These Are the Leadership Award Honorees for the 2023 TravelAge West WAVE Awards

Each year, as part of the WAVE Awards, TravelAge West honors standout leaders who have made significant contributions to the travel industry over the course of their careers. Here are the three Leadership Award recipients for 2023. 

Rodrigo Esponda Cascajares, Los Cabos Tourism Board 

Strategic planning, crisis management, destination marketing, public relations, sales, event planning … these are just a few of the skills Rodrigo Esponda Cascajares has honed over his 20-plus years in the travel industry. Add to that varied skillset his outstanding leadership as managing director of the Los Cabos Tourism Board, and you will start to see why TravelAge West chose him as a recipient of this year’s Excellence in Leadership Award.

Since 2016, Esponda has led the marketing, communications and branding efforts for the Los Cabos Tourism Board. He previously spent 16 years at the Mexico Tourism Board, in positions including regional director for North America; director, Canada; and director, Midwest USA. As regional director for North America during his last four years with the organization, he linked major tour operators, airlines and travel agencies as part of efforts to coordinate Mexico’s promotional efforts in both the U.S. and Canada.

Esponda’s distinguished career has also included working for the National Trust Fund for Development. He has also shared his vast knowledge of the industry with upcoming generations by serving as a professor of tourism planning at New York University.

“It is with great honor and humility that I accept this award and acknowledge the immense privilege I have had in promoting Mexico, and specifically Los Cabos, on an international scale,” Esponda said. “Throughout my career, I have strived to serve as a builder, playing a crucial role in the advancement and growth of the travel industry as a powerful economic engine for our beloved destination. It has been a privilege to witness firsthand the transformative impact that travel and tourism can have on communities, both socially and economically. I firmly believe that seeing our communities prosper and flourish will be the ultimate accomplishment of my life.”

Michele Saegesser, Viking

After 44 years in tourism and a career that has included some of the industry’s most recognizable brands, along with her own initiatives, it’s safe to say that Michele Saegesser has earned her reputation as a leader in travel — not to mention the well-deserved honor of a TravelAge West Excellence in Leadership Award.

Saegesser started her career with Disneyland Resort before moving on to Princess Cruises. In fact, in the 1980s, she worked onboard the “real” Love Boat, the Pacific Princess.

“Those were incredible times in the cruise industry,” Saegesser said.“Everything was possible. Being based on the Pacific Princess had its perks, including a gown allowance — $1,200 per month to buy gowns for hosting dinner tables. I’m pretty sure no one in the industry has that kind of perk anymore.”

Other career highlights for Saegesser include being the first U.S. representative for train operator Rocky Mountaineer, which led her to start her own business specializing in luxury trains.

Small-ship cruising was later added to her business portfolio, and along came a little unknown line called Viking River Cruises. Her resulting 20 years with Viking have included two years living in Sydney while opening the first Viking office in Australia, and her current role as vice president of sales and national accounts for the company.

“When I started with Viking, none of us had any idea how to sell river cruising in the U.S.,” she said. “Viking had about 12 ships when I joined. And look at us now.”

Scott Koepf, Cruise Planners

If you don’t know Scott Koepf, you’re probably new to the travel industry in the West. With almost 40 years in retail travel, Koepf is an experienced industry veteran and a fitting recipient of this year’s Excellence in Leadership Award.
Koepf is chief strategy officer at Cruise Planners, one of the largest and most-awarded travel companies in North America. His previous experience includes executive roles at Avoya Travel and the National Association of Career Travel Agents. He also had positions at Sabre Holdings and Nexion.

Koepf and Pam, his wife of almost 40 years, started in the travel business when they opened the fifth Cruise Holidays franchise in 1985. In 1989, he became president of Cruise Holidays International.

Koepf is also a motivational speaker who has focused on helping travel advisors reach their goals. For more than 20 years, he trained every Master Cruise Counselor in Australia and New Zealand through an annual program he conducted with Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia. He was recently presented with a lifetime achievement award and inducted into the CLIA Hall of Fame. 

Among other distinctions, Koepf is also known as “the Sales Coach” and, due to his passion for musical theater, the “Singing Salesman.” 

Koepf and Pam now live in Temecula, Calif., where they enjoy the company of their three daughters and their husbands, as well as four grandchildren.

“I am honored and so grateful for the Leadership Award presented at one of my favorite annual events, the WAVE Awards,” Koepf said. “I am blessed to have spent almost my entire career in the travel industry, and I have always been driven to advocate for travel advisors. I am just giddy to receive this recognition for what I love to do.”