Norwegian Air has announced the resignation of Chief Executive Jacob Schram, who led the company’s restructuring process, following a board vote last Sunday (20). “The board’s decision to fire me was a big surprise,” Schram told a press interviewer. His replacement will be Geir Karlsen, the airline’s chief financial officer since 2018. For six months in 2019, Karlsen was interim CEO of the airline, which is recovering from bankruptcy protection due to COVID-19 crisis.
Sheryl Lang has been named president & CEO at Visit Greenville SC. Lang joins the organization from her job as chief strategy officer at The LJS Group, a hospitality consulting agency in Arlington, Virginia. Previously, she was senior vice president of sales and marketing-Lifestyle Hotels, at Crescent Hotels & Resorts, where she served for almost six years.
Michelle McKinney Frymire is the new CEO of CWT, taking over from Kurt Ekert, who left the position to take on a senior consultant role at the company. Frymire joined the company in 2019 and has over 20 years of experience in the travel industry. Her career has spanned a range of roles with leadership roles such as CFO of Starwood Vacation Ownership and Delta Technology, as well as Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
The entire team of Free Spirit Vacations in Scottsdale, Arizona shut down their offices on July 1 and traveled to Laughlin along with guests to celebrate the new ownership of the company. Suzanne Hagberg has taken over the reins of the tour operator from Sue Arko, who had spent 25 years running her company, which Hagberg acquired in a move announced last summer. Before taking over at Free Spirit, Hagberg was vice president of DETOURS. Before that, she was director of marketing for the Desert Belle Tour Boat.
Lisa Wyskowski has joined the Southwestern Travel Group in the sales and marketing department as a group travel consultant. She joins from a long tenure of nearly 18 years as a vendor relations specialist/trip coordinator at Educational Tours Inc.
The relatively new Eastern Airlines has announced the hiring of Nelson de Oliveira as its country manager for Brazil. The company is just waiting for the borders to open to fly from Belo Horizonte to Boston, Miami and New York. Prior to joining Eastern, de Oliveira had tenures with Alitalia, CW, Alatur JTB and South African Airways, where he served for almost 25 years.
Denise Bosmans has been named a senior director of sales for Visit Spokane, working out of the agency’s Washington, D.C. satellite office. A veteran of more than 20 years in the travel and tourism industry, she has served as an association meeting planner, media representative for a tourism DMC representing the Mid-Atlantic and has worked in hotel and destination convention sales for Reno Tahoe.
Ann Marie Maher, previously director of tourism at Visit Prince William, has been promoted to Acting Deputy Director for the Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism – Prince William County Government, Virginia. Her DMO experience includes tenures at Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board and Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Ryan Hauck has been named executive director of the Park County Travel Council in Wyoming. (Park County The county has over 53 percent of Yellowstone National Park’s land area.) Hauck will be taking over from Claudia Wade, who held the position for more than 30 years. Hauck worked most recently as director of sales with Western Leisure, a tour development and services company, and has also worked with Visit Casper. He grew up in Casper and graduated from the University of Wyoming.
Insight Vacations recently welcomed guests on its first USA trip since the pandemic—Enchanting Canyonlands—introducing the new role of the wellbeing director in the person of Carol Kendrick. The trip was Insight Vacations’ first with a wellbeing director in place, a new role that has been created by the company to provide additional reassurance and logistical support for our guests in a post-pandemic world. This position is an addition to the travel director, who focuses entirely on delivering a seamless guest experience. Kendrick, who recently took on the role, has been with Insight since 2012.
German senior travel specialist Trendtours Touristik has recruited Karsten Fricke to help the company expand its beach holiday segment. The longtime Alltours manager and experienced hotel buyer is now in charge of the “Sun & Beach” division of the group tour operator. Fricke had been with Alltours Flugreisen since 2009, and since 2018 he had been the director of hotel purchasing for the organizer on medium-haul routes.
