Stephen Foutes has been named director of the Missouri Division of Tourism by the Missouri Tourism Commission. He joins the agency from the Missouri State Medical Association, where he served for more than two years. For Foutes, it’s a return to a place where he worked before. Previously he served the division as a travel guide and website editor in 2010, communications manager in 2012, and public relations specialist in 2015.

Travis Napper has been named director of Arkansas Tourism. Napper comes to the position from Experience Ruston (the Ruston Lincoln Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau in Ruston, La.) where he served as the president and CEO of, since 2012. He replaces Jim Dailey, who retired at the end of 2019.

Virgin Holidays has confirmed the appointment of Siobhan Fitzpatrick has been appointed to lead the company. She replaces departing managing director Joe Thompson. In an expanded role, Fitzpatrick has been promoted to senior vice president Virgin Holidays and digital from her previous position of vice president digital and distribution at the group’s airline Virgin Atlantic. Before joining Virgin Atlantic, Fitzpatrick spent 15 years in retail with Argos and Homebase. Thompson was appointed managing director of Virgin Holidays in July 2017, when he replaced Mark Anderson – who now heads up Connect Airways, the Virgin-led consortium that acquired regional carrier Flybe. Before taking the role, Thompson spent 14 years at Virgin Atlantic in leadership positions.

The Visit Pensacola search committee has recommended Pamela Johnson as the next president and CEO of the organization to its board of directors. Following the recommendation, the board approved to move forward with a formal offer to Johnson and will work through negotiations. Johnson has worked at the Lee County Convention and Visitor Bureau in Fort Myers for 25 years, most recently serving as the deputy director beginning in 2014. Johnson also served as the interim director and deputy director of Lee County Economic Development.

Tour operator software company Tourwriter has a new chief operating officer—Pierre Malou, who is the latest hire for the Wellington-based company, who have undergone a period of rapid growth following the 2019 launch of their new online itinerary builder, Minim. Previously, Malou has held various roles throughout Asia-Pacific where he led, supported, and inspired growing teams. Tourwriter now has a suite of three established tour operator software solutions and a global team of 45 to date.

Tom Popper has been named to the new role of CEO at the global tour operator Friendly Planet Travel. At the same time, Peggy Goldman, founder of Family Planet Travel and its current president, will become chairwoman and will continue to work closely with Popper. Prior to his new role as CEO, Popper became part of the Friendly Planet Travel organization last year when the company acquired insightCuba, a single destination tour operator specializing solely in legal travel to Cuba for Americans, where Popper served as president.

Matt Kenny has left his post as Miami’s director of tourism and culture after a little more than a year on the job. City Commissioner Ricky Arriola said the move  was “in protest” over frustration at the lack of a plan for Spring Break. Arriola made his comments during a discussion regarding an ordinance to limit the sale of alcohol during peak Spring Break. Previously, Kenny was managing director of Community Agency, a Miami-based global agency that specializes in brand positioning.

Jenny Yi YIN was recently named general manager of destination marketing for Beijing-based Quna.com. She joined the company from Trip.com—also in Beijing—where she was general manager for Europe, the U.S.& North China. She was with Trip.com for more than seven years.

Brett Oetting has been named as president and CEO of the Corpus Christi CVB. Oettig joins the bureau from Topeka, Kansas, were he was president of Visit Topeka and executive vice president of the Greater Topeka Partnership. Oetting begins his new job on March 16.

In an announcement that listed a series of leadership changes, Apple Leisure Group® said that Jim Tedesco, the group’s senior vice president of sales, will now oversee Apple Leisure Group Vacation sales for the whole United States. Tedesco joined the company last September. Previously, he served for more than 12 years with the Flight Centre Travel Group, The Americas.

Travel Counsellors has appointed Kieran Hartwell as its first managing director for Travel Counsellors for business. Hartwell was previously chief commercial officer for Omaha, Nebraska-based Travel and Transport, and president at global travel management company Radius Travel.

The French airline Corsair has announced the appointment of Christine Ozouf as head of foreign markets. A 25-year veteran of the travel and tourism industry, Ozouf has work in senior sales and marketing positions for United Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Seychelles.

Andrew Turner is leaving his post as head of industry sales for the tour operator Intrepid Travel to join destination management company Discova, which is owned by Flight Centre. He has been with Intrepid for nearly eight years. He will lead a sales team located in major source markets such as the UK, US and Asia Pacific region from London.

Alison Best has joined the Northstar Travel Group—it puts out the Travel Weekly family of travel trade publications—as business development director. A long-time veteran of the travel and tourism industry, Best has previously served as: executive vice president of Destinations International; president and CEO of Visit Oakland: and senior vice president, business development, for the Santa Monica CVB.

