Lynn Bruni-Perkins has been named executive vice president and chief marketing officer of San Francisco Travel. A veteran of more than 15 years with the organization, she most recently service as senior vice president, global marketing communications. “She is a leader who will take our marketing to new heights and continue to hasten the recovery of tourism business to the San Francisco Bay Area,” said San Francisco Travel President & CEO Joe D’Allesandro.
SFA, the entity that owns and operates Saks Fifth Avenue stores, has appointed Kathleen Shea to the newly created role of vice president, travel and tourism strategy. Shea brings a wealth of tourism industry knowledge, with more than 20 years of senior sales and marketing experience within luxury travel. Shea previously served as vice president of sales at SaksWorks, a flexible and elevated life and work spaces business. Prior to that, she held leadership roles at both the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and TAJ Hotels Resorts and Palaces
Camping World has announced the promotion of Brenda Wintrow to the role of senior vice president of field operations. Wintrow joined Camping World in 2007 as a business development manager and served in a variety of leadership roles during her tenure—such as regional director of business development, and national director of ecommerce. Her experience has led to executive roles such as vice president of sales and business development and most recently, senior vice president of sales and customer experience
Brand USA recently recruited Cat Reith for the post of senior director, partner marketing programs. She joined the organization from GutCheck, a Denver-based global online market research organization, where she was director, project management. She also spent ten years at Phocuswright, a global travel market research company, where she oversaw custom and special projects, including projects for Brand USA.
Visit Albuquerque has welcomed Scott Craighead, a veteran of more than two decades in the field of association management, as its new vice president of sales, services and sports. Craighead comes to the role from his position as vice president of exhibitions and events, at the International Association of Exhibitions and Events. He also brings extensive experience working with destination marketing organizations and has implemented many event- and marketplace-related initiatives. In his new role at Visit Albuquerque, Craighead will oversee the sales, services and sports division, responsible for generating qualified meeting, convention, sports and group tour leads.
Melinda “Mindy” Meade Meyers has been selected by the National Park Hospitality Association (NPHA) as the organization’s new executive director. NPHA represents businesses key to great park experiences by more than 100 million national park visitors annually, providing National Park Service-approved and supervised services that include lodging, food, transportation, retail and recreation and guiding services in more than 100 park units.
Ian Simkins, a former head of Audley Travel, has been named as chair of Saga’s cruise operation. Simkins was previously chair of luxury villa specialist The Thinking Traveller and the Inside Travel Group which specializes in tailor-made trips to Japan and Asia.
Rob Greyber has been appointed chief executive of Vacasa, a leading North American vacation rental management platform. He comes to the job with 20 years of experience building and leading companies in the travel and technology industries. He recently served as president of Egencia, a corporate travel business previously owned by Expedia Group. Greyber is succeeding current CEO Matt Roberts in a succession planning process that commenced earlier this year.
Delaware Secretary of State Jeff Bullock recently that announced Jessica Welch will lead the Delaware Tourism Office. Welch most recently served as communications director of the Delaware Division of Small Business. Her resumé also notes that she was a reporter for Delaware State News.
Kristina Miranda has been named vice president, national accounts, for Collette. She comes to her new role from The Travel Corporation (TTC), where she was vice president of national accounts, North America/TTC Tour Brands.
Apple Leisure Group (ALG), a well-known North American resort brand management, leisure travel and hospitality group, part of Hyatt, has announced the appointment of Sergio Rascón as vice president of development. Based in Mexico City, Rascón leverages over 20 years of professional experience in the real estate financial services and investment management industries. He now becomes part of the ALG Development team, which operates in the U.S. from the company’s headquarters in Newtown Square, Penn. and Miami, Fla., as well as in-country throughout the world.
Ashleigh Bachert has been named vice president of tourism operations at Tulsa Regional Tourism / Visit Tulsa. She came to Tulsa in 2020. Previously, she was executive director of the Durham Sports Commission in North Carolina. Prior to that, she was executive director of the Jacksonville-Onslow Sports Commission.
