Travel industry veterans Randy Garfield of Disney and Mike Gallagher of CityPASS have been selected as the 2013 inductees into the U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders. Garfield and Gallagher will be honored during a dinner for more than 100 travel industry leaders during the U.S. Travel fall board meeting on November 21-22 at the Fairmont Washington, D.C.
Distinguished individuals are named to the Hall of Leaders maintained by the U.S. Travel Association for "sustained, noteworthy contributions that have positively impacted the travel industry, stimulated greater achievement, and raised industry-wide standards."
"Randy and Mike represent the best of travel businesses large and small in their never-ending commitment and engagement to advance travel and its vast benefits," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. "Beyond their leadership for two great success stories at Disney and CityPASS, they have volunteered their time to regularly engage with policymakers and other industry leaders to ensure travel is recognized as vital to our economy and well-being. This is well-deserved recognition, and I look forward to joining the rest of the travel community in honoring them."
Garfield, executive vice president of Worldwide Sales and Travel Operations for Disney Destinations and president of Walt Disney Travel Company, is in the fifth decade of a distinguished travel industry career, during which he has served as a passionate advocate for travel and tourism at the local, state and national levels. He has been a member of the U.S. Travel Association board of directors for more than 25 years and served as its national chair in 1997. As co-chair of its Leisure Travel Council, he has been instrumental in developing the recently launched Travel Effect campaign to promote the benefits of travel to policymakers, consumers and business leaders. He earlier helped develop the Meetings Mean Business campaign that promotes the value of business travel to the U.S. economy, U.S. Travel said.
Garfield played an instrumental role in advocating for creation and passage of the Travel Promotion Act and currently serves on the Brand USA board of directors.
Gallagher, who co-founded CityPASS with his friend and business partner Mike Morey, now serves as co-chairman for the attractions marketing company that packages discounted admission to a destination's top attractions into one easy-to-use pass. While expanding the CityPASS program to 11 North American destinations, Gallagher has remained engaged at the state and national levels to promote the value of travel and tourism. Just this past year, he volunteered his time as a loaned executive without pay for several months to help Brand USA in its efforts to promote America as a destination to travelers around the world. He, too, has been a longtime member of U.S. Travel's board of directors and has served on various committees. lso a founding commissioner of Visit California (formerly the California Travel and Tourism Commission) and served as chairman of the California Travel Industry Association in 1985 and 1995, according to the association.
With these inductions, 88 travel industry professionals have been inducted into the U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders since it was created in 1969. The 2012 inductees were journalist and CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg and Gary Sain, the late president and CEO of Visit Orlando.
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