According to reports in the UK travel trade and business press, the Chinese conglomerate Fosun, which had invested in the now defunct Thomas Cook, has recruited a number of former Thomas Cook executives in order to re-launch the brand as an online operation. According to the Times of London, the new entity appointed Alan French, formerly group strategy and technology director, as chief executive, with Raj Sharma, a former finance executive, joining as chief financial officer and Phil Gardner, Cook’s head of sales, ecommerce and marketing, as head of marketing.

Nancy Drolet has joined Toronto-based Jesson & Company Communications as its new senior director, travel trade, where she will be responsible for all trade activities for destination clients including education, attendance at trade events as well as other responsibilities. Nancy joins Jesson from the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), where she was a business development representative. The CTO announced last fall that they would close their North American offices along with their office in London, England.

Cheryl Offerman, global tourism sales manager for Meet Minneapolis, has retired after serving nearly 25 years with the organization, and after more than 30 years in the travel and tourism industry. “In addition to long walks on the beach and finally having time to read the stack of books I’ve accumulated,” she told colleagues in an e-mail, “I’ll begin a new part-time profession by teaching English as a second language to immigrant children.”

Christian Armond has been appointed by Ocean Holidays Group as its first marketing director. He joins the company following tenures at loveholidays, where he was marketing director; and TUI, where he was head of digital marketing. Ocean Holidays Group includes Ocean Florida, specialists in Florida and U.S. holidays; since 2004 Ocean Florida has sent in excess of 250,000 customers on holiday and as a result has become the number one independent Florida Travel Specialist in the UK.

Debbie Girard has been appointed director of business development for TRAVELSAVERS Canada. Girard brings over 20 years of travel industry experience to her new role with the company, which is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Boston-based Audley Travel recently appointed Anne-Marie Kline as head of North American marketing. Previously, Kline was senior vice president of global marketing for Living Proof Inc.

Trafalgar and Costsaver Canada, which specialize in in guided vacations, have announced the appointment of Mohit Dayaram as sales manager for the greater Toronto area. His previous experience includes tenures as a sales professional for Kensington Tours, WE and DW Alexander.

The Brazilian tour operator Trend has announced the promotion of André Pedroso as manager of the company’s São Paulo base inland. Pedroso has more than 14 years of experience in the tourism business, eight of them with Trend.

Also from Brazil: Maryane Giacometi is no longer a marketing and communication specialist at Flytour Viagens. She has joined the Visual Turismo team, assuming the supervision of the operator’s marketing area. She will report directly to Thais Machado.

Ovation Travel Group has announced plans to expand in the western United States, where it will increase the number of independent advisors throughout the region. To develop and lead Ovation’s anticipated growth in the region, Beverly Hills-based Aanchal Gandhi is joining the company in the newly created role of vice president of leisure and independent advisors. Gandhi, who will report to Gina Gabbard, senior vice president of leisure and independent advisors, was previously a corporate and luxury travel consultant for Protravel International

Chris Simmonds has been named the new managing director of the senior travel specialist, Saga Holidays. He joins the operator from his post as chief executive of Revitalize, a national UK charity providing respite holidays for disabled people and carers. He had previously worked for Saga for nearly a dozen years, lastly as managing director.

Former Red Sea Holidays sales director Jason Hilton has joined ITC Travel Group in the same role. He has joined on a 12-month contract covering maternity leave for current director Sarah Roberts. Hilton was sales director at Red Sea Holidays for eight years and, before that, worked with TUI and as head of sales at My Travel.

Andreas Heimann, managing director of German tour operator DER Touristik’s travel agency operation, is now also responsible for online sales for the company. In addition to his previous responsibility for own travel agency sales. With this step, the company wants to further expand DER sales across all sales channels and use synergies in omnichannel. In his new function Heimann takes care of DER Touristik Partner-Service, Derpart as well as DER Touristik Online and Strategic Market Research in addition to DER travel agencies. Matthias Lange and Maximilian Küppers continue to be Managing Directors of DER Touristik Online.

The Kentucky Derby Museum has named Katie Fussenegger as its new vice president. Previously, Fussenegger served as president & CEO of ShelbyKY Tourism since 2010. Overall, she had been with the organization for nearly 13 years. Her experience in the travel and tourism industry also includes a tenure at Louisville Tourism.

In France, Barbara Riou and Guillaume Benjamin join the Visitors sales team: Barbara Riou has been tapped for eastern France and Guillaume Benjamin will be responsible for Paris, 93, Hauts-de-France and Belgium.

