TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Opportunity pries
Preece from paradiseDavid Preece will soon leave sunny Hawaii for a place nearly 5,000 miles away and 17 miles from a large body of salty water.
"Does it get cold there? They didn't tell me," joked Preece, vice president for North American marketing for the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau.
He's heading for Wellesley, Mass., to serve as president and chief executive officer of the Institute of Certified Travel Agents, effective May 5.
The nonprofit institute offers educational programs and certifications for travel agents around the world. Without a chief for more than a year, its board of directors recently completed two years of work toward retooling for the future.
The new strategy "evolves the best of the organization in order to address the dramatically altered landscape of our industry," Chairman Matthew Upchurch said. "David is the best person to lead us in this new direction at a speed not attainable without such leadership."
Preece doesn't want anybody reading something into his departure that he says doesn't exist.
"It's important to know that my learning about this job and my departure from HVCB are totally unrelated to all the stuff that's swirling around the HVCB and contracts," he said.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority recently put out for bid a four-year marketing contract for 2004 to 2007. HVCB has the current contract.
"The timing is coincidental," he said. "I'm very confident that the bureau is going to have the opportunity to keep doing what it does so well."
Preece's last day with HVCB is April 18, proposals are due April 28, and "I'll still be working on that with them," he said.
Preece joined HVCB in January 1995 and recalled three favorite accomplishments.
"I think overall we were able to establish a more sophisticated and competitive marketing approach," he said. As an umbrella concept, viewing and marketing Hawaii as a brand used his pre-island background in brand management for the consumer packaged goods industry.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com