Elizabeth King has been named director, global tourism marketing, for the Simon Property Group. She comes to the company from Hornblower Cruises and Events. Previously, she served as West Coast tourism marketing manager for Macerich. Her résumé also includes tenures at Macy’s and Catalina Express.
León Herce has joined Hotelbeds as global sales director in a newly created role leading the sales of Hotelbeds’ full portfolio of products including accommodation, transfers, car hire, tickets and excursions via the wholesale, retail travel agents, airlines and B2B2C business lines—including the Bedsonline and Hotelopia brands. In addition to his role as sales director, Herce will become a member of the company’s executive committee. Previously, Herce spent over 15 years at travel technology company Amadeus, most recently as global head of retail business.
Melanie Napier Beauchamp has been elevated to the position of assistant commissioner of rural tourism and outreach at the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. A public relations and communications professional, she joined the department in 2012, and has previously served the agency as public relations media manager and director of outreach and engagement.
Tammi Blount-Canavan, president and CEO of the Monterey, California CVB, is leaving the post effective Aug 31 to take over as principal and executive vice president, destination & travel practice for Fired Up! Culture, which is headquartered in Puyallup, Washington, about 10 miles southeast of Tacoma. Blount-Canavan had been with the bureau since the beginning of 2012. Previously, she was president and CEO of the Tacoma Regional CVB.
Australian tour operator Small Group Touring Co., a division of the Bunnik Group, which sells product from more than 20 North American destinations, has appointed Zoe Francis as trade partnership manager to act as the main point of contact for the trade and develop strong relationships and opportunities to support the company’s new brand. With a career in the travel industry spanning 13 years across wholesale touring and retail travel, including roles at Travelex and G Adventures, Francis joins Small Group Touring Co. from Bunnik Tours, where she was business development manager for the past four years.
After nearly a dozen years at the San Diego Tourism Authority, President and CEO Joe Terzi is retiring, effective January 2020. A long-time veteran of the tour and travel industry, Terzi came to the agency in 2008, after serving at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, where he was senior vice president.
Alison Zarella has been promoted to the post of vice president of integrated marketing for The Venetian Resort Las Vegas/Las Vegas Sands Corp. She previously served as executive director/social media content. Zarella, who joined the company in three years ago, had previously served as director of social media marketing for Let’s Rally and as social media manager at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
Pepe Avila has been promoted to the post of senior director of tourism development at Visit Anaheim. Avila joined Visit Anaheim 16 years ago as director of tourism development, and has been a mainstay of the organization ever since.
Hans van de Velde, the new CEO of TUI France, will also take the lead of the group structure in Morocco in September. The Moroccan company SIA, Société d’Investissement Aérien, has been integrated into TUI Western Region for more than seven years. With an expertise in the aviation and tour-opera sector, Hans van de Velde took over the general management of TUI France after the departure of Pascal de Izaguirre last January, and will thus combine the two positions (TUI France and TUI Morocco) as of Sept. 1. Van de Velde has been working for TUI Group for 18 years and has been general manager of TUI Fly in the Netherlands.
Brad van Dommelen, president and CEO of the Virginia Beach CVB, is resigning because of personal and family reasons, according to a spokesperson, indicating that he had decided to return to Michigan to spend more time with his children and grandchildren. Before joining the Virginia Beach CVB in the spring of 2016, Van Dommelen had served for more than 10 years as president and CEO of the Traverse City CVB. Prior to that he was senior vice president of business development for the Detroit Metro CVB.
Joe Ward has been appointed president of Experience Rochester (Minn.). He began his new job on August 5. A long-time hospitality, travel and tourism industry professional, he comes to Rochester after having served for more than five years as director of the Greater Saint Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau (Mo.). He has also served in senior positions on several other DMOs.
Jennifer Zammit has been appointed as the new business development manager for Globus for southwestern and northern Ontario. Zammit comes to Globus with considerable knowledge and experience in the travel industry, most recently as travel trade manager for Timezoneone but also with Total Stay/Beds Online, Travel Bound and Thomas Cook.
Troy Anderson has been named director sales for Visit Seattle. Anderson, who joined the agency in 2013 as a national account director, is a veteran of more than 15 years in the tour and travel industry, Anderson has held sales positions with several hotel and/or resort properties over the years.
Rob Lyons, director of tourism and partner strategy at Madison Square Garden, tells INBOUND that the company has recently shifted experienced sales reps from the group sales team to his team to focus entirely on the travel trade. The new roles are: Jen Kurowsky, strategic account executive, tour and travel sales; Jim Celiberti, strategic account executive, tour and travel sales; Max Ettore, domestic account executive, tour and travel sales; and Dan Keller, who had already been introduced as a tour and travel specialist, international sales. The team will focus on delivering tickets for the entire portfolio of Madison Square Garden venues and events to inbound tourists including the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, New York Knicks basketball, New York Rangers ice hockey, venue tours and VIP experiences.
