Press & Recognition
Featured coverage across two decades of major-events leadership.
Selected editorial and industry mentions — each item links directly to the source publication.
Featured industry expert on the CMI-accredited Major Events 101 programme.
Major Events 101 is a groundbreaking, CMI-accredited course that equips aspiring and experienced major event professionals with the comprehensive knowledge and practical skills needed to excel in the industry. Mari is one of over 20 renowned industry experts whose video sessions form the curriculum.
Profiled as the European Olympic Committees' catering expert assessing arrangements for the Minsk 2019 European Games.
“Mari Holloway, the EOC catering advisor, travelled to the Belarus capital to examine progress being made by organisers prior to next year's European Games… Holloway was involved in preparations for the London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, before working on the inaugural European Games in Baku.”
Profiled as Senior Catering Manager behind the London 2012 Athletes' Village — 60,000 meals a day across 1,300 dishes for 204 nations.
“We have an international team of chefs flown in to ensure authenticity. The challenge is to keep the quality with the quantity of food we're producing.” — Mari Holloway, The Times, on London 2012.
In her own words
“An athlete's diet is very protein-based and carbohydrate-based, but beyond that there's a great mix in terms of what people eat… we have an international team of chefs flown in to ensure authenticity.”
“The challenge is to keep the quality with the quantity of food we're producing.”
Frequently asked
For editors, producers and event teams.
Quick answers for press enquiries, programme briefings and partnership conversations.
- What does ‘CCW’ mean in major events?
- CCW stands for Catering, Cleaning and Waste — the three operational disciplines that, together, define the lived experience of every athlete, official, dignitary, sponsor, broadcaster, workforce member and spectator at a major event. They are typically managed as a single integrated programme because their kitchens, contractors, accreditation zones and waste streams overlap continuously.
- When in the event lifecycle does Mari typically engage?
- Mari engages at any point from bid stage through to legacy reporting. The earliest value is at strategy and bid-book stage, when CCW vision and budget envelopes are set; the most operationally intense phase is the 18–24 months of readiness, test events and event-time delivery.
- Does Mari work alongside in-house teams or replace them?
- Almost always alongside. The role is independent client-side advisory and operational leadership — embedded in the organising committee, host city or venue team — supplementing in-house capability with practitioner experience drawn from previous Games and World Cups.
- Which geographies and event types are in scope?
- Worldwide. Past programmes include the UK, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Indonesia, the UAE, Qatar and the United States. Event types include Olympic and Paralympic Games, FIFA World Cups, European and Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Expos and government summits.
- How is Mari involved in education and faculty work?
- Mari is a featured industry expert on Trivandi Academy's CMI-accredited Major Events 101 programme and The Essentials Series, contributing video lectures and case studies on Catering, Cleaning & Waste alongside more than twenty fellow practitioners.