Former Contiki marketing guru Vanessa Fletcher is taking her award-winning skills over to Visit California where she was recently named Director for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
Tourism marketing and PR agency, Gate 7, appointed Fletcher to lead Visit California after identifying diverse travel marketing expertise, which spans across content strategy and creation, media partnerships, B2B marketing, influencer marketing, events, PR, and digital performance.
She joins the tourism board’s local team after an extensive and rewarding period with Contiki Holidays, where she spearheaded successful trade marketing strategies as the Marketing Director and Acting General Manager.
Image: Meriç Dağlı/Unsplash
Fletcher is a recognised leader and speaker in the travel and marketing industry, recently presenting at Mumbrella’s Travel Marketing Summit. She led her team at Contiki to win Mumbrella’s 2018 Marketing Team of the Year, and Best Social Media Campaign in partnership with MTV Australia at the recent ASTRA awards.
In her new role, Fletcher will help roll-out integrated strategies that showcase California’s unique and diverse travel experiences. She’s also expected to drive new goals and successes for the state in the local market.
“We are thrilled to have a marketer and leader of Vanessa’s calibre heading up the Visit California team at an exciting time for both California as a destination, and Gate 7 as an agency.”
Jo Palmer, Gate 7 Managing Director
Image: Aniket Deole/Unsplash
Fletcher said she’s excited to join the Gate 7 team and work on an “iconic, amazing destination and brand” that is Visit California.
“I’ve been blessed enough to visit California multiple times at different stages of my life; firstly, a two-week road trip as a teen with the family where we covered most of the state, then in my early 20s I did a classic girls’ week in San Francisco and Los Angeles,” she said.
“Most recently I returned with my husband for one of our passions: hiking through Yosemite National Park. I’m inspired by the diverse offering of the state, and how at any stage of one’s life there is always a reason to go back.”
Vanessa’s appointment follows Gate 7’s retention of the Visit California account last year, for the twelfth consecutive year. She joins at a time of expansion and evolution for the agency; in addition to its travel trade marketing and public relations expertise, Gate 7 is expanding its service offerings with end-to-end social media management, advertising, consumer partnerships, content development and travel industry events.
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