Christina Heyniger founded Xola Consulting in 2004 to work with governments and entrepreneurs in the adventure tourism industry.

With a specialty in working with owner-operators and innovative organizations blending adventure tourism and volunteer service, Christina has in-depth experience with adventure tourism development in emerging markets around the world including Latin America, North Africa and Asia, particularly Cambodia, Myanmar, India and Nepal.

Prior to founding Xola, Christina worked as a management consultant at BearingPoint (formerly KPMG Consulting) with a diverse range of clients from the Office of the Secretary of Defense to the Department of Navy and communications companies such as Bell Atlantic and Nextel Communications.  Projects emphasized process analysis and re-design, market research, and project management for technology software and hardware implementations.

Christina speaks regularly at industry and academic conferences on topics ranging from small business management to humanitarian aid and international development through responsible tourism. In 2005 she created Off the Radar (www.travelofftheradar.com), an online newsletter featuring the best small adventure tours for responsible adventure travelers around the world.

Christina is an Associate with the Adventure Travel Trade Association and serves on the board of directors for Sustainable Travel International, and Protect the Earth, Protect Yourself — an adventure travel/ volunteer tourism organization. She also served as an advisor to the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Development and the World Travel and Tourism Council.

She holds a BA in Communication from Cornell University, an MA in Communication, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University, and an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from American University. Originally from Alaska, Christina now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.