Lisa Abben, Danish
Chairman of the Board
Lisa joined the travel trade in 1971, working for Frederiksberg Travel Agency, primarily assisting with the planning of all European tours for the Australian and American markets, before being involved with the management of some of the first large incentive groups from the US market to visit Copenhagen. From 1980, Lisa became Assistant Managing Director of United Tours of Scandinavia, responsible for destination management and conference organisation services Lisa is a co-founder of First United, is the majority shareholder and was our Managing Director from 1991 until 2008.
Flemming A. Madsen, Danish
Managing Director
Flemming made an early start in the industry, working as a transfer manager and operational assistant while completing his studies. He has been with First United since 1991 and has amassed a comprehensive knowledge of planning and operating events throughout Scandinavia. Today, in addition to his position as CEO, Flemming also has overall responsibility for sales and marketing strategies. Flemming still nurtures his penchant for involvement with complex corporate events, primarily originating from the UK and US markets.
Per Fruensgaard, Danish
Operation Manager
Per’s background includes a career start as a social case worker, after which he spent 16 years in client and guest service management, mainly in Paris, Rome and Lisbon but with spells of duty North Africa, Mexico and Turkey. Returning to Denmark in 2002, he applied his talents to destination management and joined First United in 2004 to increase our capacity to service French speaking markets and today First United’s activities in relation to the Italian market are also Per’s responsibility.
Lina Bagdonaite, Lithuanian
Account Manager
Lina has a theoretical background from business school in Lithuania, hotel and restaurant school in Copenhagen – finished with a degree from Oxford Brooks in hotel and restaurant management. The practical side comes through jobs in hotels in London and Copenhagen. Lina has worked six years in destination management before joining First United. Fluent in her mother tongue as well as Russian, Danish and English.
Jusko Fitos, Danish
Project Manager
Jusko, who is Magyar speaking, has been with the company since 1998, working primarily with events which originate from the small and medium business markets of Scandinavia and Eastern Europe – incentives, special interest groups and meetings – as well as managing events for professional groups attending international congresses and travel arrangements for a variety of international sports federations in connection with international events in Scandinavia.
Anette Askholm, Danish
Accountant
Anette has many years experience from a wide variety of different fields in banking and industrial accounting, before joining First United in 2001.