Governor Sandoval Invites State’s Travel Industry on Historic Euro Trade Mission
A first for the state, Gov. Brian Sandoval invited key Nevada tourism industry leaders to join him and his team on trade missions. The tourism tract, which ran July 20th – 25th, involved meetings in London and Berlin with each country's top-tier tour operators and media representatives. The governor then hosted private receptions for attendees at the close of the respective sessions.
Those attending on behalf of the state's leading industry included:
Travel Nevada Team
- Claudia Vecchio – Director of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs
- Larry Friedman – Deputy Director
- Christian Passink, Sales Manager
- David Lusvardi – Sales Manager
- Juergen Gevers – General Manager AVIAREPS Tourism, Germany
- Judith Luebke – Account Manager, Germany
- Sophie von Moy – PR and Social Media Manager, Germany
- Russell Meara – Sales & Marketing Account Director, UK
- Tanja Warwick – Account Manager, UK
- Amy Scott – PR Account Director, UK
- Grace Armitage – PR Senior Account Executive, UK
Nevada Trade Mission Partners
- Henika Patel – Caesars Entertainment
- Jo Franziska Todter – Caesars Entertainment
- Rafael Villanueva – Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
- Tom Lester – Cowboy Country
- Marvin Minnick – Nevada Silver Trails
- Sue Barton – Reno Tahoe Territory
- Jamie Lokan – Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority
- Meg Rhodes – White Pine County Tourism and Recreation Board
- Sylvia Welsh – Downtown DMC Las Vegas
- Julian Luther – Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority
- Michael Wareham – Papillon
In addition to tourism, the governor's agenda focused on economic development, education discussions, and high-tech meetings centered on job retention and creation for the State. The far-reaching itinerary had the Nevada delegation traveling to Ireland, Italy, a first-ever stop in Poland, in addition to Germany and England.
