Friday, December 18, 2009
Regional visitors bureau hires new director
On Feb. 1, Landon Howard will take the reins of the bureau with new revenue streams in mind.
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Landon Howard takes the job with eyes wide open to at least one challenge.
Funding.
The Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau has hired Howard, 46, to replace longtime executive director Dave Kjolhede, who retires Dec. 31. Howard's first day will be Feb. 1.
The city, the bureau's main contributor, has complained in recent years that other local governments aren't paying their fair share to support the organization. As a result, city contributions have dropped.
Susan Short is board president for the bureau, which was created to market the Roanoke Valley to tourists, convention groups, sports tournaments and others who will occupy hotel rooms and spend money eating and shopping.
Short said Thursday that she believes Howard's work with bureaus in Mobile, Ala., and Chattanooga, Tenn., and his creative, dynamic style equip him to develop other revenue streams. Howard has worked since 2001 as the vice president of marketing and communications for the Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Howard said he learned about the job in August through a head hunter. He said he and his wife, Lynne, have long admired the region's natural beauty and are excited about the move.
"We've always loved the mountains," he said Thursday. "I feel honored to have been selected."
They have three children.
From the University of Tennessee he has a bachelor's degree in public administration and a master's degree in business administration.
Short said Howard's annual salary will be $93,000.
Kjolhede's retirement comes just shy of serving 13 years at the bureau's helm. When he announced his retirement in June, Kjolhede, then 60, said he planned to continue living in the Roanoke Valley and would "take it easy for a while and then see what, if anything, I feel like doing." He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
