BANGKOK, 22 October 2021: Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office’s executive director, Jens Thraenhart, has been named chief executive officer of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc effective 1 November.
Currently travelling in Europe, Thraenhart’s appointment was first published in Barbados Nation News on Friday.
After almost eight years heading the Mekong Region’s tourism office, his assignment comes to an end with the hosting of the two-day Destination Mekong Summit an online event that winds up today.
The MTCO oversees the tourism activities of the six-country Greater Mekong Subregion that covers Cambodia, two provinces in China (Yunnan and Guangxi), Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Thraenhart, a tourism veteran of 26 years, tendered his resignation from MTCO last July but continued to lead the organisation while it sourced a replacement executive director who has yet to be officially appointed by the six countries.
According to nationnews.com emerged as the top candidate for the BTMI post from an initial pool of 178 candidates, the organisation said in a press release.
“This announcement will usher in a new era for the organisation, one that will see the BTMI transition to a more commercial marketing enterprise which is reshaping its operations to better compete in the new pandemic era of global tourism,” the release stated.
During his almost eight years leading the MTCO, he created various award-winning campaigns and initiatives and created the private-sector tourism board Destination Mekong to foster public-private partnership collaboration.
BTMI chairman Roseanne Myers said the organisation had already done a great job of reopening markets and establishing trade relationships.
“We believe that coupled with Jens’ international tourism experience, proven track record in strategy execution and entrepreneurial perspectives, the BTMI will emerge from this period of the pandemic, a much stronger, high-performing destination marketing company that brings increased benefit to our industry and the wider economy,” she said.
“We undertook the challenge to find the best candidate for the CEO position to help shape the way forward, and we are exceptionally pleased to have done so, after a thorough and transparent process. We welcome Jens to the Barbados team.”
Twenty Barbadians and 27 from the wider Caribbean were among the 178 applicants. The search and selection process was undertaken by Profiles Caribbean Inc. and a sub-committee of the Board and industry professionals.
Barbados with a population of 300,00 is a former British colony that gained independence in 1966. It relies heavily on tourism, driven mainly by US cruise ship visits.
Source: nationnews Barbados)
