Our Contributors

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Fiona Scott Lazareff

Fiona started writing about money and finance in NYC, before abandoning it to move onto Food, Fashion and Foie Gras when she launched Boulevard Magazine in Paris in the 90s. After editing 15 other print publications,  she went digital in 2001 in the dot-com boom. In 2008 she rescued the fledgling Divento.com when it was chucked out of its cradle by Vivendi Universal. DiventoV3 was hatched in May 2018 with an algorithm which generates the most efficient itinerary for tourists, using a long list of variables,  which are the ingredients of a secret recipe.

Fiona is the founder of the Techpreneur’s Awards for Women,  which takes place annually in the House of Lords; and the yearly  “Le Bal des Debutantes”, cited as being “one of the world’s hottest social events” by Forbes. She is also a pilot and an amateur equestrian sportswoman, (triple Champion de France, side-saddle)

Emily Holt

Emily is originally from Birmingham, but studies English and French at the University of Nottingham in England. She is currently living in the quaint southern city of Avignon, France, where she regularly makes trips to other parts of Provence to see the beautiful surrounding towns. Though she is someone who loves experiencing new cultures across the world, Emily considers Europe to be her favourite continent due to her love of its architecture and diverse cityscapes. With aspirations of becoming a travel journalist, Emily is passionate about her role with Divento.com, recommending the very best places she finds during her travels and contributing her hand-picked finds to our social media.

Emily Tsikoli

Emily Tsikoli

Emily Tsikoli studied at the University of West Attica at the department of Photography and Audiovisual Arts. She is known for her photographic issue “Rainy Memories“. She photographed rainy cityscapes but it looks like the photos have been taken behind the glass. For this issue she has been inspired by the photographer Eduard Gordeev and impressionist paintings. In February 2017 “Metro stages” gave her the opportunity to present her work at the “Acropolis” metro station. Now she does her master degree at the University of West Attica and she attends the program “Master of Arts in Video Production, Audiovisual Media and Motion Graphics“. Apart from photography, video and montage, Emily is also interested in graphic design and animation. Two year ago Emily started to create some cartoons by herself and her MA program gave her the opportunity to learn how to give motion to her cartoons and create animations. Her animation short film “The Time Train” was projected in the Exhibition “Balkan Can Kino” in November 2018. For the past two years Emily has been occupied with cinematography while she had a crucial role in the production of tree short films, “Road Home”, “The Bottle” and “The Bottle II”. At the moment she is working for Divento.com as a videographer - photographer.

Marie Koziol

Currently studying at Sciences Po Paris, (France’s incubator for the French elite in everything from politics (the last  seven French Presidents to the who’s who in art, culture and fashion…) Marie loves to learn about new things. From Economics to Political Science, but also ‘Culinary Diplomacy’ or Photography, she’s curious about everything. She played the violin for nine years but clearly didn't become the new Mozart. This Frenchie enjoys traveling around the world to discover new gems.
Currently in London for one year, she’s falling in love with it ( or maybe its Pimms). She might miss her Normandy, its coasts and cows, but at least she won’t be surprised by the rain.

Tsvetelina Ognyanova

Tsvetelina Ognyanova

Tsvetelina hails from Sofia, Bulgaria. We were a bit worried about pronouncing  Tsvetelina’s name correctly, so we settled for “Lina”. A shame considering 'Tsvete' means flower and her family name comes from 'Ogun’ which means ‘ Fire.
Lina is passionate about exploring cities and their different cultures, making her first trip to Malta when she was 18 from which she guards special memories of the Azure Window, (which sadly no longer exists), the  Blue Lagoon and the capital of Valletta, which sparked off her interest in traveling. More recently she has visited  Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Milan, Madrid… “You cannot help but fall in love with Europe after you have visited these cities”. For the moment she’s enjoying checking the latest exhibitions and swimming in the Serpentine, in London.

Jonny Elling

Jonny Elling is from Salisbury, infamous for its alleged nerve-agent poisonings. He remains in good health. Having graduated from Oxford in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in English and German, Jonny actually began work in the NHS. He joined Divento in September of that year. Other than sitting on his backside, waiting for his dream to come true of being a professional author, Jonny spends his time writing, running, and investing in cryptocurrency. If you want to read the novella he just finished, please do. He would be your friend forever. He spent his university year abroad at Tübingen University, where he kid himself that he could read Hegel in the original (he can’t). Once he went bamboo-boating in China, and it wasn’t even a photo-op.
You can contact him at jonnyelling@gmail.com

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Zhong Yu Jun

Zhong hails from China but she’s been travelling for the last three years.  As an artistic soul, Alex loves to play the piano and sing. Zhong loves to communicate with other travellers and to expand her horizons, that’s why she has already been to so many countries like Australia, Thailand, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium etc.

When asked about her favourite city she says: “Definitely Amsterdam because of its unique vibe (If you know what I mean!) which you can’t find anywhere else!”.

