Experience Kissimmee Names President and CEO
Posted On: August 19, 2014 By :Dana Troy “D.T.” Minich has been named president and CEO of Experience Kissimmee in Florida. Minich previously served as executive director at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau in Clearwater, Florida.
“We are extremely excited to welcome D.T. to his new position with our organization,” said Mark McHugh, chairman of the Experience Kissimmee board of directors. “He brings the background, experience and visionary leadership we know will propel our destination marketing efforts and the Experience Kissimmee staff to higher levels of success.”
Tracy Ward has been serving as interim executive director of the organization and will continue in a leadership role with the CVB following the transition.
In addition, Osceola County commissioners have adopted a contract to privatize tourism promotion, which would empower a newly formed not-for-profit organization to market the area to travelers from around the world. Under the formalized contract, Experience Kissimmee will cease operating as a department of the Osceola County government when the new fiscal year begins on October 1.
“This vote reaffirms our commitment to Osceola County tourism and to the thousands of citizens whose livelihoods bank on the success of tourism,” said Fred Hawkins, Jr., Osceola County commission chairman. “What we’ve done is given Experience Kissimmee the freedom to be more entrepreneurial and to capitalize on sales and marketing opportunities without having to process requests through our governmental channels.”
Experience Kissimmee reports approximately 7 million visitors stay overnight in Osceola County accommodations each year and that direct visitor spending pumps $2 billion into the local economy.
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