Garry White has been appointed as the new CEO of European Cities Marketing. He will take up office in March 2012 when Dr John Heeley will step down as the incumbent interim and part-time CEO. The ECM Spring Meeting in St. Petersburg (28th – 31st March 2012) will therefore be the first one that Garry will attend as the new and full-time CEO of the Association.
Garry studied hotel and catering management at the University of Strathclyde, and pursued a career in hotel management before joining Visit Britain in 1989. There he has carried out the full gamut of destination marketing activities, including senior management roles in Europe, America and the Asia /Pacific/ Middle East /Africa regions. He is a successful and experienced destination marketer and – as we discovered at Bilbao – an accomplished speaker. He has served as a visiting professor to the tourism department of Strathclyde University, Glasgow.
Garry White says: “I am really thrilled to be given this opportunity to be a part of the ECM family. ECM impressed me immediately because of the underlying business model, the sense of collaboration, and the professionalism and commitment of the members and the ECM team based at Dijon. This is a really serious organisation with people striving for excellence.
After so many years actually living in European cities, notably London, Glasgow, Frankfurt, Berlin, Oslo, Helsinki and Stockholm, I have had the opportunity to visit just about every one of the ECM member cities. So I know first-hand that I will be working with a truly excellent product and I know that I can represent and market this with energy, conviction and passion. There is immense opportunity for city tourist offices and convention bureaux – not only in Europe but also BRIC markets and North America. For the past five years, I have been based in Asia working with 12 markets in APMEA and I know that European cities are on the wish list of both consumers and buyers. I believe we will be pushing on open doors…..”
