Dinesh Dhamija
Founder of Ebookers.com
Dinesh Dhamija founded Ebookers.com which was the UK’s first interactive online travel agency which he sold in 2005 for £247m. He started out running his travel business from a kiosk at a London tube station before turning it into one of Britain's top 10 travel agencies and then taking the genius step of moving it online. He is now Chairman of a sustainable investment company and is an accomplished motivational speaker.
- Founder of the UK’s most successful interactive online travel agency.
- Philanthropist and Chairman of the Cooper Beech Group
- Former Mangement Today Entrepreneur of the Year
- Topics covered include Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Europe – business & the Euro, Taking an offline business online, Philanthropy
Speaking Style: His inspirational story and compelling style is a must for entrepreneurs and business people.
Dinesh Dhamija has travel in the blood - born in Australia, the son of a diplomat - he grew up in India, Mauritius, Afghanistan, Czechoslovakia and Holland. He and his wife launched Flightbookers in 1983 after various jobs including working for IBM. The business started life at a kiosk at London’s Earl’s Court tube station and rapidly became one of Britain's top 10 travel agencies. In 1999 he spotted the opportunity to move the company online after a friend offered him the chance to use an early piece of online booking software – and with this remarkable piece of foresight he became the founder and CEO of the first interactive online travel agency.
He is now the founder of the Copper Beech Group, a company which manages sustainable investment projects in India and Romania and is involved in charity work in both the UK and India. He is a member of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and is a patron and advisory board member of the entrepreneurs’ organization, TiE UK. He is the Governor of the Rainbow Foundation in the UK and an active member of the World Presidents Organisation (WPO) and the Chief Executive Organisation (CEO).
He has won many awards including Entrepreneur of the Year from Management Today Magazine in 2003 and the GG2 Awards’ Asian Man of The Year in 2004.
He has a degree in law from Cambridge University and in 2006 graduated from the President’s Programme in Leadership at Harvard Business School. He is also an alumni of IMD in Lausanne.