Veronica Castro

Veronica Castro was born in Bogotá, Colombia, but has taken up permanent residence in Spain since 2001. Philologist (University of Barcelona) and translator (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), she has been in charge of Spanish contents on Divento.com for several years, rediscovering the booming city of Barcelona for visitors, and she is also a social media contributor. She has always been a very keen traveller and is particularly interested in culture in general -with a penchant for live music, visual arts and performing arts in particular- cultural events and all things gastronomy.
Veronica has been an ongoing contributor on Divento since 2013.

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Runqing Zou

Runqing Is currently studying at  Sciences Po, France’s long-established breeding ground for Frog big shots in everything from fashion (Christian Dior) to politics: France’s current president, (Emmanuel Macron), not forgetting the international money minders, such as three past heads of the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

Runqing was born and bred in Fuzhou in the southern part of China, but after 18 years of life there, and traveling to 11 countries in different parts of the world, she decided to join the international élite by studying  Economique et Société at Science Po. “Traveling helps me to understand what life is all about:  I love discovering new places and cultures and that’s why I’ve joined the contributors to Divento.com". Runqing speaks fluent Mandarin, English and French.

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Yuan Yang

Graduating from Communication and Media School in Leeds University in 2018, Yuan starts a new life to experience challenging things in Media field as a professional editor. Yuan speaks fluent Mandarin, English and Japanese. She was born in the northern part of China and she has lived there for 22 years. After she got Bachelors's degree in English and Japanese, she went to the UK for further studies. Nowadays, she lives in Guangzhou and she pursues a career in new media, providing media operation and integrated marketing for companies all over the world. She wants to use new media methods to spread culture and ideas to travellers and that is why she joined Divento. 

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Calum Holt

Calum grew up in one of those “pretty remote” areas of the Scottish countryside but moved to England at 18 to study history at Balliol College, Oxford. He’s now back in Scotland, observing that “it’s cold and wet but very pretty”. He is currently developing Divento’s itinerary planner for Scottish castles and heritage sites. Having visited about 30 countries in the past three years, including some “weird ones” like Kyrgyzstan and North Korea, he claims that travelling is his  main hobby. If he’s not travelling or working, you’ll probably find him hiking, playing his guitar, learning languages or spending time with friends.

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Roxanne D'haveloose

Roxanne was born and raised in the town of Kortrijk, Belgium. As a recent graduate in the masters Multilingual Communication Dutch-English-Spanish at Ghent University, she felt that an international adventure was due. Now she is based in London and pursuing her passion for languages and the travel industry.
To her mind, travelling is not rushing through a city to check off every tourist attraction on the bucket list. Her favourite type of travelling is really feeling the atmosphere, observing the locals and actually living there for a short amount of time. Only then does the tourist curtain fall and one gets to know the real city life on an everyday basis like she experienced during her stay in the Andalusian city of Seville in Spain. In her spare time, she enjoys tepid tea, funky food and sporadic strolls with her sunglasses on the top of her head. And people watching.

Julia Dashkevich

Juli, 22, was born in Belarus, currently studies in Poland and plans to graduate her Master's degree of Communication Design in Wroclaw University. Juli has a variety of interests and when asked to share one she said she can easily highlight her affection for Woody Allen movies as well as to Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino. Her playlist starts with Ludovico Einaudi and continues with Florence and The Machine. She finds the Banksy's work truly brilliant and inspired by Japanese culture.
When asked about a motto, she shared the following: “Aesthetics is like a religion. To be a good critic you must be practised at self-analysis."

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Chunming Zheng

A junior student in Beijing Institute of Technology. Majoring international economics and trade, After having 20 years living in Beijing I decided to push beyond the comfort, to challenge my potential, embrace the world. That’s why I attended an exchange program and come to Germany. I love the feeling when I come to a new place, everything is unknown and fresh, waiting for me to explore it. So I ardently love travel and feel excited to join Divento. Maybe it’s also relevant with my passionate and romantic nature.

Alberto Napolitano

Alberto was born in Benevento but he was raised in Cetraro, a small village in a region of Calabria. He was inspired by the view of the sea from his bedroom window, where he discovered his love for the sea: he could easily go for a walk around the seaside as it was just a few minutes from his home. The weather in Cetraro is good, as well as the typical Calabrian food, which makes him happy. Alberto has been travelling a lot since childhood and he has visited many places in Italy and has lived in various of European cities including Naples, Rome, Frankfurt, London and Pisa. He is a big football fan of Milan and sometimes he likes to draw. Alberto is currently studying Marketing and Communication at the Link Campus University of Naples.

Faisal Taibi

Faisal has lived in Madrid most of his life but is currently living in London. He decided to make his passion for programming a way of life and studied web development.
He is the founder of www.influencer.global a platform that connects the brand with the influencer. 
He is tidying up the design of  Divento's desktop and mobile version and as an SEO specialist he is creating ways of driving traffic to Divento's platform.
When he is not busy coding, he enjoys playing football, going to the gym and most other sports.
His favourite spots in London are its markets and parks plus the views of the city from Sky Garden.
His motto is 'I have failed often enough to know I am not perfect. But secretly I know I am pretty darn good'.

