Covering the Inbound Tourism Industry Since 1996

Final Edition of the IPW 2016 Photo Album

August 3, 2016 by Tom Berrigan

June 22, the final day of IPW 2016 in New Orleans, seemed to trigger a collective burst of pent-up energy as buyers and suppliers worked feverishly to complete their business appointments and then went to the New Orleans Riverfront and Mardi Gras World for a memorable closing night party.

E #1 — There was a strong U.S. National Park Service (NPS) presence this year at IPW. In this booth, we find Craig Ackerman (right), superintendent, Crater Lake National Park; Lisa Bourne, program analyst for the NPS in Washington, DC; and Donald Leadbetter, partnership coordination for NPS—also based in Washington, D.C.

E#2 — Ron Kuhlman, vice president of tourism marketing and sales for the Virginia Beach CVB—he hasn’t missed an IPW since … well, he can’t remember—is ready for his first visitor on Wednesday morning, IPW 2016’s final day.

E #3 — Busy setting up a future visitor stream from the Netherlands to Philadelphia are (left-to-right): Monique van Agthoven, manager, tour operating, Fox Verre Reisen; Vincent O. van Leeuwen, managing director of Bur Six, a DMO rep firm based in the Netherlands; and Brian Said, executive director, tourism division, Philadelphia CVB.

E#4 — Here are two of the reasons that the Hershey-Harrisburg, Pa. area is finding itself on more and more international visitor tour itineraries: Audrey Bialas (left), director of sales, Visit Hershey & Harrisburg; and Julie Payne, group sales coordinator, The Hershey Company.

E#5 — Three more IPW delegates from the South Central Pennsylvania Region (left-to-right): Peggy Nana-Sinkam, group sales manager, The Amish Farm and House; Mara Sultan, convention and international sales manager, Discover Lancaster; and Jennifer L. Buchter, managing director of hospitality and sales, Amish View/Miller’s restaurant/Plain and Fancy Farm.

E#6 — We catch Peter van Berkel, president of Travalco—a leading receptive tour operator based near Miami, Fla.—and Karin Omojola, the company’s director of product development, just before they begin one of their Wednesday morning business appointments.

E#7 — Representing different aspects of the Washington State tourism product are (left-to-right): Patty Denny, international tourism development manager at the Port of Seattle; Andi Day, executive director of the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau; and Annette Bagley, director of marketing, Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism.

E#8 — In perhaps the only moment he stood still throughout IPW, Mike Prejean, who handles international sales, contracts and missions for the Louisiana Office of Tourism, paused long enough to have his photo taken in front of a poster-sized photo of the famed Oak Alley Plantation, which is 55 miles north of New Orleans.

E#9 — Morgan Maravich, manager of industry and member engagement for NTA, is alone in the NTA booth as her boss, Catherine Prather, executive vice president of NTA, stepped away for a brief meeting down the aisle.

E#10 — We find Catherine Prather and she joins Morgan Maravitch for a joint photo.

E#10a — One of the many famous visitors who stopped by the Merlin Entertainments booth.

E#11 — A veteran of IPW since the 1980s, Bob Gilbert, a partner in Las Vegas-based Chinese Host Destination/China Ready Partners tells us that, as a supplier in a booth for so many years, he was not accustomed to walking such distances between appointments.

E#12 — One of the most familiar faces in the U.S. travel and tourism industry, Peter Pantuso (right), who has served for two decades as president and CEO of the American Bus Association, meets with a Henning Kretschmer, director of the Honduras-based travel magazine, Vivir de Viaje.

E#13 — Part of the team from Experience Kissimmee—Denise Graham (left) and Ana Flavia Medina, account managers for Vox International and InSight Travel Marketing Solutions—that handled numerous inquiries having to do with the destination’s growth as the location of a large vacation rental market.

E#14 — By late Wednesday morning, tour operators are jamming the space in and around the American Express booth, filling out entry forms for the $10,000 buyer prize drawing to be held late in the afternoon.

E#15 — Visitors came non-stop to the booth of the JUCY group, which was founded in New Zealand and specializes in RV rentals. Here, Simon Hemmings, business development manager for UK-based Freedom Destinations, meets with Abbie Takle, JUCY’s head of sales.

E#16 — Jan Stevens, director of the Dodge City (Kansas) CVB, meets with Dr. Jacob M. van Splunter, editor in chief of America magazine in the Netherlands

E#17 — Roxana Rivera (left), director of sales and marketing, the Newseum; and her colleague, Linda Jeffries, group sales consultant, handled a number of questions from both operators and journalists about the popular Washington, D.C. attraction.

E#18 — During a break between business appointments, we catch CityPass’s Cory Carlson (left), director of attraction accounting; and Catherine Suchak, tourism sales and marketing manager.

E#19 — Giving us a smile just before they start their business appointment are: Elias R. Walter, president of Halifax Viajes, a tour operator from Argentina; and Marianna Silva, vice president of Personal RGE Tours, an Orlando-based receptive tour operator.

E#20 — Sharing the booth this year of TourOperatorLand.com, website of the NAJ Group, which also publishes the Inbound Report, are (left-to-right): Gene Sokolovsky, director of operations for HarnoBus, which is based in Los Angeles; Betsy Cooper, tour operator community manager/marketing, NAJ Group; and Suzi Steiger, president of RMP Travel, a New York City-based receptive tour operator.

E#21 — Let the party begin. Wednesday night at one of the main entrances to the closing party, themed “Tastes and Tunes of Louisiana,” we find Mike Prejean, who handles does international sales, contracts and missions for the Louisiana Office of Tourism, about the enter the big shindig. He is flanked by the New Orleans CVB’s Naco Sasho (left) and her colleague, Song Wei Lyu.

E#22 — Carefully eyeing the rendition of her by one of the many sketch artists on hand at the party is Kimi Tomobe, who is with JHC Co., a Tokyo-based tour operator.

E#23 — Party night’s CEO fraternity is comprised of (left-to-right): Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans CVB; Christopher Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA; and Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.

E#24 — Representing South Dakota at the big party is James D. Hagen, the state’s secretary of tourism. He is flanked by Julie Jones-Whitcher (left), director of tourism for the Rapid City CVB; and Amanda Allcock, director of sales for the Crazy Horse Memorial.

E#25 — While these two casino dance hall women are not official IPW delegates, they definitely belong to the mood and environment of the evening

E#26 — With a Mardi Gras stilt walker stopping to pose behind them, Terese Balzereit (left), director of business development, Big Bus Philadelphia; and Michel de Lister, who is with the Dutch magazine Travelution, enjoy the huge expanse of riverside recreation area that is able to accommodate the thousands of Wednesday night party goers.

E#27 — Brand USA, one of the Wednesday evening party sponsors, has its own moon over the scene.

E#28 — If eyes could talk. One wonders what the alligator thinks of all the revelry going on about it. Many party goers, including Jim Blanchard, architectural archival artist based in New Orleans, stopped by to meet and greet the four-legged visitor.

E#29 — Clearly savoring one of the scores of dishes available at the more than 40 different food stations at the Wednesday evening party is Elizabeth Davis, director of sales, Niagara USA.

E#30 — Gwendolyn Douval, an account manager for Québec-based Profession Voyages, listens as a card reader fills her in on her future, explaining to her that she will be traveling next June to Washington, D.C. for IPW 2017.

E#31 — This is where the Inbound Report’s photographer puts his camera away for night and begins sampling the product.

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