Jay Santos, one of the stalwarts in the tourism industry, has parted company with Visit Orlando after serving the organization for nearly eight years as vice president of international sales. “I’m free as a bird and looking forward to the best opportunity in Florida.” Santos told INBOUND.” Prior to joining the Orlando bureau, he was the director of business development for Hotelbeds Accommodations and Destination Services (a TUI brand). Santos also served as vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for ACC Tours for 10 years and executive vice president of AccessUSA for two years before both companies were purchased by Hotelbeds. He can be reached at jay-santos@live.com.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker has appointed three new members to the board of directors of Brand USA (officially known as the Corporation for Travel Promotion) for three-year terms: Rossi Ralenkotter, president & CEO, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (representing the DMO sector of the industry); Kyle Edmiston, assistant secretary, Louisiana Office of Tourism (representing the state tourism office sector); and Maryann Ferenc, owner & CEO, Mise en Place, a well-known Tampa, Florida restaurant. They replace: George Fertitta, former president and CEO of New York City & Company who is now CEO and principal of Bloomberg Associates; Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California; and restaurateur Roy Yamaguchi. Pritzker also reappointed current board chair Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International, to a second term on the body.
Viviane Pio, a veteran of more than two decades in the tourism industry, has been named by CVC to fill the regional sales manager’s post in São Paulo, Brazil. She reports to Emerson Belan, sales director.
After 10 years at Gapnet, one of Brazil’s largest tour operators, Wilson Silva, sales manager, has left the company. In a statement in which he thanked the company for his time there, Silva said that he was looking forward to “the next cycle.” Before joining Gapnet, Silva was a supervisor for Air Madrid in the carrier’s operations in Brazil.
In the UK, Paul Riches has rejoined trade-only accommodation wholesaler YouTravel as managing director for his second tour of duty with the firm. He will head the sales and service team having left Lowcostbeds where he was global development director until the recent round of layoffs in the UK office.
At TUI, a new “modular holidays” unit, covering self-drive destinations, city trips, dynamic packaged holidays and individual long-haul holidays, will be headed by Matthias Gehring, who was previously head of product management for TUI Magic Life and Robinson. Carsten Cossmann, former head of self-drive destinations and city trips, has left TUI.
Renee Wilson has been promoted from tour and travel sales manager to director of sales at New York City’s THE RIDE. She oversees tour and travel and corporate sales. Wilson joined THE RIDE in March 2014. Previously, she was sales and marketing manager at Harlem Spirituals.
