Media Alert

Ohio Travel Association elects 2007 President and Board of Trustees

COLUMBUS, OHIO - The Ohio Travel Association (OTA) recently inducted Melinda Huntley, Executive Director for the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail, as the new Ohio Travel Association Board President during the final day of Ohio Travel Association’s Annual Conference on Tourism in Toledo . Huntley succeeds Larry Fletcher of Ottawa County Visitors Bureau.

Huntley began her career in 1986 at Cedar Point in Sandusky where she helped coordinate the theme park giant’s public relations campaigns resulting in more than 60 national stories on “CBS This Evening,” “Entertainment Tonight,” as well as the New York Times, Newsweek and more.

Over the course of Huntley’s 20-year career in tourism she has secured numerous grants to protect, promote and educate others about tourism and Ohio ’s natural resources. She is the founder of Lake Erie Wing Watch, a not-for-profit organization of tourism and wildlife specialists to promote bird watching in a three-county shoreline region. In 2005, she worked to get Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail designated as a National Scenic Byway through the Federal Highway Administration.

As Executive Director of Ottawa County Visitors Bureau, Huntley established the Lake Erie Islands Regional Welcome Center , a $2.7 million center involving public and private partnerships.

Huntley is one of the many Ohio residents who have made their careers in tourism, the third largest industry in Ohio .

“Tourism IS about jobs, 560,000 of them,” says Huntley. “Tourism is also about letting others know that Ohio is a great place to live, play and work. In today’s New Economy, more and more business owners seek locations that offer their employees a high quality of life.”

During Ohio Travel Association’s Annual Conference, October 11-13, 2006 , the following board members were elected to the Executive Board: Tim Walsh, Cedar Point Director of Marketing was elected Secretary; Michelle Doyle, Toledo Zoo Group Sales Manager, and Lute Harmon Jr, Ohio Magazine publisher, were elected to serve on the Executive Board as representatives of the Northwest and Northeast Ohio regions.

Members elected to serve on the Board of Trustees include: Northeast representative Virgil Lengel, Lakefront Lines Sales Manager; Central representative Karen Eylon, Gahanna CVB Executive Director; Southeast representative Kelly Dyar, Marietta/Washington County CVB Executive Director; Southwest representative Mark Schutte, Northern Cincinnati CVB Executive Director; At-Large representatives Tom Hampton, Creative Coach Owner/Operator and Randie Adam, Hocking Hills Tourism Association Executive Director. Board members are elected at OTA’s Annual Conference on Tourism and serve three-year terms.

Founded in 1976, the Ohio Travel Association is the largest travel and tourism trade association in Ohio . It leads the tourism industry—the third-largest industry in Ohio —with legislative representation and professional development opportunities. OTA’s nearly 700 members include hotels, restaurants, attractions, convention and visitors bureaus and tour companies. For more information go to http://www.ohiotravel.org.

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