John Edman director of Explore Minnesota, is stepping down after 21 years of service to the state, effective June 3, 2021. The news came via an official state news release that praised Edman, who “has diligently served as the state’s chief spokesperson for tourism-related issues while managing an agency with approximately 50 staff.” Edman holds the distinction of being appointed to the state’s top tourism post by four governors of three different political parties: Gov. Jesse Ventura (Independent) in 2000, Gov. Tim Pawlenty (Republican) in 2003 and 2007, Gov. Mark Dayton (Democrat) in 2011 and 2015, and Gov. Walz in 2019 (Democrat). He has also served in national and state leadership positions on numerous organizations and boards, including the National Council of State Tourism Directors, Brand USA and the U.S. Travel Association, which named him State Tourism Director of the Year in 2015.
Amira Ayoub has been promoted to the post of marketing manager for Latam Airlines Brazil, replacing Sabrina Salgado, who has left the company. Ayoub has been with the carrier for more than six years and her last position was as senior marketing coordinator. She remains in the leadership of the airline’s communication and branding strategies and accumulates the function of trade marketing in the national market.
Doug Bennett has been promoted from senior vice president of convention development to executive vice president at Louisville Tourism. Bennett has been with the agency for more than five-and-a-half years.
Experience Kissimmee has announced the hiring of Casey Leppanen as its new vice president of marketing and communications. Prior to his new role, Leppanen served as director of marketing and fan development for Sharks Sports and Entertainment based in San Jose, California. He was recruited to transform San Jose Sharks’ business practices, marketing strategy and strategic direction at various levels of the organization.
Emily Machen has been appointed as marketing director for the Eastern Short of Virginia Tourism Commission. Machen, who moved to the area several years ago, has worked in different facets of Eastern Shore tourism, most recently handling marketing and content creation for Quail Cove Farms in Machipongo.
Melissa DeFreest has been promoted to the post of vice-president of tourism and communications for the Somerset County (N.J.) Business Partnership. She has served the organization as director of marketing & communication since June 2017.
Elizabeth Garry has joined Camping World Holdings as its new vice president, commerce. In her new position, her focus will be on the company’s digital retail strategic evolution while creating a cohesive customer in-store and online experience to support omnichannel growth. Garry’s previous work experience includes Wayfair and most recently Walmart eCommerce for nearly three years, and where she was responsible for the development and expansion of product categories and creation of strategic multi-channel product and customer initiatives
Olivia Bussey has been appointed marketing and social media manager for Your Co-op’s homeworking division The Personal Travel Agents. Bussey will cover maternity leave for current marketing and social media manager Kiri Dulay from the end of April. She previously worked as travel trade sales and marketing manager for Manchester Airport before being made redundant last year as a result of the pandemic. Bussey started her career at TUI, where she was a travel trade specialist, based in Darlington, from 2015 until 2018.
The TUI Group has added to its leadership team of the tours and activities division—TUI Musement. Musement Co-Founder Alessandro Petazzi (l), who has been TUI Musement chief growth officer over the past six months, takes on a strategic advisor role. Petazzi will hand over his day to day managerial responsibilities during a transition period throughout April, taking the role of strategic advisor from beginning May 1st. There will also be an extended and central Sales & Marketing function headed by TUI Musement Chief Marketing Officer Mirco Fiumene (r), who is a veteran of Amazon, PayPal and Ebay.
Dave Ziedelis has been appointed as the new executive director of Visit Frederick (Md.). Ziedelis has worked in professional sports and event management for 32 years, most notably as the general manager of the minor league Frederick Keys baseball team. The appointment comes three months after longtime Visit Frederick Executive Director John Fieseler announced his retirement earlier this year.
Cherie Richards has been promoted from her post as chief business development officer at the British homeworking travel agency Not Just Travel, and is now chief of staff as she helps oversee an expansion of the company as homeworking agents have become an increasingly important segment of travel’s distribution system. Not Just Travel, which has more than 800 agents, has about 40 staff in its corporate team. Before becoming a part of Not Just Travel, Richards served almost a dozen years with the Global Travel Group, a part of dnata.
Asheville native Marshall Hilliard has been named vice president of sales for Explore Ashville. Hilliard has held leadership positions with major hotel brands in Boston, Atlanta, New Orleans and Charlotte, including Hilton, Westin, Bissell Hotels and The Ballantyne, part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection of Hotels. Most recently, he served as area director of sales and marketing for Windsor Hospitality’s Marriott brands, including Renaissance Asheville. He succeeds Dianna Pierce, who retired in March after 26 years with Explore Asheville.