The San Diego Tourism Authority’s board of directors has appointed Julie Coker as its new president and CEO. Coker, wo will be leaving her post as president and CEO of the Philadelphia CVB, succeeds Joe Terzi, who announced his retirement in 2019 after 10 years in his role with the tourism authority. Coker has served with the Philadelphia CVB since 2010. She was senior vice president of its convention division and executive vice president before becoming president and CEO in 2016. Coker has more than 30 years of hospitality industry experience, including 21 years with Hyatt Hotels, where she held general manager positions for properties in Philadelphia, Chicago and Oakbrook, Illinois.

Lori Harnois is leaving her post as executive director of the six-state Discover New England tourism promotion organization in order to take over Jan. 31 as the new director of New Hampshire’s Division of Travel and Tourism Development. Harnois was unanimously confirmed for the position earlier this month by the agency’s Executive Council. She succeeds Victoria Cimino, who was director of the division from 2014 until April 2019, when she became CEO of the Williamsburg (Va.) Tourism Council. Amy Bassett, state tourism deputy director, has served as acting director since April.

Luisa Mendoza, well known in the travel and tourism trade in the New York City area, has struck out on her own in founding Global Tourism Sports & Entertainment (GTSE). In doing so, she leaves BSE Global, where she was director of global tourism development, promoting the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, the Barclays Center and the NHL’s New York Islanders. Previously, Mendoza was senior director, tourism market development, Latina America-USA Hispanic market, for New York City & Company.

Tracy Harris recently joined the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority as tourism sales manager. She joins he agency from Eldorado Resorts, where she was national sales manager. Previously, she was general manager of Premium with Levy Restaurants Reno for four years.

Lori Timony has been promoted to the position of senior vice president, new market development, at Leisure Pass Group. Previously, she was senior vice of global trade sales for nearly three years. Prior to that she served Smart Destinations Inc. as vice president of channel sales and strategic accounts. She had been with Smart Destinations for more than 15 years.

Travel Nevada has named Juraj “George” Sojka its new international market manager, with responsibility for the organization’s efforts in Europe and the United Kingdom. He has approximately 10 years of sales, marketing and management experience; most he was with Aramark Lake Tahoe/Lake Mead, where he held a variety of positions since 2011, most recently senior sales and marketing manager. In that role, he oversaw lodging operations, dining and retail operations, as well as a marina, wedding services and a winter snowmobile operation.

Mike Sophia has been named vice president of sports business development at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. In his new role, Sophia will be leading the sports business development team’s efforts to attract professional, collegiate, amateur and recreational sporting events to Broward County, Florida. Sophia joins the bureau from the Sacramento Sports Commission, where he worked for almost seven years. Previously, he was CEO of the National Senior Games Association.

J.D. O’Hara has been appointed CEO of Travel Leaders Group, taking over for Ninan Chacko, who has resigned to pursue other opportunities. O’Hara has served as president of Travel Leaders Group for the past year, working closely with Chacko. During his time as president, O’Hara has been responsible for managing the company’s operating divisions, as well as mergers and acquisition activities and strategic planning. Prior to joining Travel Leaders Group in 2018, O’Hara was senior partner at Certares Management, LLC, owner of Travel Leaders Group. O’Hara has had a long association with Travel Leaders Group. He was part of the original management buyout of Carlson Leisure Group from Carlson Companies in January 2008 that eventually led to the formation of Travel Leaders Group.

Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold have announced that Michelle Suker will be appointed as the new director of field sales east for the U.S. Prior to joining Insight Vacations, Suker held multiple leadership, training, and development roles at AAA The Auto Club Group, including field manager, senior training consultant, and agency development manager.

Sindy Bohada has been appointed by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) as convention sales manager for the West Coast market for both corporate and association business. Bohada most recently served as sales manager for Hampton by Hilton Miami Beach.

Anastasia Mileham, most recently executive director of the University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub, has been named executive director of Source Cincinnati,whichis the region’s national social and media relations initiative, funded by a regional business and civic coalition. Mileham replaces Susan Lomax, who was selected as executive director of Source Cincinnati at the beginning of 2019 after serving as interim executive director for six months. Lomax departed for a position with Celebrity Cruises as global brand communications director. She had been with Source Cincinnati for four years, taking the leadership position when Julie Calvert was named the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau president and CEO in 2018.

Claire Brighton has been appointed account director of the Association of Touring and Adventure suppliers (Atas), an organization of more than 50 tour operators in the UK. She joins from the Advantage Travel Partnership, where she has spent nine years as commercial account manager and most recently senior commercial manager. Prior to Advantage, she worked for Thomas Cook TV and TV Travel Shop.

