Bruce Okabe has taken over as CEO of Tourism Richmond, British Columbia. He succeeds Tracy Lakeman, who stepped down from the post at the end of 2016 after serving in the position for 13 years. Prior to joining Tourism Richmond, Okabe operated his own consulting firm. Previously, he had served for more than five years as CEO of Travel Alberta.
Jay Smith is the new chair of the NTA board of directors. Smith, owner of Sports Travel and Tours in Hatfield, Massachusetts, was selected for the post after being elected as the organization’s vice chair last year. Smith has headed up his tour operator business for more than 20 years.
In Brazil, Agaxtur has announced the appointment of hiring of account executive Raphael Chrysostomo, who has 16 years of experience in tourism working for several tour operators, including Lux Travel Turismo e Viagens.
Also in Brazil, Grupo Águia has announced the hiring of Alexandre Mesquita as commercial manager of Núcleo Lazer, composed of the operators Interplanet and Planeta Brasil, for international and domestic, respectively. He will be responsible for structuring their sales departments and implementing a product marketing portal. Mesquita is former general manager of Sales of MMTGapnet.
