Inge Morascini and Krista Loercher
Embrace Whidbey and Camano Islands makes two appointments to its creative team. These professionals will lead the county’s approach to regenerative tourism, supporting the local community while providing meaningful experiences for visitors.
Morascini, who has sat on the board of Island County tourism since 2016, takes on the role of marketing and public relations director. She will represent the DMO at the county, state and national levels by acting as spokesperson. She will also lead all marketing efforts and oversee the county’s implementation of its regenerative tourism approach. Morascini brings experience in both corporate and agency marketing and brings with her a passion for writing, art and the environment.
Loercher will fill the role of embrace program manager, in which she will engage the community, businesses, nonprofits and government in the principles of regenerative tourism. She sees park and recreation facilities and programs as a way for people and communities to thrive. As the owner and operator of Whidbey Island Kayaking, she has been supporting people in experiencing the Salish Sea in safe, fun and active ways for almost ten years. She was also recently re-elected to her second term as South Whidbey Park and Recreation District Commissioner.
Brennan Bastyovansky
Bastyovansky will serve as general manager of sales and marketing for World Travel Protection (WTP). He brings an extensive background in travel risk management, with experience in business growth, strategic development and building lasting relationships with customers and partners. He will lead the team to monitor market trends, to develop sales strategies and campaigns for key market segments and to strengthen client relationships.
Mary Silvester
The Islands of Islamorada, an oceanfront residential style resort in the upper Florida Keys, appoints Silvester to the newly created coastal concierge role. Through close collaboration with Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), Silvester will create educational ocean experiences and tours tailored to guests’ interests and passions. Her role sets an important precedent for valuable ocean education and immersive marine life exploration excursions designed to prioritize preservation and protection of marine environments around the world.
Bree DiBernardo
The Gant promotes DiBernardo to the position of director of sales. Following her addition to the team as reservations agent in 2020, DiBernardo quickly rose through to the roles of event manager, then sales manager, before her most recent role as senior sales manager. She has spent many years in the luxury resort market, especially at ski and mountain properties. She will now lead the Aspen resort’s sales efforts and strategic initiatives.
LyLy Nguyen
Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) promotes Nguyen to the role of data and analytics manager. She joined ACVB in 2022 as a data and reporting specialist to assist with updating and refreshing reports. She now sees greater responsibility over the coordination and execution of ACVB’s strategies for managing and analyzing data and will work on an expanded range of data sources and analytics tools to share with ACVB’s partners.
Braeden Beckstrand
Beckstrand joins Visit Salt Lake as national sales manager. He will pursue meetings with 200-2,000 attendees from organizations based in Arizona, New Mexico and the upper Midwest. He spent six years as group sales manager at Hotel Monaco, handling largely corporate, sports and traveling entertainment markets. In recent years, he has served as sales account manager for Topgolf, where he handled up to 25 events per day.
Darrell Stark
Noble House Hotels & Resorts promotes Stark to the role of vice president of revenue strategy and sales, in which he will use a solutions-driven approach to achieve revenue growth. He brings over three decades of experience, with roles from reservations to hotel management. He has established expertise in revenue strategy, sales, distribution and e-commerce and a skill set encompassing data collection and analysis, owner engagement and team member motivation.
Tammy McCormick
McCormick will serve as director of destination experience as Visit Orlando. She brings 22 years of experience in the events services industry, most recently serving as national director of creative for ACCESS Destination Services. She will now lead the Visit Orlando Destination Experience team to elevate engagement with clients and further enhance their customer experience as they plan an execute meetings and conferences in Orlando.
Justin Wilson
Wilson takes on the role of general manager at MacArthur Place Hotel & Spa. He brings over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry to his new role, in which he will oversee operations, team culture, branding, strategy and community engagement. He has held impactful leadership roles at award-winning hotels, serving as director of operations at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa and as food & beverage director at both Sanctuary Camelback Mountain and Rancho Valencia.
Joern Schwaiger
The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, Auberge Resorts Collection appoints Schwaiger as general manager. He brings over 20 years of luxury hospitality experience to his new role, in which he will oversee all operations for the 6.5 acre property, a historic landmark turned luxury destination. He brings immense passion for hospitality and different cultures, and has worked in the Middle East and Asia in addition to North America.
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