Galveston's top seat opens as its director heads to Pensacola

Tony Lyle is out at Visit Galveston and in at Visit Pensacola as president & CEO — the board picked him on September 23, and the Galveston staff page now lists no director above senior-director level (Rick’s Blog). Lyle arrived in May 2023 and leaves behind a $10 million budget and a record 84,692 definite room nights. Pensacola’s own top seat has been open since March, when the board declined to renew Darien Schaefer’s contract; Lyle edged out Barry White, the other finalist in a search that ran public meet-and-greets in September (Pensacola News Journal, NewsRadio 92.3).

The same scan caught a COO going somewhere she can put her name on the door. Whitney Waara, seven years the chief operating officer at Traverse City Tourism, is the new executive director of Michigan’s Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau, succeeding the retiring Jim Powell (Petoskey News, TourismIQ). Traverse City’s roster now runs to president & CEO Trevor Tkach with no COO under him — the vacated seat is unfilled.

At Discover Long Island, the chain keeps folding inward: weeks after Sharon Wyman was elevated to president & CEO, Stacy Black’s listing moved from Vice President of Strategy to Chief Strategy Officer (team page, DLI announcement). And at the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Connie Kinnard’s listing changed from Senior Vice President, Multicultural Tourism & Development to Senior Vice President, Destination Engagement — same rank, new banner (GMCVB executive team, Billboard).

Also on the move

From this week’s Destination Pulse scans — people joining and roles changing across the directory (the change feed lists every row):

• Discover Long Island — Sari Pollack joined as Marketing Manager; Liam Nichols joined as Production Assistant; Preston Kaplan joined as Administrative Assistant.
• Visit Denver — Kaycee Powell joined as Corporate Sales Manager, East Region (151–950 peak rooms). Bridget Bartlett is now Association Executive Meetings Manager, West Region (10–150 peak rooms); was Coordinator, Convention Sales. Kelsey Santistevan is now Association Sales Manager, West Region (151–950 peak rooms); was Association Executive Meeting Manager, West Region (10–150 peak rooms). Sammy Bianchi now covers the Washington DC Region; was West Region.
• Visit Knoxville — Ce’Nedra Dillard joined as Senior Director of Sports Commission.
• Virginia Tourism Corporation — Brittany Brown joined as Director of Grants.
• Visit Galveston — Bryan Kunz is now listed as Sr. Director of Sales and Services; was Director of Sales and Services.
• Travel Wisconsin — Aron Meudt-Thering and Logan Wroge are each now listed as Senior Communications Manager; both were Senior Communications Specialists.

This week’s board: two top chairs changed hands, Galveston’s top seat stays open, and Traverse City’s deputy seat goes unfilled. Detected by the weekly scans; moves confirmed by the linked sources.