Karen Joyce is joining luxury global travel agency network Virtuoso as London-based EMEA general manager. She took up the role on July 1, overseeing a region the U.S.-headquartered group entered in 2014. Virtuoso now has more than 90 travel agency member locations in 24 countries in the region. It sells include North America product, with a current emphasis on self-drive road trips. Previously Joyce was general manager, New Zealand, for The AOT Group. Before that, was general manager of Austravel, where she worked for 16 years.
Anina Grasso has been promoted to the post of director, travel experiences development at Destination America (The Travel Corporation). She was previously product developer & contracting manager, Canada. Grasso joined the company as a product manager in early 2018. She was previously product manager at YMT Vacations. Prior to that, she was with New World Tours for five years.
Mecole “Cole” Brown is joining American Airlines as chief people officer. In this role, Brown will lead all aspects of global talent and recruitment, benefits and compensation, people operations and diversity, equity and inclusion. Brown most recently served as vice president, human resources for Amazon’s devices and services, corporate and business development, and advertising and entertainment business segments.
After 35 years at Frankfurt Airport, Susanne Schick has left Germany’s largest airport. She spent a large part of this time in the facility’s Aviation division, most recently as senior manager, among other things, responsible for sales communication for tourism. She was in close contact with travel agencies – and was a member of the jury for the Globus Awards from the trade publication touristik aktuell in 2018.
Melissa Cherry has been named chief diversity & inclusion officer and senior vice president at Miles Partnership, a widely known U.S. tourism marketing consulting firm. She officially starts her new position on August 23. She joins the company from Destinations International, where she was chief operating officer. Previously, Cherry was Senior Vice President for Marketing & Cultural Tourism at Choose Chicago. Her résumé includes a tenure as a project manager at the California Travel and Tourism Commission.
Job Postings
From SearchWide Global:
—In Oregon, the Josephine County Visitor Association’s Destination Marketing Organization, Experience Grants Pass, us searching for an executive director. More details here.
—Visit San Antonio has an opening for director of market strategy. More details here.
—The Oklahoma State Fair is seeking a president and CEO. More details here.
—The San Diego Tourism Authority is looking for a chief sales officer. More details here.
—Switch, a Saint Louis-based agency whose activities include product lines which include field marketing, digital marketing, business meetings, events and more, is searching for a president & CEO. More details here.
—Visit Pittsburg has an opening for chief sales officer. More details here.
—Visit Carlsbad is searching for a president and CEO. More details here.
—Switch, An Experience Agency based in St. Louis whose product lines include digital marketing, business meetings and events, and trade shows, is looking for a president and CEO. More details here.
—There is an opening for a chief executive officer at Explore Skagit Valley in Washington State. More details here.
—Louisville Tourism is looking for a senior vice president of convention development. More details here.
—Travel Portland is searching for a vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. More details here.
—Visit Wichita is searching for a vice president of marketing. 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.
—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.
—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 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.
—American Classic Tours, Inc. in Grayslake, Illinois, has an opening for a tour manager. More details here.
—Visit Denver is searching for a cultural tourism programs manager. More details here.
—Jet Blue is searching for a manager of corporate communications, and his based in Long Island City N.Y. More details here.
—Interdependence Public Relations in Denver is searching for a Managing Director to launch and build a travel, leisure and hospitality division at its rapidly growing PR firm. More details here.
—Ralph Lauren is search for a coordinator, brand activation (regional tourism – West). 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.
—The Philadelphia office of Tiquets, the global ticket booking company for attractions, is looking for a U.S.-based supply coordinator (the company is headquartered in the Netherlands. More details here.
—Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City is looking for a manager of tourism and travel. More details here.
—The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is looking for a vice president of guest experience. The salary range is $130,000 – $157,000 a year: 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 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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Have a job to offer in the travel and tourism industry? Let us know and we’ll post your notice—no cost to you. Email tom@tomberrigan.com.
