Michael Jacobson has been promoted to the post of senior director, industry relations and political engagement –it is a new position—at the U.S. Travel Association. Previously, he was director, Industry relations and political engagement. Jacobsen has been with US Travel since 2010, joining the organization as manager, political action committee and grassroots advocacy.
Jonathan Sloan has stepped down as chairman of Visit USA for the UK after more than three years.
He made the move is to avoid any perceived conflict of interest following the appointment of Hills Balfour as UK and Ireland representative of Brand USA. Sloan is managing director Hills Balfour.
British Airways head of consumer sales Chris Rankin has become interim chairman while a permanent appointment is sought. Visit USA (UK) is reviewing its current rules governing the qualification criteria to hold a director role, with the aim of discussing these rules before the next annual general meeting on September 28.
Stephanie Nowack, president and CEO of the Tempe Tourism Office is retiring at the end of 2017. Nowack has headed up the organization for more than 18 years. Nowack plans on teaching a sports tourism class at Arizona State University. Before joining the Tempe Tourism Office, she had served tenures for organizations such as the Arizona Bank, Valley of the Sun United Way and Motorola.
In Brazil, the tour operator Visual Turismo has announced that Leandro Horta is its new manager of the company’s Rio de Janeiro branch. He replaces Tiago Barrucho. Previously, Horta worked for eight years for Copa Airlines, where he held the position of sales coordinator in Rio de Janeiro. He has also worked for the Receptive League in southern Brazil and as a commercial manager of Multidestinos, focused on international destinations. Horta will coordinate the Visual sales team in the Rio de Janeiro market.
Ashley Kingman has been promoted to the post of tourism manager at Travel Portland. She had been tourism coordinator for the organization.
Agaxtur Viagens, a Brazilian operator that sells a fair amount of USA product, has a appointed a new sales management professional for as it expands its services in Argentina. With more than 30 years of experience in the local market, Carlos Nuñez will be responsible for the expansion plan of the Leone family company in Argentina.
Marco Guaramonti has joined JacTravel as sales manager for France and Benelux. Previously, he worked for 12 years at Albatravel, where he held the positions of commercial director and then general manager.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel has appointed Vishal Sinha as the new CEO of Carlson Wagonlit Travel India, and will be based in the firm’s head office in Gurgaon. Reporting to Kai Chan, CWT’s president for Asia Pacific, Sinha will be a member of CWT’s Asia Pacific leadership team. He takes over from Geeta Jain, who has moved into a new global role at CWT as strategic program vice president, responsible for driving innovation and business transformation. Sinha has more than 20 years of experience in the travel industry. Most recently, he was the chief operating officer of TUI India.
