Tourism Calgary revamps board

Tourism Calgary, a multimillion-dollar marketing agency, voted out its complete board of directors composing of 22 members and restructured its operations.

A new board was voted comprising of 11 members; six out of the 11 members have no direct affiliations with the industry. Also, none of the prior board members were re-voted to the new board.

This move has occurred following months of allegations and squabbling of vested interests declaring the organisation, which was commonly known for its feeble Internet presence than for its victories at events like the WorldSkills competition.

George Brookman, a famous Calgary businessman, will chair the reorganised agency. He said that the past board was too huge with too many people. He added that his initial two goals will be to overhaul the website which would cost about $1 million and look for a new Chief Executive Officer.

During their annual meeting, the members of Tourism Calgary approved the hand-picked nominees chosen by Brookman. Among the members of the new board are communications specialist Maureen Payne, lawyer and executive recruiter Adam Pekarsky, consultant Janet Salopek, property expert Larry Ryder, and Dan Pigeon from Pengrowth Energy Trust.

In the previous years, Tourism Calgary was beset by critiques for its lack of sparkle, incompetence, and a lack of balanced account of city benefits.

Tourism Calgary is composed of 515 members who represent all facets of the industry of tourism, although it is strongly geared toward hospitality and hotels.