HONOLULU – The Hawaiʻi Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) is excited to welcome meetings, conventions and incentives (MCI) industry veteran John Reyes to its team as Senior Vice President, Chief MCI Sales Officer. He will be responsible for overseeing and directing HVCB’s global sales and marketing efforts for both citywide and single-property MCI business.

Reyes brings more than 30 years of hospitality-industry and MCI experience to the position, having most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of Visit Sacramento since 2017. Prior to his time there, he served as Chief Sales Officer and Executive Vice President in the Convention Sales and Services Division of the San Francisco Travel Association – formerly the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau – where he successfully oversaw sales and marketing efforts driving business to the city’s Moscone Center and convention hotels. While at the association, Reyes also developed international meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibits (MICE) business for the Bay Area market.

“To have a well-known and well-established industry stalwart like John join our team says a lot about his passion for the Hawaiian Islands. I have total confidence he will be a tremendous asset to our organization and for Hawaiʻi’s meetings industry,” said John Monahan, HVCB’s president and CEO. “John brings a strong track record of building successful global MCI programs wherever he goes, and we’re excited to see how his efforts will bolster business at the Hawai‘i Convention Center and at hotels statewide.”

Reyes’ industry experience also includes serving as Chief Executive Officer of Visit Jacksonville in Florida and the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau in California.

“I’m thrilled to be joining HVCB and look forward to working with its Island Chapters and the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority’s Global Marketing Team to share my industry experience and relationships to develop an MCI strategy that works best for the Hawaiian Islands,” Reyes said. “The Hawaiʻi Convention Center is a first-class facility and our hotel partners are eager to support our mission of bringing the right types of meetings, incentives, conventions and events to our shores from around the globe.”

Reyes is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, Destinations International, Meeting Professionals International, Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International, International Association of Exhibitions and Events, Professional Convention Management Association, Society of Government Meeting Professionals and the U.S. Travel Association.

He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from San Francisco State University.

HVCB is contracted by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA), the state of Hawaiʻi’s tourism agency, to provide marketing management services for the meetings, conventions and incentives, and leisure market segment.

Photo Link: https://imgur.com/a/BGmJlJZ