DoT appoints new US boss

(CNS): Despite cuts in the budget, the Department of Tourism has appointed a new general manager for its US office. Thomas Ludington, a veteran of the leisure travel industry, will report to the DoT’s acting deputy director. Ludington will oversee the operational aspects of the Cayman Islands’ marketing activities in the US from New York. The role involves directing annual advertising and promotion activities, Internet and direct marketing, brand management and development, research and reporting, management and development of staff, operations, administrative and financial management as well as managing US industry relations and affinity groups, wholesales and other stakeholder groups.

Ludlington has 32 years of experience in destination marketing, managing departments’ business plans, overseeing staff and developing and maintaining supplier relationships including hotel chains, car rentals and theme parks. His career has involved expertise in advertising, broadcast and print media, sports marketing, database segmentation and lead generation strategy.

He will, however, be managing a tighter marketing budget following a recent civil service review that said some $3.5m could be cut from the DoT budget. It said that more than 60% of overseas staff time was spent on promotional activities, meaning that the government had hired overseas staff to attend these events at a cost of almost $8 million, and the review questioned the justification for spending 31% of the department’s entire budget just in this area.