Katie Elson, former head of marketing for Thomas Cook, has been recruited by APT to fill the newly created role of head of marketing transformation for the river cruise line and tour operator. She worked at Thomas Cook for more than a decade and held various roles including short haul product and commercial manager, brand manager and latterly head of marketing, creative and content.

Andrew Turner, head of industry sales for Intrepid, is leaving the company. He has been at Intrepid for eight years in various roles including those of business development manager and adventure sales specialist. EMEA boss Aaron Hocking would be redeployed as part of a shakeup of the business. The operator did away with its “northern hemisphere super region.” which merged the US and EMEA regions, reverting to a two-region model.

Red Label Vacations, which is owned by the Japanese tour operator, H.I.S., has announced that executives Nathalie Tanious (left) and Diane Lattavo have earned new titles. Tanious is officially RLV’s chief operating officer and Lattavo has been promoted to executive vice president. The two bring years of experience and expertise to their new roles. Tanious has extensive experience in the travel industry in various management roles, serving tenures for Air Canada Vacations, Thomas Cook and Intair. Lattavo also has 25 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry.

Frank Rejwan, managing director of Travel Republic, an OTA that is one of the Top Ten ATOL operators in the UK, has resigned from his role and is to leave the business in the spring. Rejwan was appointed by dnata to lead the company in July 2018, having previously worked at Abercrombie & Kent, Quintessentially and Ickenham Travel Group. Dnata Travel Europe chief executive John Bevan said: “I want to thank Frank for his hard work as managing director of Travel Republic … (we) will be working closely with him and dnata’s VP B2C retail & ecommerce, Antonio Fellino, to ensure a smooth transition and stability for the Kingston team in the coming months.”

At Leisure Pass Group, Jon Owen (left) is stepping up to CEO as Ted Stimpson, the current CEO, moves into the role of president. These leadership appointments took effect on January 1, 2020. Since 2017, Owen has overseen significant sales and profitability growth in Leisure Pass Group’s global businesses, across both direct-to-consumer and third-party channels. In his almost three years as CEO, Stimpson has led the successful integration and expansion of the three separate businesses that combined to become Leisure Pass Group. As president, he will help manage Leisure Pass Group’s senior industry and partner relationships, particularly those based in the United States.

A senior restructuring at Newmarket Holidays has Ian Dines joining the operator from Emirates Holidays as Newmarket increases its focus on the customer and sustainability. Existing directors David Sharman and Phil O’Sullivan have been promoted as part of the shake-up under chief executive Niel Alobaidi, who joined from Emirates Holidays last year. At Emirates, Dines was account director of global operations and customer experience. Previously he was at TUI. He will start at Newmarket at the end of February in the new role of chief customer officer.

In Brazil, Flavia Cruz is the new director of marketing and commercial sales at the tour operator New Age. With a degree in Tourism and a postgraduate degree in marketing, the Cruz has considerable experience in the travel and tourism industry, including stints at Diversa Turismo and MMT Gapnet, where she served for more than 10 years.

Greg Marshall, the senior vice president/director of marketing for Visit Rochester, has formally announced that he is leaving the service of Visit Rochester, which he joined in September 1978, although he will be connected to Visit Rochester’s full network for the next several months. His 41-plus years with the DMO of the destination in which he was born and raised is some kind of record in the travel and tourism industry, where portability is a defining attribute. But Marshall, of whom it has been said, “he knows every blade of grass in Rochester,” is singular. He is not leaving the industry per se; rather, he is following a decision he made more than a year ago so that he could pursue “other ventures and adventures that had been long delayed.”

Catherine Prather, NTA’s long-time executive vice president, will take on the job as president of the organization at the start of 2020. Prather, who has been with the association for 26 years, will succeed the outgoing Pam Inman, who served as president since September 2014. Prather had served as interim president of NTA following the departure of Lisa Simon from the position and prior to Inman’s appointment.

Charlene Leiss, current presidents of Flight Centre Travel Group-Americas corporate brands, has been appointed president of the company, effective Jan. 1, 2020, succeeding Dean Smith, who will be retiring at the end of the company’s fiscal year on June 30, 2020. Smith will spend six months in a strategic global leisure role through to June 30, helping to transition the business through various leisure-related transformation initiatives that are currently underway. Leiss has been with Flight Centre since April 2015. Previously, she was vice president, sales, TMS USA, she and served there for more than 24 years.

