Kirsten Lynch 
Rob Katz 
Ryan Bennett
Vail Resorts, Inc. has announced that Kirsten Lynch, the company’s chief marketing officer, will be appointed CEO, effective Nov. 1, 2021. At that time, Rob Katz the company’s current chief executive officer, will be appointed executive chairperson of the board and remain fully active and engaged in Vail Resorts’ key strategic decisions and priorities. Additionally, at that time, Ryan Bennett, currently vice president of marketing, lift revenue, will be named chief marketing officer of Vail Resorts.
Lynch joined Vail Resorts in 2011 as chief marketing officer and previously held senior leadership positions at PepsiCo and Kraft Foods. Katz was appointed to the Vail Resorts board of directors in 1996 and named chief executive officer in 2006. As executive chairperson, Katz will remain a Vail Resorts employee and director, advising both Lynch and the board on long-term strategy and critical priorities. Bennett joined Vail Resorts in 2018 as vice president of marketing analytics before he was promoted to his current role as vice president of marketing, lift revenue. Prior to joining Vail Resorts, Bennett was with Boston Consulting Group for 11 years.
Visit Napa Valley has made some changes in its staff: Brice Gosnell has been named director of marketing. He will lead Visit Napa Valley’s paid, owned, and earned marketing efforts, including the rollout of Visit Napa Valley’s new brand campaign in the Fall of 2021. With over 20 years of experience managing consumer-facing travel brands. Most recently, Gosnell was most recently head of the Americas at Australian-based Luxury Escapes.
A Napa Valley native with more than 25 years in travel and tourism sales, Rebecca Merry-Barrango is returning to Visit Napa Valley in the role of business development and sales manager. Prior to the pandemic, Merry-Barrango was a member of the Visit Napa Valley staff team for eight years, holding roles at the Napa Valley Welcome Center and with the company’s sales team, focusing on the luxury leisure travel market. Her prior experience also includes sales positions with the San Diego Tourism Authority and United Airlines.
Ailsa Pollard has been appointed as CEO at dnata Travel Group (UK & Europe). She will start in her new role on Nov. 1, 2021. Pollard will report in to the previous holder of the role, John Bevan, who now oversees all aspects of dnata’s global travel business as divisional senior vice president for travel. She will assume responsibility for all of dnata Travel Group’s UK-based brands (Gold Medal, Travel Republic, Travelbag, Netflights and Sunmaster) while heading up a leadership team and workforce numbering nearly 800 people. As a key member of the leadership team for dnata Travel Group, part of the Emirates Group, during the last 12 years, she’s held a variety of senior roles in the company prior to her new job.
Angela Harde has been named head of product & operations for the Berlin-based tour operator Geoplan Privatreisen. She joins the company from Sauterleuteschule/Stiftung KBZO in Baden-Wurttemberg, where she worked for almost a year-and-a-half. Previously, Harde was with Miller Reisen GmbH for almost eight years.
Marcelo Miranda has been appointed director of marketing technology at SUMMIT One Vanderbilt, the new 1,000-foot observation attraction scheduled to open in October in mid-town Manhattan. Miranda is quite familiar with New York City attractions. Prior to joining One Vanderbilt, he was with Hudson Yards, and before that, he worked for the Empire State Realty Trust for nearly a decade
Isabelle Willemsens has been named country director, northern Europe for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. She will be responsible for marketing and sales director marketing and sales offices for Disney destinations in Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Previously, she had been Country Director for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts for the Benelux for nearly four years. Willemsens joined Disney in 2010.
Sonia Fong has been appointed as senior vice president of convention development at Louisville Tourism on August 23. Fong has worked in the hospitality industry for 24 years, most recently at the Greater Miami Convention & Visitor’s Bureau as vice president of convention sales & services. Previously, she served the Miami agency for 21 years in a variety of sales positions. In her new role, Fong will develop and implement a marketing plan, manage the convention sales team to achieve annual room night goals, and outline sales objectives to promote Louisville as a premier convention destination.
Esequiel Santos who spent more than 20 years as a part of the CVC family—much of it as a senior official at the tour operator Trend, which was acquired by CVC—has been named commercial director and one of the partners of OFB Operator/SSA. Santos left CVC Corp. five months ago.