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Sude Yüksek

Sude Yüksek was born in Istanbul's Beykoz district, known as the “pearl of the Bosphorus” with its 18th and 19th-century houses and pretty, still largely unspoiled coastline, dotted with fishermen’s boats. She speaks French, English and Turkish fluently and writes in all three languages.

She took her first steps in coding at the age of 12 when she designed a 3D game. She is currently studying Computer Engineering at Marmara University in Istanbul. 

Her hobbies include drawing, painting and reading the classics. She has explored 20 countries including several continents such as Asia, Europe and Africa, from Cape of Good Hope to Bangkok with her family, giving her the opportunity to meet different people and observe different cultures since her childhood. 

When asked how she gets her inspiration as a developer, she answers that her favourite time to code, is “when I find a quiet place, where I can take small, gentle sips from a coffee thinking about the process in front of me and my past experiences; melting them into one unified solution, in a harmonious way, just as a perfect combination of nature and nurture”.

Federica Moscato

​​Federica Moscato is working for Divento.com in Dublin but comes from Stresa, a small town on the lake Maggiore, in the north of Italy. She studied languages in Turin and is now doing a Masters in  Languages,  and Culture specialising in Russian and  English at the University of Milan. 

Previously she has lived in Turin, Milan and Tallinn giving her the chance to meet people from all over the world, and learn about other countries and cultures. She loves discovering new places by taking long walks to dig out the hidden gems. She would love to say “I am a morning person, I love doing sports in my free time”, but the truth is she loves sleeping in, watching tv series and hanging out with friends.

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Valentine Louis

​Valentine grew up in Normandy, France. Currently studying at the Sorbonne University for a Master’s degree in Cultural Management, she now lives in Paris. 

Passionate about language learning, international relations and cultural events, Valentine has entertained tourists on board a train in  Cherbourg, as a French assistant in Bedford in the UK, and as a tour guide in Paris. She loves to share her passion for  French culture and she joined the Divento team to reveal the City of Light with refreshed eyes. 

Valentine is a laid-back traveller: she absorbs the atmosphere of a city by wandering around and chatting with the locals. Her motto is: “Admire as much as you can, most people don’t admire enough” (Van Gogh).

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Emma Rose

Emma was born and raised in Montpellier, France. Right now she’s working towards finishing her Masters in marketing at Montpellier Business School. She has always loved travelling and discovering new cultures. So she’s lapped up every opportunity to travel during her studies; spending a whole year in Dundalk, Ireland, on an Erasmus program and jumping  at this opportunity to live in, and write about Thessaloniki in Greece. She believes that ‘the best way to discover a city is to get lost in it.’

When she’s not getting lost in the ancient streets of Thessaloniki, gazing up at magnificent churches or wandering through  fascinating  museums, she enjoys dabbling in art, sipping on tea or a coffee and soaking up the warm Greek sunshine, immersed in a good book.

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Marta Anspaka

Marta is a multimedia artist from Latvia, dedicated to creating  documentaries  and filmmaking. She loves to travel and capture the beauty of the world through her own curated version.  Her interest in filmmaking and photography dated back to her childhood, when she picked up a  camera for the first time, hatching a dream of  becoming a  “National Geographic” photographer.  Having got her degree in Audiovisual Arts at The Latvian Academy of Culture she is now working on making her childhood dream come true.

At the time of writing, Marta is exploring Sicily for Divento.com and getting her first experience in photojournalism. She is fascinated by the nature and the inhabitants of each place she visits, ‘who determine the local culture, traditions and celebrations.’

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Vladislava Stukacheva

Vladislava was born and has lived her entire life in Saint Petersburg, the cultural capital of Russia. She fulfilled her dream of studying abroad and is currently a Master's student in the south of France, pursuing a career in marketing.

Travelling and exploring new places have always been Vladislava’s passions. She has visited more than 10 countries and has cherished and safeguarded her memories of her trips. The opportunity to work with Divento.com  has not only allowed her to discover new venues in a new country but also to share it with Divento's community and to strengthen her  experience in her  professional niche. At the moment, Vladislava is exploring Zagreb for Divento.com and diving into the culture of Croatia. 

In her free time, Vladislava enjoys painting, crafting and meeting up with friends. She proudly admits to being obsessed with cats.

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Denitsa Iridzharova

Denitsa is about to complete her studies in Law in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She has two years of experience in law firms and interning in public institutions, with tenure as a marketing associate, creating content for websites and platforms related to lifestyle and career vocation, among others.

She has lived both in the Czech Republic and Italy, which has unlocked her passion for traveling and discovering new places. She is passionate about culture, natural heritage and tourism. She has volunteered in the Bulgarian Red Cross, winning second place in a competition for first aid. In 2015 she became an ambassador of Bulekopak, an environmental NGO in Bulgaria.

In her free time, she likes to hike in the mountains and do yoga.

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Rossella Benvenuto

Rossella was born in Vittoria, a small town in the heart of Sicily but undertook her studies in tourism sciences in Northern Italy, more precisely in Ferrara, a historic city near Bologna. She loves to travel and has already visited many European cities including Vienna in Austria and Budapest in Hungary.

She began her journey as a content creator with Divento in early 2024. In the future she would like to continue creating content and specialize in the marketing sector.