Next week, Brian Said is leaving the Philadelphia CVB where he is executive director of tourism to become vice president of global development for Choose Chicago. Said has served at the Philadelphia bureau for nearly 3½ years. Previously, he had worked for more than six years as director of travel trade development at the San Diego Tourism Authority.
Markus Daldrup (right) has replaced Willi Verhuven (left) as chief executive of Alltours, Germany’s fifth-largest tour operator. Verhuven, 65, the founder of the company, officially stepped down stepped down from day-to-day management as of Sept. 1. Daldrup has been head of Alltours tour operator activities since 2013 and the travel agency business since 2014.
Ricardo Assalim has been named deputy director of national products for São Paulo-based Trend Operadora, one of Brazil’s largest tour operators. He originally joined the company as a sales negotiator. In his new post, Assalim will have strategic responsibilities set by the company’s leadership.
Laurymar de Souza, a familiar Brazilian figure in the tour and travel industry in New York City, has announces his departure from the Flytour Gapnet Group after 12 years. For the last 7½ years, de Souza was executive director of the group’s Chanteclair Travel, which is based in New York.
Michelle Baillie has been tapped by Thomas Cook to be the company’s new head of retail. She replaces Clive Newton, who has left Thomas Cook. Baillie will report to Kathryn Darbandi, director of retail and customer experience, when she joins on October 3. Baillie joins Thomas Cook from Tui UK & Ireland, where she has been a divisional sales manager for more than nine years.
Nathalie Bueno has been named general manager of Secrets de Voyages, a Paris-based travel company that specializes in upscale product, including city breaks to places such as New York. A long-time veteran of the tour and travel industry, Bueno’s CV includes a tenure of 17 years as sales director for Solea Vacances.
San Antonio’s financially troubled City Tours filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month after it missed a payment due under its contract with San Antonio International Airport. City Tours operates the Super Shuttle brand in San Antonio; it also operates Alamo Double Decker Trolley Tours in the city. Edward Torres, president of City Tours, told the San Antonio News Express that the tour company has lost more than $1 million in revenue over the past 2½ years at the airport because of the rise in popularity of ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft.
