The GREEN MONARCH Award

Prof. Dr Carolin Steinhauser has been working as a professor of tourism/hospitality since 2012 and combines research expertise with practical know-how from her family's own hotel, the Bayerischer Hof Dresden. She completed her doctorate in tourism at the Leopold Franzens University in Innsbruck. In 2009, she founded the reputation management company Hotelnavigator, which she sold in 2013. From 2012, she was Professor of International Hotel Management at the SRH University of Applied Sciences Berlin at the Dresden campus and programme director for the dual hotel management course. In addition, she was the academic director of the Dresden campus and was able to help build it up from an academic perspective. Most recently, she worked as a professor at the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences for Management, Economics & Media GmbH in Munich in the tourism department.

She is the author of numerous publications and specialist books and also works as a consultant, lecturer and member of the board of trustees in tourism.

After studying at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Prof. Dr Christian Buer's first job was at Steigenberger Consulting, where he completed his doctorate in the field of hotel management and processes. This was followed by positions at the joint venture ArabellaSheraton as Group Director Marketing Services & Development and the Fundus Group as the person responsible for its hotels.

As a full professor at Heilbronn University, he is now responsible for the Department of Tourism Management and is co-founder of the Institute for Tourism, Travel & Hospitality. Christina Buer is closely associated with the Nemis Group with practice, which includes consulting with Horwath HTL Germany, Austria and Switzerland, hotel development and his vision of "generating value for the next generation", which manages Nemis Hotels (including Moxy).

Christian Buer is a member of the jury of the Deutscher Hotel Nachwuchspreis. He is Founder & Chairman of the Heilbronn Hospitality Symposium and Honorary Chairman of the Tunisian Hospitality Symposium in cooperation with the University of Catharge, Tunis.

Jana Schimke has been at the helm of DEHOGA Bundesverband as Managing Director since January 2026 - and brings with her exactly the mix of political experience and economic expertise that our industry needs in challenging times. The political science graduate began her career in a parliamentary environment and worked for various members of the Bundestag for several years. She was then responsible for urban development and the housing market at Haus & Grund Deutschland. She then moved to the Confederation of German Employers' Associations in the labour market policy department before moving into active politics herself. From 2013 to 2025, she was a member of the German Bundestag for the CDU, where she made her mark in social and economic policy in particular and most recently chaired the Tourism Committee. Jana Schimke is Deputy Federal Chairwoman of the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT). She is also involved on a voluntary basis in various committees of social organisations and initiatives.

Photo: DEHOGA Federal Association

Petra Hedorfer has been Chairwoman of the Executive Board of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) since 2003. In this role, she drives the digital transformation within the company and the entire value chain of German inbound tourism - from social media to artificial intelligence applications. Her commitment to quality tourism in Germany is closely linked to digitalisation. As CEO, she has been shaping Germany's global tourism strategy for two decades with a clear vision, great expertise and a focus on innovation. Under her leadership, Destination Germany has positioned itself as a top brand in the global travel market. Her goal: to increase the number of international travellers to Germany, leverage new economic potential and thereby improve value creation for the medium-sized tourism industry in Germany. Petra Hedorfer is not only a tourism executive, but also a bridge builder between business, politics and culture.

Petra Hedorfer studied economics and social sciences at the University of Augsburg. After initial professional positions at Management Circle, Woolworth and the Alte Oper Frankfurt, she has been responsible for the work of the GNTB as CEO since 2003.

Marco Voigt is an entrepreneur, platform builder and strategic driver at the interface of sustainability, infrastructure, technology and capital markets. He has been initiating and developing effective alliances between business, politics, public institutions and investors for over 20 years. He is currently the initiator and founder of the Infrastructure Alliance Germany, a cross-sector platform for the implementation of specific infrastructure projects and the strategic positioning of infrastructure as a key transformation task.

He previously founded internationally recognised formats such as the GREENTECH FESTIVAL, which he set up together with Nico Rosberg. After starting his career in engineering at Porsche, Marco Voigt now advises companies and institutions at board and decision-making level and is regarded as a reliable sparring partner for strategic transformation, scaling and multi-stakeholder-based collaboration.

Credit: Leica and a CV.