Alexi Tabrizi has been promoted to the position of executive vice president, global sales at Big Bus Tours. She previously held the position of vice president of global sales. Tabrizii joined the company from GetYourGuide, where she was regional manager-USA/Canada East, Mexico, Caribbean and where she worked for more than six years.
Jordi Zarroca has joined the Unlimited Biking team as head of groups and events. For the last 11 years, Jordi has played a crucial part in the success of Cosmopolitan Incentives, a DMC based in New York City.
Oleg Nakonechny has been named director of client services for the Hawai’i Visitors & Convention Bureau. Previously, he was director of convention services for the San Francisco Travel Association, where he served for more than a dozen years.
Michelle Degenhardt has been named global sustainability officer for The Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT). She will collaborate with FLT’s senior leadership team, employees, leisure and corporate customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to further develop and oversee the execution of strategies to deliver on the organization’s environmental, social and governance objectives. Degenhardt is based in FLT’s global head office in Brisbane, Australia and will report to Brett Anderson, FLT’s Global Head of Risk and Sustainability. Degenhardt has worked for FLT for 17 years and was formerly the company’s culture and employee engagement leader—a role that included oversight of the Flight Centre Foundation in Australia.
Ted Johnston has been promoted to the post of general manager of The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway—America’s highest railway. In his new role, Johnston will oversee all aspects of the railway operations. Prior to his new job, he was assistant general manager since April 2018 and a crucial member in the reopening of the railway last May and the celebration of its 130th anniversary in June 2021. Johnston started his railroad career with Union Pacific Railroad where he completed its operations management training program in 2012. He served in various operational roles for Union Pacific in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Pascal Rüegg has been named chief operating officer, hotels for the FTI Group. He joins FTI from Accor, where he was vice president, operations, for Switzerland and Germany. At Accor, where he worked for four years, he was responsible for 35 Accor properties. Previously, he was general manager of Mövenpick Hotel Zürich Regensdorf.
Colm Lacy and Tom Stevens have moved up from their interim positions at British Airways, which they held during the global pandemic, to the roles of chief commercial officer and director of brand and customer experience respectively. Both have now been confirmed in their positions. Lacy started working for British Airways in 1997 as a finance analyst, since then holding a number of finance and commercial positions. Stevens joined British Airways on the graduate program in 2011, initially working in the procurement team before moving to customer and operational roles. Both have been on the management committee since 2021 and will continue to lead the airline’s digital-first, customer-centric strategy to ensure the airline delivers for its customers as it moves out of the pandemic.
Sabrina Salgado has been senior manager of brand strategy and communication for the Latam Group, reporting directly to the group’s vice president of sales and branding, Andreas Schek. Salgado, who was previously senior manager of brand communication at Latam Brasil between 2019 and 2021, returns to occupy the position of Alexandra Vila Ramirez, who recently left the company. Salgado is an advertising professional with a postgraduate degree in International Business and an MBA in business management. She has worked in marketing, branding, communication, branded content and live experience for several companies, including Grupo RBS, Grupo Globo, WarnerMedia and Record.
Zane Harrington has been named marketing and communication manager at Perot Museum of Nature and Science. He joins the attraction from Visit Dallas—a Dallas Delivers where he was communications manager and where he spent five years.
Phil Gardner has left the tourism business and Thomas Cook, where he was chief commercial officers and has replaced in the role by head of ancillaries and financial services David Scott. Gardner has been with the online business since it launched in in the wake of the Fosun Tourism Group’s acquisition of the Thomas Cook brand following the latter’s collapse in September 2019. Fosun acquired Cook’s digital assets in November 2019. Gardner left to join “a new venture.” Gardner worked as head of sales, e-commerce and marketing at Thomas Cook. Scott, formerly the OTA’s head of ancillaries and financial services, joined the business in December 2019. He will now oversee the company’s expanding commercial and contracting team as the business builds relationships with hoteliers, destination management companies and ancillary providers.
The Fort Wayne Convention and Visitors Bureau has hired Jill Boggs as president and chief executive officer. She most recently held the roles of CEO at the Kosciusko County Convention and Visitors Bureau and also assistant vice president of university marketing and communications at Trine University.
Amy Cannon has rejoined the Student & Youth Travel Association (SYTA) as director of communications and membership. Cannon, whose professional career has involved tenures at organizations and associations in the areas of member relations, marketing and more, previously served as SYTA as senior manager, member relations from 2010-2014.
New York City-based data analytics company Curacity, which serves the travel industry by driving direct bookings to hotels and resorts via trusted publishers and Instagram creators, has announced the appointment of Claire Hathaway as chief sales officer. Previously, Hathaway spent four years with Triptease, a UK-based tech outfit in the hospitality sphere, where as Vice President of Strategic Accounts helped the company expand globally by building strategic partnerships on an international scale. She also did a five-year turn with Jetsetter, the curated online travel marketplace.
