TravelAge West was in attendance at a dinner hosted by the Greater
Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau during CLIA’s
Cruise3Sixty show held in the city last month. Included in the
group is TAW Cruise Editor Ana Figueroa (first row, fifth from
left), Nicki Grossman, president of the visitors bureau (center
front, next to Figueroa), Robert Sharak, CLIA’s Executive VP and
CMO (behind Figueroa) and Ken Shapiro, TAW Editor-in-Chief (front
row, far right).
West Receives NTA Pioneer Award
The late Charles “Chuck” West was the recipient of the inaugural
NTA Pioneer Award given by the National Tour Association (NTA)
during the 2006 NTA Spring Meet in Louisville, Ky.
West was the founder of Alaska’s first tour company, Arctic
Alaska Tours, in the late ’40s and Alaska’s first all-tourist hotel
chain, motorcoach network and Inside Passage cruise line.
Dubbed “Mr. Alaska” by his peers, West was the pioneer of
marketing North Country packages.
His son, Dick West, received the award on his father’s
behalf.
Rose Awarded GM of the Year
Marriott International awarded Jim Rose, general manager of the JW
Marriott Las Vegas & Spa the General Manager of the Year award
to celebrate his loyalty to Marriott for more than 37 years.
Before joining the Las Vegas crew, Rose was Marriott’s general
manager for the Scottsdale Region, overseeing 10 properties. He has
also served as resident manager at the Maui Marriott and director
of marketing for the Los Angeles Airport Marriott and Chicago
Marriott O’Hare.
NBCVB Chooses Sherwin
The Executive Board of the Newport Beach Conference & Visitors
Bureau chose Gary Sherwin as the Bureau’s new president and CEO.
Sherwin has 20 years of experience in destination marketing,
sales, public relations and community relations within the CVB
industry.
As a board member and co-chair of the Government Affairs
Committee for the California Travel Industry Association, Sherwin
lectures and is co-author of the book “Destination
BrandScience.”
Presutti Makes History
Presutti Makes History
Anna Marie Presutti was promoted to vice president and general
manager of Hotel Nikko (U.S.A.) and Hotel Nikko San Francisco.
Previously serving as vice president of sales and marketing,
Presutti is the first woman to serve as vice president and general
manager in the history of the hotel chain. Before working for
Nikko, Presutti was area director of sales and marketing for
Kimpton Boutique Hotels in San Francisco.
