Lynn Dorsey, the former executive director of the Webster Parish (La.) CVB who gained national attention after she accidentally live-streamed herself nude on a bureau phone, has received a settlement of $37,000 after being dismissed from her post last February. Dorsey reportedly live-streamed herself nude the night of last Dec. 19 in what was intended to be a private session with her husband while she was in Baton Rouge on business. Instead, the video was streamed from Dorsey’s work-assigned smartphone to the tourism board’s public Instagram account.
Gavin Landry is resigning from his post as executive director of tourism for New York State to take on the job of director of the Americas for VisitBritain, with offices in São Paulo, Los Angeles, Toronto and New York City. Landry had been with New York State for nearly 4½ years. Previously, he had been a principal with Landry Hospitality Consulting Services, L.L.C, based in New York City. He also served for a dozen years as president of the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau.
Blanca Rosa Espinosa has joined Super Shuttle Airport Transportation as regional business development director. She’ll be based in New York City. She joins the company from Gray Line New York, where she was executive director of sales. Her tour and travel industry career includes tenures with the Heartland Brewery and the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.
World 2 Meet, owned by the Iberostar Group, has named Susan Barjan as the new vice president for the Americas. She will report directly to the global commercial director, Noelia Baez. Barjan has previously been a regional director for Hotelspro Travel Wholesaler America and has 17 years of experience in Tourism.
In the UK, Riviera Travel has appointed Amanda Weir to the company’s agency sales support team as the operator continues to expand its trade-facing staff. Weir previously worked in the company’s operations department in tour manager relations and will be the sixth member of Riviera’s agency sales team. Weir’s new role follows the appointments of Tom Morgan to key accounts manager in February and Tamzin Bishop as agency sales executive in March. Riviera first started selling through the trade in 2012, after having spent years selling direct through newspaper advertising.
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air has appointed Stephen Jones as executive vice president and deputy CEO. He will take up his appointment during the latter part of this year reporting into CEO Jozsef Varadi. Jones, who is a national of both New Zealand and the UK, joins from Air New Zealand where he was chief strategy, network and alliances officer. Before this, he held a number of other roles at Air New Zealand, where he has worked since 2001, including general manager of its low-cost carrier Freedom Air.
Brand USA has named Maria Sheetz as director, partnership development. She leads the organization’s effort to develop and maximize partner engagement, retention, and growth in Brand USA’s cooperative-marketing programs. Sheetz has 16 years of experience in the travel and hospitality sector; prior to coming to Brand USA, she was senior director for national sales and business alliances at Amtrak. She also worked for Choice Hotels International as senior director for account management and marketing within Choice’s strategic partnership group.
Kirsten Feld-Türkis, who has been responsible for Thomas Cook Germany‘s premium and long-distance product for two years, is leaving the company. According to a trade news report, she wants to devote herself to her consultancy activities, which she had already started in 2014, with a focus on advising medium-sized companies.
John Reyes has been named chief operating officer of Visit Sacramento. Reyes will be leaving his current post as executive vice president and chief sales officer for the San Francisco Travel Association, where he has worked for nearly 6 years. He begins his new job on Aug. 14. Previously, he was president and CEO of the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau. He was also president and CEO at Florida’s Visit Jacksonville. Reyes worked, too, with the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau for 18 years, progressing from national sales manager to director of travel industry sales to vice president of sales.
In Germany, Benjamin Jacobi will chair the management of TUI’s last-minute holiday brand, L’Tur, as of October 1. He’ll take over from Marek Andryszak, the new head of TUI Germany, who has been handling the post on a temporary basis. Jacobi came from TUI to L’Tur at the end of 2015 and is currently the product and purchasing manager of the last-minute brand.
Affordable Car Hire has recruited Royal Caribbean’s Stephen Joyner as head of sales. Prior to Royal Caribbean, Joyner was cruise club manager for The Travel Network Group. He has more than 15 years’ experience in the travel industry.
Mary Cusick is leaving her position as director of TourismOhio effective August 1. Cusick was named to the post in 2013, joining the state agency after spending much of her professional career as a senior marketing and communications executive for Bob Evans Farms and Bob Evans Restaurants.