John Bevan, dnata Travel Group’s Europe chief executive, is succeeding Steve Allen as divisional senior vice-president at dnata Travel Group. He’ll start his new position June 1st. Bevan will report to Allen, assuming responsibility for all of dnata’s global travel brands across leisure, trade, technology, corporate and destination management. Prior to joining dnata, Bevan held senior positions in several different organizations, including tenure as chief operating officer at Spafinder Wellness 365.
Tom Perlozzo has been selected to fill the recently-recreated director of tourism and business development post for Ocean City, Maryland. Perlozzo brings a familiar name and face to the new position. Since 2018, Perlozzo has served as Worcester County’s director of recreation and parks and added to his title in 2019 to become Worcester County director of recreation and parks and tourism and economic development. He was the director of recreation and parks for Ocean City for two decades.
Helbiz Inc., a major player in micro-mobility, and which company operates e-scooters, e-bicycles and e-mopeds in over 30 cities around the world including Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Arlington, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Milan, Richmond and Rome, has appointed Davide D’Amico as global head of communications. Prior to joining Helbiz, Mr. D’Amico was the head of communications for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and all of its brands in Italy, focusing on the Jeep and Alfa Romeo brands, in the rest of Europe, Middle East and Africa for the past six years.
Duetto has announced the appointment of travel and hotel industry expert Chris Crowley to its executive leadership team as senior vice president of sales. Crowley will lead the global sales organization of the cloud-based revenue software provider, which currently operates offices in the US, Argentina, London, Germany, and Singapore. Crowley joins Duetto from the business travel consultancy Nina & Pinta, where he was a partner. Prior to that he was with global hotel solutions provider HRS, where he served as senior vice president of Enterprise Solutions.
Job Postings
From SearchWide Global:
—Travel Portland is searching for a vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. More details here.
—Switch, a Saint Louis-based agency “dedicated to powerful experiences, delivering events, digital activations, branding, VR, environments and field tours that are worth sharing,” is looking for a president and CEO. More details here.
—Visit Wichita is searching for a vice president of marketing. More details here.
—Visit Wichita has an opening for a vice president of sales. More details here.
—Destinations International is searching for a senior director, membership engagement. More details here.
—The tourism research and intelligence company Arrivalist has an opening for a chief sales officer. More details here.
—The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau is searching for a new president and CEO. More details here.
—The Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority has an opening for a new president and chief executive officer. More details here.
—In Franklin, Tennessee, which is about 20 miles south of Nashville, the Williamson County Convention and Visitors Bureau is searching for a president and CEO. More details here.
—The position of president & CEO is open at the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce & Visit Big Sky is open. More details here.
—Headquartered in Irving, Texas, the Promotional Products Association International, is searching for a president & chief executive officer. More details here.
—The Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center & Tourism Authority in Georgia is looking for a new executive director. More details here.
—There is an opening for a CEO at Experience Olympia & Beyond in Washington State. For more information, click here.
—Visit Florida is searching for a vice president of marketing. For more information, visit here.
—In the Charlotte/Concord area of North Carolina, Great Wolf Resorts has an opening for a director of sales and catering. For details, click here
—Georgia’s Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center & Tourism Authority is searching for a conference sales director. More details here.
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From Indeed.com: We’ve taken a look at this site (click here) which says that it has hundreds of new jobs listed, including a fair number in the travel, tourism and related industries. A sampler of what to expect is below.
—Hill+Knowlton Strategies is seeking a talented Vice President or Senior Vice Presidentto lead key consumer client engagements with a focus on travel and tourism. More details here.
—The American Queen Steamboat Company has a temporary, remote location opening for a shore excursions logistics manager. Location cited is in Easton, Pennsylvania. More details here.
—The City of Danville, Virginia has an opening for the position of economic development tourism manager. More details here.
—Tourism Economics, the U.S. arm of Oxford Economics, has an opening for a head of business development. More details here.
—The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences museum in Los Angeles is searching for a group sales manager. More details here.
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From LinkedIn Jobs: Known to many across the board in the travel and tourism industry, the LinkedIn list (click here) has numerous job opportunities posted. Following is a brief sample of some of those jobs currently listed.
—AVIAREPS tourism, the marketing and promotion firm known worldwide, has an opening for a Market Manager USA, located in the NYC area. More details here.
—The New York office of luxury travel agency Travel Edge is searching for a travel contract manager – Europe (contract). More details here.
—Morristown, N.J.-based CIE Tours International is searching for a director of marketing. More details here
—The Walt Disney Company has posted an opening for an executive assistant in San Francisco. More details here.
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