Destination Canada, the Canadian tourist office in France has appointed the Canadian Maryse Normandeau as trade partnerships manager. Normandeau is in charge of relations with partners in the tourism industry: airlines, tour operators, travel agencies and OTAs, as well as dedicated lounges. Originally from Montreal, has 15 years of experience in the French tourism industry, including 13 years as a destination specialist in Canada: first as a tour operator then product manager for Canada for the tour operator Terre Canada, then product manager for Canada for FIT at AmériGo. You can contact her on maryse@360tourisme.fr
Natascha de Bruyn is leaving her position of group manager sales and marketing at Alltours. She is officially departing on August 25th. Beginning in September, de Bruyn will work for the Dr. Tigges, a well-known travel agency based in Dortmund that was established more than 90 years ago. There she will be sales manager in the business travel division, where she will look after the corporate customers of the travel agency chain throughout Germany. De Bruyn started out as a sales representative at Alltours ten years ago. In 2014 she was promoted to group leader in sales marketing. Before she joined Alltours, de Bruyn was with CWT (formerly Carlton Wagonlit Travel) for six years.
Valéria Padilla has been named as new regional marketing leader for Copa Airlines—the Panama headquartered carrier sometimes known as the Hub of the Americas for its numerous connections made from throughout the Americas. She will be responsible for all marketing strategies for Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. A 20-year veteran of the travel and tourism industry, Padilla has held senior sales positions for Alitalia, Aerolineas Argentinas and Varig.
Impala, the London-based hotel booking start up, has made two senior appointments who previously held positions at Airbnb. Caroline Hudack, who was previously head of marketing for the EMEA region at Airbnb has been named chief marketing officer of Impala. At Airbnb, Hudack was was one of the first product marketers at its Menlo Park, California base, and set up Facebook’s first consumer marketing team in Europe. Robin Clifford, who was head of supply for Northern Europe at Airbnb has been named vice president of global supply. In addition to his experience at Airbnb, Clifford held senior roles at Nestorstay and Booking.com.
Classic Collection and Classic Package Holidays has appointed Patrick Devonshire to the position of regional sales manager in its trade support team. Devonshire was most recently sales manager at Flexible Autos, before which he worked in managerial roles for Co-operative Travel. At Classic, Devonshire will cover trade sales for the operator’s brands across Essex, the home counties and East Anglia.
Danny Orloff has been recruited to be the new tourism marketing director of Visit Redding. Previously, Orloff has worked in the athletic shoe and apparel industry, where he led teams and marketing efforts at Finish Line and was a consumer experience manager with the NIKE Company Store at its worldwide headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.
A one-time state tourism director for Delaware, Tim Morgan has been named vice president of economic development at New Mexico Partnership. Morgan has more than 15 years of experience in economic and business development as well as strategic planning. Most recently, Morgan worked as the City of Maple Valley’s economic development manager. He has also served as chief of tourism and special events for the Charles County Tourism Office in Maryland. In the mid-00s, he served as state tourism director for the Delaware Economic Development Office. He was also director of sales for the Washington County Visitors Association in Oregon.
Julie Holmen has joined Destinations International to be its lead in membership engagement. For 25 years, Holmen has been actively selling individual hotel properties and entire destinations in the global travel market. Most recently, she was with Meeting Professionals International where she worked with their global supplier accounts and strategic alliance partners to enhance MPI’s presence around the world. From 2006 to 2017, Holmen was director of city-wide sales and event engagement with Destination Toronto.
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Job Postings
Visit Dallas, one of the Top 100 Places to Work in Dallas-Fort Worth, has the following job openings. For more details, click on the individual links: Administrative Assistant; Diversity & Inclusion Resource Manager; Event Manager; Sales Coordinator; and Site Coordinator.
From SearchWide Global:
—The Roebbelen Center @ the Grounds, a multi-purpose event facility on 60 acres situated between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, is seeking a general manager. More details here.
—In Arlington, Texas, there is an opening for president and CEO of the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau. More details here.
—Freeman is searching for a vice president, national graphics. More details here.
—Visit Dallas has an opening for a senior vice president/chief marketing officer. More details here.
—Visit Estes Park, about 90 miles north of Denver, is search for a director of finance & administration. More details here.
—Destination Door County (Wisconsin) is looking for a president and CEO. More details here.
—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 seekingapresident and CEO. More details here.
—The San Diego Tourism Authority is looking for a chief sales officer. More details here.
—Visit Pittsburg has an opening for chief sales officer. More details here.
—There is an opening for a chief executive officer at Explore Skagit Valley in Washington State. More details here.
—Visit Wichita is searching for a vice president of marketing. 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.
—Ralph Lauren is search for a coordinator, brand activation (regional tourism – West). More details here.
—Interdependence Public Relations in Denver has an opening for a managing director of Travel and tourism. More details here.
—Wanderlust Adventures in Orlando, Florida has an opening for a travel specialist. It is a remote position. More details here:
—AmericanTours International in Los Angeles is seeking a travel service coordinator. 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 Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, is searching for a director of corporate and travel industry sales, the Americas, in New York. More details here.
—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.
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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
