Juan Luis’s professional career began with the Youth Service program in Chile, where he was transferred to the Municipality of Viña del Mar and put in charge of tourism promotion of the communal Planning Secretariat sector.

After his studies in Spain, Juan Luis became the Product Manager for LAN Airlines’ Destinationsas well as the assistant manager of Global Tourism. Subsequently, he assumed as the head of receptive and internal position under the assistant manager of Tourism in Chile. From March 2010 to March 2013 he served as General Manager of the Fedetur Federation which brings together over 1,000 leading companies in Chile.

Juan Luis Crespo is married and has three children.

Marcelo Ringeling / Manager

Businessman and entrepreneur, Ringeling graduated with Industrial Civil Engineering from the University of Chile and has founded companies in the field of publications. He assisted Salo Publishers to enter into the finance sector as well as the Bank of Constitution. He also created multiple companies in the field of Information Technology (1981): ComputerLand, Apple Chile, Microcare, Microsoft Chile, SOFTLAND, Computek, among others, while strengthening the company Quintec leader for 25 years in the development and implementation of IT solutions in Chile and other Latin American countries.

Marcelo has been an active member of the Parks Corporation for Chile since its inception in (2002), looking for ways to collaborate in the public / private conservation of the natural heritage. Since founding Tempered (2006), a consultancy specializing in effective actions of conservation, both in the field of private conservation and public policy, Marcelo has participated in working groups formed to articulate legal and tax mechanisms that drive private conservation in Chile.

Representing various forums in the interests of entrepreneurs who understand that conservationis a cornerstone of the development.Marcelo has participated since its founding as a teacher and then counselor at the Colegio San Lorenzo de Recoleta and is committed to vocational education in vulnerable sectors.

Servaas Kerssemakers / Manager

Servaas is a Dutch citizen who became a hospitality Professional at the University of Heerlen, inthe Netherlands. He has extensive experience with service businesses in commercial areas, as well as marketing and operations, in both multinational companies as their own ventures. Speaks 4 languages.

Kerssemakers arrived in 1989 to Chile where he began his career at the Sheraton San Cristobalhotel in the area of food and beverages.In 1991 he became the Director of Food and Beverage at the Kempinski Hotel Plaza in San Francisco. Between 1993 and 1996 Kerssemakers was the General Manager of the Time Apartments Chile, where he developed the concept of the Apart Hotel.

Kerssemakers then started his first independent venture into a professional cleaning company, with a strong focus in conceptualizing work and responsibilities with social support from workers of a system. After 10 years he was employed by ISS, a Danish Services Facility company, as their National Sales Manager. In 2009, he returned again to the independent entrepreneurship business with the Casadoca Boutique Hotel in Concon.

Kerssemakers started the hospitality consulting firm: The Dutch Touch. From 1997 to 2004, he taught at SEK and the Inacap University.Kersemakers is married and has 4 children. Together with his wife, he works in various social projects and foundations and assists Chile to participate in social programs.

Andrés Iriondo / Manager

Andrés is a professional entrepreneur who graduated with a Diploma from the Business Administration at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. It was there that he received his Masters in Strategic Sales Management MSc Innovation.

Andrés is the Co Founder and Director of the Startup, Socialab ( www.socialab.com ), a social platform that provides enterprises the opportunity to make an impact on the more than one million people in poverty throughout the world. Through high impact strategy consulting, creation of networks, business models, and innovation processes, he assists in accelerating startup businesses.

He has also participated in consulting large companies by promoting the development of inclusive business with high social and economic impact.