Tourism Vancouver Welcomes New President and CEO

Tourism Vancouver’s Board Chair Bob Lindsay announced this week the appointment of Ty Speer as president and CEO of the 111-year-old destination marketing and management organization.

Speer joins Tourism Vancouver from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games where he was Deputy CEO before accepting this new role in Vancouver.

In a release issued by Tourism Vancouver, Lindsay noted that Speer’s proven business acumen from his experience in the private sector, as well as his strategic and operational responsibilities for major sporting events – including the Glasgow Games and the London Olympics – make him the clear choice for one of the world’s top tourism jobs.

Speer has extensive experience working with boards of directors, multi-levels of government, corporate sponsors and media. In his most recent role with the Commonwealth Games, he led a commercial program that exceeded some $168 million in revenues. For London 2012, his responsibilities included leading all client partnerships (55 sponsors) and managing commercial relationships with the British Olympic Association, the British Paralympic Association, and various public sector partners such as Greater London Authority, Visit London and UK Sport.

"We’re extremely fortunate to have secured the services of Ty whose extensive sales, marketing and senior international leadership background will help lead Tourism Vancouver through busy and challenging times in the years ahead," said Lindsay. "While we expect this year and next to be good performing tourism years for visitation and spending with major events like the Grey Cup (November 2014), FIFA Women’s World Cup (June/July 2015) and the TED conference (March 2015), we still have much work to do to build business and generate demand for our destination in these years and over the coming decade. Ty will play a leading strategic role in continuing to move us forward as a preferred visitor destination and as an internationally respected organization, in addition to working with the City of Vancouver to implement the Tourism Master Plan, among other initiatives."

Speer has also held senior positions with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, and Octagon (formerly Advantage International). A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he has a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University as well as a Graduate Diploma in Management and a Graduate Certificate in Management, both from the Australian Graduate School of Management in Sydney.

"I'm excited to join the team at Tourism Vancouver to build on the organization’s tremendous success to date and to work with the City, the Province and various stakeholders, including Destination BC, the Canadian Tourism Commission, the Hotel Association of Vancouver and our members and partners, in making Vancouver a must-visit destination for meeting planners, tour operators, consumers and travel journalists from key markets all over the world," said Speer. 

Speer will attend Tourism Vancouver’s Annual General Meeting on June 26 and formally take up his CEO responsibilities with Tourism Vancouver on July 14, 2014.