Terena Cardwell
Biography
about me
Personal Motivation
Born and raised in the United States, Terena first circumnavigated the globe alone at the age of 19, and was filled with a sense of wanderlust that guided her personal and professional paths ever sense. Since then, she has visited 36 countries on 6 continents, for both business and leisure.
Terena has made her home in Elbasan, Albania, since 2020, and is learning Albanian, as well as volunteering at a local English school. She is an enophile, but is learning to love rakia. She has also lived and worked with adults with autism and developmental disabilities, and values diversity and accessibility in all aspects of public life, especially tourism.
She is now working for herself as an Independent Consultant (Person Fizik), available to coach and audit Sustainability and Accessibility for destinations and businesses in the tourism industry, support local film production logistics, and book small and large scale travel for global business and entertainment clients.
about me
Professional
Terena has over two decades of travel management experience, including multiple global theatrical tours and 9 seasons of the Emmy-winning global television series, “The Amazing Race.”
Terena has been a Company Manager for touring arena shows in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as a travel specialist for music, film and television, booking production travel for clients including Mariah Carey, Meek Mill, Bob Dylan, Disney/Marvel, Showtime, and FOX.
Terena’s first passion was conservation; she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Conservation Biology, with a minor in Cultural Anthropology in 1998. She later obtained a Masters degree in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding in the U.S., before continuing her graduate studies at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin.
Upon relocating to Albania, Terena reignited her passion for protecting cultural and environmental resources, and began coaching and auditing for Sustainability programs, working as a local representative and coach for several international organizations and associations, including Green Destinations, Travelife, and Balkan Green…
“Rather than a “project,” it is more accurate to think of Balkan Green as a long-term development process for the entire region. With this digital platform we aim to enhance regional sustainable tourism cooperation and communication, sustainability education, development, monitoring, and benchmarking in local languages, including visual content, green product development, and marketing.”
Terena represents Albania and Kosovo in the Balkan Green association.
About Balkan Green
“We are a global organization that delivers strategic tourism management solutions to destinations, businesses and communities with integrity and transparency. For Destinations, we evaluate your destination’s sustainability performance, nurture it through virtual training modules, coaching programs, and support toolkits, and offer global recognition for accomplishing the ascertained benchmarks. For Businesses, we employ a series of tools to assess, support, and certify the sustainability practices of your travel business.”
WHAT WE DO
Terena is the Green Destinations Representative for Albania and Kosovo, as part of Balkan Green, which manages Green Destinations programs in the Western Balkans. She is certified to coach both the Award and Certification Program for destinations and the Good Travel Program for tourism businesses.
“Travelife is a leading training, management and certification initiative for tourism companies committed to reaching sustainability…
Travelife is a fair and affordable system that helps tour operators and travel agencies to manage and improve social and environmental impacts by complying with sustainability criteria. Ultimately, when a company meets the requirements, it will receive a Travelife award. To support you on your road to sustainability, Travelife offers a wide range of services which include training, management, planning, reporting and B2B tools.”
Terena is a certified Travelife coach and auditor. She was the Sustainability Coordinator for the first Travelife Certified tour operator in Albania, and the Western Balkans, and has coached several tour operators as part of the EU SUSTOUR program.