Making your dreams real.
Meet our Cox & Kings USA destination experts. They’ve traveled multiple times to our destinations and know their regions intimately. They’re the ones who show their love for each place by passionately designing and continually refining our Exquisite Cultural & Wildlife Adventures. They are also the people who care for you throughout your journeys with us.
Tom Stanley — COO
Tom brings 25 years of travel industry experience to Cox & Kings USA, with an emphasis in luxury and adventure travel. This California native has visited 140 countries and lived in Australia, China, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Paris and London. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied Anthropology. An avid outdoorsman, Tom loves all things associated with water — swimming, SCUBA diving, jet skiing, boating and fishing. Travel photography and watching classic movies are two of his other interests.
Michele Dienna
— director of sales for the southeastern U.S.
Michele is a veteran travel enthusiast who has enjoyed two decades of success in travel industry business development. Her love for travel was born out of experiencing European culture at a young age. She lived in London, during her "gap" year and fell in love with learning about another cultures. Michele has traveled to many regions of the world. Her favorites are Africa, India, the UK and New Zealand.
Merritt Howerton
— director of sales for midwestern U.S. and Canada
Merritt brings over 20 years of leisure travel experience to Cox & Kings. Her passion for travel began with her first job after college as a Tour Director and has since traveled to all seven continents. She loves Africa and Asia — especially India. Watching daily prayers in Varanasi, riding an elephant up to Amber Fort, the view from your room overlooking the Taj Mahal or bargaining for treasures in the market, are experiences of a lifetime.
Vipul Kapur
— director of sales for northeastern U.S. and India Onsite Services
Vipul is originally from India, and has more than 16 years of experience in the travel and hospitality industry. He began his career with The Taj Group, eventually leading the International Travel Department as the Director of Sales. In 2004, Vipul began his career with Cox & Kings developing sales from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Most recently, Vipul launched the Cox & Kings New York sales office for India Onsite Services. Vipul has traveled extensively in India, including trips on the new Maharajas Express luxury train.
Lurdes Muñoz
— director of sales for Latin America
Lurdes has held various senior level positions at leading hotels and travel companies and has traveled to over 26 countries. Prior to joining Cox & Kings, Muñoz held a key sale distribution role at Cartan Tours, selling sports tourism packages for major events including the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This was also one of her most memorable trips – the Chinese were very friendly and loved to practice their English with visitors.
Armand Bachaspatimayum
— CFO
Armand is our financial wizard at Cox & Kings USA. He likes preparing hot curries from his native India, and spending time with his family.
AFRICA & INDIAN OCEAN
Megan Bryant
— product manager
Megan is a photographer and student of languages. Her extensive travels throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands allow her to share a specialized knowledge with our staff and clients. Her favorite destinations are Madagascar and Zimbabwe, two very off the beaten path and truly rewarding destinations, and Seychelles is another of her particular specialties.
ASIA & PACIFIC
Denise Gogarty
— product manager
Denise has spent the past fifteen years exploring, researching, and living in Central and Southeast Asia. Her favorite experiences include riding on horseback with Kazakh hunters and their trained Golden Eagles; excavating dinosaur fossils in the Gobi Desert; river rafting in Thailand; sharing tea with Tibetan nomads; and tasting snake vodka with the locals in Laos. She delights in sharing her destination expertise and creating one-of-a-kind itineraries.
INDIA & BEYOND
Seema Prakash
— product manager
Seema worked for over ten years in the travel industry in India prior to joining Cox & Kings USA. As a Bombay native, she loves the pace of that city’s lifestyle — its sophisticated attitude, its openness, and its nightlife. She never tires of Bombay’s famous landmarks, from Marine Drive and Malabar Hill, to the Gateway of India and the Elephanta Caves.
ARABIA & NORTHERN AFRICA
Nicole Beattie
— product manager
Niki’s travels have taken her to over 100 countries. Recalling her first visit to Egypt, she was invited by President Anwar Sadat to celebrate her birthday with her husband aboard former King Farouk’s royal yacht. On her first trip to India, she stayed at the residence of the president of India. A treasure trove formerly owned by the viceroy of India, Niki explored many of its 340 rooms, and often had teas with the chefs — served in cups dating from the days of the Raj.
PARTNERS / CONTRIBUTORS
Beyond our key staff, partners from around the world bring our journeys to life. They help present and deliver the adventures we create. Highlighted here are just a few members of the extraordinary group of people that help make your adventures real.
Peter Rodgers
Creative direction, advertising design, print, interactive and social media design, contributing writer and photographer.
Susan Lee
Marketing, web and social media direction, contributing writer and photographer.
The Brandman Agency, U.S. Media Contacts
for Public Relations:
Kara Hoffman / Katie Clark
T: 212.683.2442
