Born in Italy (1952), Tony Virili was raised and educated in Australia, graduating in Arts from the University of Western Australia in 1972. He attended postgraduate studies at Waseda University in Tokyo in 1975 and 3 years with global trading company Mitsui & Co. Ltd. in Australia cemented his interest in Japan.

With the exception of a 2-year stint in Perth Western Australia, Tony has lived and worked in Japan since 1978. During his 25 years in Tokyo, he has represented major companies such as Western Mining, Alcoa of Australia, Woodside Petroleum and A.I.D.C. (as Director and General Manager of AMRAS Pty. Ltd.), the Western Australian Government in North Asia and the State Bank of W.A. For 6 years he was the Regional Director - Japan for the Australian Tourist Commission (1992-1998).

Tony left the ATC and joined Accor International Hotels (1998 - 2003) and during his time with Accor he giant successfully launched its Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Hotel Formule 1 brands in Japan. Tony joined Hudson Japan, Lone Star Fund's asset management company in August 2003. Since February 2004 he has held the position of President of Solare Hotels & Resorts Co., Ltd.

Past and present industry affiliations include Tourism Industry of Japan (2001-2003); SKAL International (President of SKAL Tokyo 2000-2001); Association of National Tourism Organizations in Japan (President 1996-1998) and Silver Columbia Consultative Committee Member, MITI 1987.