Keynote Speaker
Director of CoStar Group Academic Engagement
Mr. Duane Vinson is the Director of CoStar Group Academic Engagement, a program that works with business, hospitality, tourism, and real estate schools around the world to provide access to the CoStar product, thorough and timely data for academic research, and comprehensive and relevant certification training materials for the classroom. The program has been warmly received by the academic community, currently assisting over 350 schools in 58 countries around the world. Mr. Vinson joined STR in 1997 and over the years he has been involved in many areas of operation at STR including Data Operations, Business Development, Client Services and STR’s Database Operations Center tasked with building and maintaining STR’s global lodging census databases of planned and existing hotels. He has presented at numerous hospitality and tourism conventions, hotel company and brand conferences, and academic events over the years. Mr. Vinson has also been quoted in trade press throughout the world. Prior to joining STR, Mr. Vinson was with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.
Arva Ahmed is a food entrepreneur and cultural storyteller who has redefined how Dubai is seen, through its kitchens and neighborhoods rather than its skylines. In 2013, she founded Frying Pan Adventures, the city’s first walking food tour company, pioneering an approach that uncovered Dubai’s story through the everyday dishes and diverse cultures that shape it.
In 2024, Ahmed partnered with Ti22 Films to produce Ditch the Silver, a YouTube channel and food docu-series that also airs on Emirates Airlines as well as on OSN and OSN+. The show celebrates the diverse people and subcultures shaping the city’s street food identity.
Her voice has long been part of the region’s media landscape—as a columnist for Friday magazine, co-host of the UAE’s first food podcast Deep Fried, and today as the food reporter on Dubai One TV’s DXBToday. Both Deep Fried and Ditch the Silver are featured on Emirates in-flight entertainment, extending her reach to global audiences.
Ahmed has appeared internationally on Netflix, Travel Channel, Food Network, iTV, and CNN, earning her a reputation as one of the region’s most trusted cultural interpreters. Across these platforms, Ahmed advances a powerful idea: food is not just sustenance, but the most enduring way for cities in constant motion to preserve authenticity and human connection.