Also at Flight Centre Travel Group Americas, John Beauvais, current president of the Flight Centre Travel Group Canadian business, will become president, corporate brands, America. He will be responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the company’s corporate brands, including FCM and Corporate Traveller in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and the company’s network throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Matt Johnson, a leader in the events industry for nearly 15 years, is the new president of BizBash, a trade media company for event and meeting planners. Connect purchased BizBash in December 2019. Johnson, currently executive vice president at Connect, will work to grow BizBash’s brand and further develop the company’s four premier events, which now fall under Connect’s portfolio umbrella. With this position, Johnson assumes a new challenge but remains part of the Connect family—which he has been a member of since 2005.

Enterprise Holdings, Inc. (parent company of car rental companies Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent a Car) has announced that Chrissy Taylor, the company’s president and chief operating officer, has been promoted to chief executive officer, effective next month. Taylor becomes only the fourth CEO in the company’s more than 60-year history and the third generation of Taylor family CEO leadership, preceded as CEO by her father Andy Taylor and grandfather Jack Taylor. The position has been held since 2013 by Pam Nicholson, who will retire at the end of the year.

TUI’s last-minute holidays specialist L’Turhas, has named Benjamin Jacobi as its new managing director from October 1. The 37-year-old, who previously held various managerial roles at TUI, is currently responsible for products and finances. He replaces Marek Andryszak who will focus fully on his new role of CEO at TUI Germany.

Topdeck Travel and Blue-Roads Touring has promoted Vicki Ioannou-Theophilou to director of business development for the Americas. In her new role, Ioannou-Theophilou, who was previously business management manager for Eastern Canada, will oversee key distribution partners and develop, coordinate and implement new strategic plans to advance existing business and secure new sales opportunities. Prior to joining Top Deck/Blue Roads-Touring, she worked for GTA and TMR Holidays.

Eva Freissmuth recently joined the sales and marketing area at the German study and adventure travel specialist Icarus Tours. She takes on the responsibilities of Shirin Russ, who is on parental leave, and takes care of the travel agency’s concerns, among other things. After studying tourism at the Fresenius University in Idstein, Hesse, Freissmuth gained experience in marketing, most recently as a consultant with Thomas Cook in Oberursel.

Martim Diniz has been named director of business development, LATAM, for Universal Orlando. He joins from SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment where he was manager of SeaWorld’s Sao Paulo branch. He had been with SeaWorld for nearly 10 years. Previously he was on the front desk and guest relations team at Walt Disney World.

Mollie Massari is the new president of the USA Luxury Shopping Consortium. She succeeds the departing Kathy Anderson, the consortium’s founder and president since its inception in 2017. The USA Luxury Shopping Consortium announced today that a new president and director will assume ownership of the organization in 2020. The Consortium’s founder and president since its inception in 2017, Anderson is retiring at the end of this year, but will remain active with the organization in an advisory capacity for the first year. The Consortium will now be based in San Antonio, Texas and led by Mollie Massari, an expert in the retail marketing industry. Massari was previously owner of her own consulting firm, specializing in strategic business planning, marketing and branding and public relations strategies.

CWT has appointed Charlie Sullivan to the position of product manager for its airline distribution team.
He will report and work in close collaboration with Erik Magnuson, vice president of air distribution capabilities at CWT. Previously, he was senior vice president and general manager of e-commerce at Worldspan.

Senior travel specialist Saga has appointed former Superdry boss Euan Sutherland as chief executive. He will replace Lance Batchelor, who is leaving Saga at the end of January. Sutherland recently resigned from the struggling clothing company Superdry last April after five years following a boardroom battle with co-founder Julian Dunkerton.

Michael O’Callaghan, executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Detroit Metro CVB, is retiring at the end of this year. He helped lead the organization for 21 years, and now plans to travel and spend more time with family. A replacement hasn’t yet been determined. O’Callaghan began his career in the travel and tourism industry in 1975. Prior to joining the Detroit CVB, he held senior level positions at well-known hotel brands.

Simon Lloyd has been named chief marketing officer at the travel price comparison site icelolly.com. He replaces Ross Mathhews, who left the company to join Awaze UK’s Hoseasons brand. Lloyd, who starts his new position on January 6, has previously held the same position at Virgin Atlantic, from 2012 to 2013. He was most recently CMO at financial services company Auden, and he has also worked with the BBC, AXA and Superdry.

Tim Brady, who worked as the vice president of sales and marketing for the Charleston (West Virginia) Convention and Visitors Bureau for seven years, has been named as the next president and CEO of the organization. He’ll start his new job on January 1st. Before joining the Charleston bureau, Brady was executive director for four years of the Greater Bridgeport CVB in West Virginia