Columnists
Arnie Weissmann is editor in chief of Travel Weekly, the industry’s award-winning source of news, research, analysis and opinion, and is editorial director of Northstar Travel Media’s Travel Group, which includes Travel Weekly China and Travel Weekly Asia.
Weissmann, who also founded Weissmann Reports (now part of Travel 42), is also a popular speaker at industry conferences, is widely quoted in consumer media and is a regular contributor to the PBS television show “The Travel Detective.”
Mark Pestronk is engaged in the private practice of law with the Law Offices of Mark Pestronk, P.C., The Travel Law Office, in Washington, DC. He has 40 years’ experience in representing travel agencies and other travel companies in industry-related matters and is one of the few lawyers nationwide whose practice is solely devoted to travel industry concerns.
For 24 years, he has been the "Legal Briefs" columnist for Travel Weekly. He also is a popular speaker at industry-related meetings, seminars, and conferences, including Travel Weekly's events.
Pestronk has been chairman of the North American Section of the International Federation of Travel and Tourism Advocates. He holds the highest rating (AV) from the Martindale-Hubbell lawyers rating service and an "excellent" rating from the Avvo lawyers rating service. A native of New York City, Pestronk holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University in international relations and a law degree from Georgetown University. He is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and Virginia. He is also one of the top all-time money winners on the TV game show “Jeopardy”.
Richard Turen owns Churchill & Turen, a luxury vacation-planning firm based in Naples, Fla., and is an owner and editor of the Churchill & Turen Media Group. He has been named the top-producing adviser in the Virtuoso Network and a Travel Superstar by Conde Nast Traveler.
As Travel Weekly's senior editor for aviation, Robert Silk provides coverage and analysis of route networks, service offerings and distribution as well as airline industry trends and political/policy debates. He also writes the Wheels Up opinion column about commercial aviation.
Silk has visited more than 30 countries and more than 40 U.S. states. Prior to joining Travel Weekly in 2015, he spent a decade covering tourism, business, the environment, development and general news for the Florida Keys' daily newspaper, the Key West Citizen, as well as for an affiliated weekly, the Florida Keys Free Press. He also edited the Travel Weekly Florida eNewsletter in 2015 and 2016.
An outdoor enthusiast, he is author of "An Ecotourist's Guide to the Everglades and the Florida Keys," which was published in 2016 by University Press of Florida. In addition, he occasionally still writes the comedic blog Golftantrum.com about the less-than-simple pleasures of a maddening game.
Charlie Funk is CEO of Just Cruisin’ Plus, a travel agency specializing in bespoke travel and vacations. Funk was named Travel Agent of the Year in 2003 and was elected to the CLIA Hall of Fame in 2012. He has co-authored three books on travel agency management; consulted with agencies across North America in marketing, sales and operations; and conducts seminars on travel agency management for travel agency associations, groups, and consortia.
Funk holds a degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University, which he used in engineering and management capacities prior to entering the travel business full time.
Yeoh Siew Hoon, editorial director of Northstar Travel Media Asia, is the founder and editor of Web in Travel, a content and community platform for online travel professionals in the Asia-Pacific region.