In this episode, you’ll learn about how to stand out in a crowded market from choco-preneur, Ryan Novak.
Ryan is the owner of Chocolate Pizza Company, central New York’s largest gourmet chocolate manufacturer. Starting as a dishwasher when he was 15 years old, Ryan had a vision to grow the business into a national brand. In 2010, at age 21, he became the owner, and has seen the company grow dramatically.
He is a graduate of Syracuse University, with a bachelor’s in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises, and was a placekicker for the Orange football team. Novak is a 40 under 40 award recipient, and his company was selected by Centerstate CEO as business of the year in 2016, for companies under 50 employees. He lives in Marcellus with his wife, Christy, and enjoys travel, history and running.
A full transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/ryan-novak/
In this episode, you’ll learn what’s so great about Britain, and how guest Gavin Landry targets potential visitors by tapping into what they love about travel.
Gavin Landry serves as Executive Vice President for the Americas for VisitBritain. Gavin has a strong background in business and leisure tourism and has held several senior posts in the industry. Prior to joining VisitBritain, Gavin worked for New York State, where he was Executive Director of Tourism, having led the iconic I Love New York program, and where he developed and implemented strategies to support the growth of the tourism industry.
During his tenure at I Love New York, Gavin, and his team increased visitation to New York State by 40 million and set a program record the total economic impact of $100 million.
A full transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/gavin-landry-encore/
In this episode, you will learn about how the Bronx is growing into a global tourism destination in its own right.
Olga Luz Tirado is the executive director of the Bronx Tourism Council, a division of the Bronx overall economic development corporation. In this capacity, she plays a significant role in creating a cohesive and symbiotic relationship between arts, culture and economic development while rebranding the Bronx, its rich history, institutions and diversity to a local, national and global audience. Since joining the BTC in 2012, Olga has developed and implemented a comprehensive and integrated marketing strategy by incorporating design thinking methodology into the overall planning process. She has spearheaded a successful campaign to increase the borough’s exposure within international travel guides, media and tour operators, utilizing a variety of marketing channels, including aggressive public relations outreach, van tours, digital content development and social media.
Within one year of her appointment, tourism in the borough increased 14%. She serves as the official spokesperson of tourism for the borough, appearing on the cover of the August 2012 issue of Crane’s New York Business, and has been interviewed by various top-tier national and overseas broadcast, digital and print media. Olga is the recipient of several awards, and was most recently named one of the top 25 influencers in the Bronx by City and State Magazine.
A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/olga-luz-tirado/
In this episode, you will learn about using technology to develop a more engaging immersive creative from Julie Gilbert.
Julie Gilbert is Vice President of Marketing and Brand Management for Destination Niagara USA where she leads the organization’s marketing, communications, and brand management functions to increase the visibility of Niagara and its assets as a leisure and meetings destination.
With 25 years of tourism marketing experience, Julie joined Destination Niagara USA in 2014 and directed the initiative of repositioning the globally recognized Niagara Falls USA brand.
Previously, Julie served as Director of Sales and Marketing for National Park Reservations, the oldest and largest provider of reservation and information services for national parks and gateway communities.
Julie started her career as Executive Director for Charleston CVB in West Virginia, then became Director of Sales and Marketing for the State of West Virginia. Julie then established a full service travel, tourism, and hospitality agency providing strategic marketing, sales, and management services to a wide range of travel-related companies.
Julie has a Bachelor of Science in Business and Management Studies from the University of Maryland and holds her CTP (Certified Travel Professional) designation from the National Tour Association.
She is currently working on her CDME (Certified Destination Marketing Executive) designation through Destinations International. Julie currently serves on the board of TTRA, Travel and Tourism Research Association, and has just accepted an invitation from Destinations International to serve on the Destination International Foundation Research Advisory Task Force.
A transcript of this episode is available here: http://destinationontheleft.com/julie-gilbert/