Context Announces Key Promotion, Tied to Growth

As growth continues, Context Travel promotes Rome manager Petulia Melideo to oversee all European op

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. November 05, 2008

PHILADELPHIA, PA, November 4, 2008. Context Travel, the scholarly tour company and leader in sustainable tourism, announced today the promotion of Petulia Melideo to director of European operations. Melideo, who joined Context in 2003, will relinquish her duties as manager of the company's Rome walking tours to take on this newly created role.

"As we continue our growth and expansion we're looking for people who can maintain the high quality of our programs while driving revenue," said co-founder Paul Bennett. "Petulia has the perfect combination of these talents. Her unerring eye for quality laid the foundation for our success in Italy, while her ability to develop strategic partnerships is one of the engines of our future growth."

Melideo will occupy a newly created position responsible for overseeing Context Travel's walking tours and other travel programs in its European cities, including London, Paris, Rome, Venice, Florence, and Naples. She will manage a five-person team based in regional offices in Rome and Paris. She will also continue to oversee and manage many of the Context's marketing efforts in Europe, including partnerships with other travel companies.

"This is an exciting new role for me," said Melideo. "We've secured our spot as one of the top tour companies in the world, providing a very distinctive niche product. The exciting challenge at this point is to broaden our reach, both through enhanced marketing and expansion. We remain very sanguine about European travel."

In addition to her work as Rome city manager Melideo oversaw the development and launch of Context's operations in Naples in 2005. In 2006, she took on an enhanced marketing roll, developing many of Context's strategic relationships with destination management companies, corporations, and travel consultants. In 2007, Melideo oversaw the development and launch of Context's London walks, which she will continue to manage in her new position.

Founded by National Geographic writer Paul Bennett and Lani Bevacqua, Context is a network of English-speaking scholars and professionals-including art historians, writers, architects, and gastronomes-who organize and lead didactic walking seminars in eight cities: Paris, New York, London, Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice, and Istanbul. In May 2007, Travel + Leisure named Context one of the top tour companies for its innovative approach to travel and the depth of its programs. To learn more about Context visit its website at: www.contexttravel.com