Jon Mamela has joined Travel Alberta as senior vice president, chief commercial officer, leading tourism and destination development, effective March 14, 2022. Jon Mamela brings a unique blend of public and private experience in the tourism and hospitality industry. He comes to Travel Alberta from Destination Toronto, where, as executive vice president & chief marketing officer, he worked with government and industry groups to promote the city. Prior to that, Mamela was chief marketing officer & senior vice president, marketing & sales at Destination Canada.
Destinations International has announced the appointment of Gretchen Hall as its chief operating officer, effective April 1, 2022. Hall is currently the president and CEO of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Natalie Hernandez has been named vice president of activity partnerships for Xplorie. She joins the company from the Expedia Group, where she was senior key account manager, strategic partnerships. Hernandez spent almost three-and-a-half years at Expedia. Prior to that, she was director of sales at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City.
Coastal Mississippi has appointed Judy Young to the role of executive director for the coastal tri-county destination marketing organization. Young brings more than 20 years of experience in tourism program design, product development, marketing direction, convention and leisure sales, logistics and supplier management, department administration, and advocacy with the Greater New Braunfels (Texas) Chamber of Commerce and most recently as the vice president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau in New Braunfels, Texas. Young succeeds Milton Segarra, who resigned in October 2021.
Conrado Ventura recently left his position at Hotelbeds, where he was contracting manager-Los Angeles/Coastal & Northern California, and where he spent more than a decade, to join The Hotels Network as a market manager. He now works out of Orlando.
The American L.G.B.T.Q+ Museum has found its first executive director—Ben Garcia, previously the deputy executive director and chief learning officer of the Ohio History Connection. At the Ohio History Connection, a statewide history organization, Garcia managed more than 50 museums and historic sites, the state archives and the state historic preservation office. Before that, he worked as the deputy director at the Museum of Us in San Diego and head of interpretation and operations at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology in Berkely, California. The American L.G.B.T.Q.+ Museum, which will share space with the New-York Historical Society, will be the first museum dedicated to L.G.B.T.Q. history and culture in the city.
Jorge Rodriques, a long-time veteran of the tourism industry in Brazil, recently joined the TBO Holidays team headed up by Ana Vainstein, the Miami-based director of Larin America for TBO Holidays. Rodriques, according to the news portal PANROTAS, will serve as senior international destination specialist for Latin America. Previously, he was a partner at the AIT tour operator, where he spent nearly 20 years.
Santa Monica Travel & Tourism has appointed Pulse Travel Marketing as its new in-market representative. Sana Keller, managing partner and public relations director at Toronto-based Pulse Travel Marketing, says the agency will work with the Santa Monica Travel & Tourism team to increase brand awareness and ensure that this prime Southern California destination is prominently positioned with the travel trade, and key distribution media channels across Canada. Canada is a vital market for Santa Monica tourism and is in the top three countries for international visitors to our community, says Misti Kerns, President and CEO of Santa Monica Travel & Tourism.
Jeff Lanzarotta has been named director of sales and business development for Keytours Vacations, which is based in northern Virginia in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. He joins the company from Kempinski Hotels, where he was director of global leisure sales. Previously, he spent more than 16 years with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., lastly as director of global leisure & luxury sales.
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Job Postings
From SearchWide Global:
—Visit Seattle is searching for a new president and CEO. More details here.
—Conference Direct, a provider of global meeting planning solutions, is searching for vice president of global sales. More details here.
—Meet Minneapolis has an opening for a vice president of equity, diversity and inclusion. More details here.
—The Tennessee Hospitality Association is looking for an executive director. More details here.
—The South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau is seeking a new CVB director. More details here.
—The Cincinnati USA Convention and Visitors Bureau is seeking a new chief financial officer. More details here.
—Destinations International is looking for a manager of meetings and events. More details here.
—Visit El Paso is searching for a director of marketing and communications. More details here.
—The Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau has an opening for the position of vice president. More details here.
—A world-wide hospitality group is looking for an executive director of hotel sales & marketing a position that would be based in San Francisco, Toronto or remotely. More details here.
—Visit Greater Palm Springs has an opening for a vice president of sales. More details here.
—Visit Denver is seeking to hire a new vice president of tourism. More details here.
—The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau has an opening for a director of marketing. More details here.
—Visit Dana Point is looking for an 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
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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.
—Snowmass Village in Colorado is looking for a tourism manager. It’s a new position, focused on operations and management of the Snowmass Tourism office. More details here.
—Visit Denver, The Convention & Visitors Bureau for Denver, is looking for a director of government and community affairs. More details here.
—The Museum of Science in Boston is searching for a group and tourism coordinator. More details here.
—Travel Oregon is looking for a destination development program manager. Salary $75,400 to $86,707 a year. More details here.
—Amazon Web Services is searching for a head of travel & hospitality industry marketing. Located in Seattle. 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.
—Visit Anaheim has an opening for a sales & tourism coordinator. More details here.
—Mid Atlantic Tours & Receptive Services has an opening for a tour planner-group travel & tourism. More details here.
—The City of Virginia Beach has an opening for a convention and tourism representative. More details here.
—There is an opening for a sports tourism assistant at the City of Myrtle Beach. 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