Tauck, the widely known escorted tours spedcialist, has reappointed Tom Dumbrell as national account manager for UK and Ireland. Dumbrell first joined the Tauck team in January 2020, but was laid off four months later during the first COVID lockdown. “Tauck is a family-owned company with nearly 100 years of experience and journeys across seven continents in 100 different destinations, offering unique, exclusive access and closer connections,” said Dumbrell. “I’m delighted to be back. I look forward to connecting with those with existing Tauck business.” During his two or so years away from the business, Dumbrell found time to write a series of books, entitled the Pillars of Peace Trilogy.
Hotelbeds has announced the appointment of Pippa Williamson as its new vice president, commercial, for APAC. Based in Hong Kong, she will lead all core commercial activities across the region while growing the relationships with Hotelbeds’ suppliers and clients across APAC. Williamson has had an extensive career in the APAC hospitality sector. With almost twenty years of experience in standout commercial leadership positions, She has worked with some of the world’s leading hotel companies like Marriot, Starwood Hotels, and most recently, Shangri-la.
Zeek Coleman is departing ADARA Inc., where he was head of marketing—tourism and hospitality, to join the team at Tourism Economics as vice president, Americas. Prior to his tenure at ADARA, Coleman was director of data intelligence at Visit Savannah, where he served for more than ten-and-a-half years.
NYC & Company has announced that Tiffany Townsend has been appointed executive vice president, global communications. Townsend rejoins NYC & Company after a decade working across leading private and public sector organizations; she will oversee the domestic and international communications teams as well as corporate communications and crisis communications in her new role. Townsend comes to NYC & Company from the Biden-Harris administration, where she served as a senior advisor with the U.S. Small Business Administration in the Office of Government Contracting & Business Development. She has formerly held positions at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the New York City Council, the New York Wheel, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She previously worked for NYC & Company from 2007–2012, most recently as vice president, communications & government affairs.
Following are tour and travel industry jobs as posted by the recruiting firm, Searchwide Global. For more information, go their site, Searchwideglobal.com and click on JOBS.
- CEO, Society for Incentive Travel Excellence
- General manager, Charlotte Convention Center
- Vice president of enterprise sales, American Society of Association Executives
- Director of communications, Santa Monica Travel & Toursim
- Sales manager, Sage Hospitality Group
- Senior vice president of community engagement & public affairs, Visit Seattle
- Northeast director of sales, Luxury Hospitality Global Group Sales Organization
- Senior director of human resources & culture, Destinations International
- Vice president, business development, Explore Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau
- President & CEO, Springfield (Mo) Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Executive director, Explore Sisters, The Gateway to the Cascades
- National sales manager, Experience Scottsdale
- Executive director, Explore Butte County
- President & CEO, Fredericksburg CVB, Texas Hill Country
- Senior vice president, integrated marketing, Brand USA
- Executive director, Downtown Vacaville
- Chief marketing officer, Visit Williamsburg
- Executive director, Visit Walla Walla
- Director of the Film & Creative Industries Office, Visit Dallas
- President & CEO, Visit Bath (Virginia)
- Executive director, Pacific County Tourism Bureau
- Director of group sales, Visit Vancouver WA
- General manager, Los Angeles Convention Center
- Chief executive officer, Discover Santa Clara™
- Vice president of sales, Bermuda Tourism Authority
- General manager, Moscone Center, San Francisco
- President and CEO, VisitGreenVilleSC
- Vice president of sales, Visit Wichita
Readers might want to check out the linkedin site for jobs. There are usually hundreds of job descriptions and links, which are updated regularly. Some samples of jobs include these:
- Director of Market Research Meet Minneapolis
- Remote Vacation Specialist Travel Adventure Solutions
- Adventure Guide, Adventures by Disney Disney Parks, Experiences and Products
- Remote Travel Coordinator My Magical Travels
- Senior Marketing Manager LEGOLAND Florida Resort
Check out TheTravelVertical. Hundreds of jobs largely having to do with travel and tourism leadership positions, or in the digital side of the industry, can be found in this sister publication of the INBOUND Report.
