Unprecedented leadership positions with the U. S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, Destination Marketing Association International and the U.S. Travel Association makes New Orleans a top national player in the $770 billion American travel industry

Stephen Perry, President and CEO of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), is one of only two urban destination CEOs in the country selected by the Obama Administration to serve on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and advise U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Locke and the President of the United States on all key matters relating to national travel and tourism policy.

As a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, Perry will provide recommendations and expertise on all matters related to the travel industry, including air transportation, airport security, Homeland Security, visa issues and State Department matters, congressional issues and legislative matters, international marketing, business travel, conventions and meetings and national travel industry advocacy, national regulatory and tax matters among many others.

The nomination is a tremendous honor for New Orleans’ hospitality industry, as Perry is one of 29 hospitality industry CEOs appointed to serve on this board. It places him among other tourism luminaries such as David Kong, President and CEO of Best Western International; Richard H. Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines; Chuck Floyd, COO of Global Hyatt; John Sprouls, CEO of Universal Parks and Resorts; Jeremy Jacobs, Sr. Chairman and CEO of Delaware North; Adam Goldstein, President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International; Sam Gilliland, President and CEO of Sabre Holdings; Joseph Saunders, Chairman and CEO of VISA; and a number of others.

Rossi Ralenkotter, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, is the only other CEO of a major urban destination marketing organization chosen to serve on the advisory board with Perry.

Perry also served on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board in 2008 under the Bush Administration and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, and is one of only two members asked to continue service with the Obama Administration board.

In addition, Mr. Perry will ascend to the Chairman of the Board position this summer for Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), the international governing body of convention and visitor bureaus and continues to serve as an Executive Committee member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Travel Association, the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $770 billion travel industry. U.S. Travel’s mission is to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States, which puts New Orleans at the forefront of national travel and business policy and best practices.

Steve Pettus, Managing Partner of Dickie Brennan and Company and Chairman of the New Orleans CVB, said, “New Orleans has never before had this kind of representation at the top of all major national tourism and travel organizations. We are extremely proud of Stephen for successfully leading the revival of tourism in its most difficult time during Katrina and a national recession and now representing our destination on the international scene. His volunteer service on these three prominent boards will bring tremendous value to New Orleans’ tourism industry, now and in the future.”

Through Perry’s service, New Orleans now has unprecedented representation in national travel and tourism matters. Perry will not only have an opportunity to shape national travel policy, but to advance the cause of New Orleans, its assets, its attractiveness and value as a destination and as a center of best practices, and will afford him routine contact with some of the Crescent City’s most important customers and partners. Through his participation on these major panels, the New Orleans brand will be placed front and center in American tourism.

As the world’s largest resource for official destination marketing organizations (DMOs), with offices in North America and Europe, Destination Marketing Association International (www.destinationmarketing.org) is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of over 2,800 professionals from nearly 650 destination marketing organizations in over 30 countries.

Mr. Perry has served as a member of DMAI since 2002, a member of its Board of Directors since summer 2005, and in 2008 was unanimously nominated to become a member of its Executive Committee. After serving as Secretary-Treasurer and Chairman-elect, he will take over as Chairman of the Board of DMAI in July 2010.

In December 2009, the New Orleans CVB became one of only 101 destination marketing organizations in the world to receive accreditation from DMAI’s Destination Marketing Accreditation Program for attaining excellence and meeting rigorous industry standards for brand management, governance, stakeholder relationships, innovation and more.

The New Orleans CVB is the driving catalyst for New Orleans’ largest industry – tourism – strategically leading national and international marketing, public relations and visitor services efforts that attract millions of visitors, events, conventions and festivals. Consistently recognized as one of the top five CVBs in the country, the New Orleans CVB is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2010. For more information, please visit www.neworleanscvb.com.