C.O. Visitors Assn. elects board, officers

At Wednesday’s meeting of the Central Oregon Visitors Association Board of Directors, the annual election of Directors and Officers for Fiscal Year 2015/2016 were ratified as follows:

Tom Anderson, Administrator, Deschutes County (Ex-Officio)

Tammy Baney, Commissioner, Deschutes County

Penny Bennington, Owner, Bennington Properties

Dan Despotopulos, Manager, Deschutes Fair & Expo

Scott Huntsman, Manager, Black Butte Ranch

Shawna Pence, Owner, Sunset Lodging

Dennis Oliphant, Owner, Sun Country Tours

Tom O’Shea, Managing Director, Sunriver Resort

Dave Rathbun, President, Mt. Bachelor, Inc.

Spencer Schaub, General Manager, Pronghorn

Chris van der Velde, Managing Partner, Tetherow

Ryan Smith, Owner, Alpine Entertainment

Dana Whitelaw, PhD, President, High Desert Museum

“Central Oregon tourism benefits greatly from the depth of expertise and industry diversity of the business leaders elected by the COVA Membership to serve on the FY-2016 COVA Board of Directors,” said Alana Hughson, CEO. “These outstanding individuals in our community share a commitment to regional tourism marketing and provide a powerful foundation from which COVA will continue to market the destination to visitors.”

Officers elected to lead the organization for the fiscal year July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016 are:

Scott Huntsman, Chairman of the Board

Tom O’Shea, Vice Chairman of the Board

Dan Despotopulos, Treasurer

The Central Oregon Visitors Association (COVA) has been the non-profit tourism Destination Marketing Association serving Central Oregon since 1971. Supported by nearly 500 member businesses and operating with an annual budget of more than $2.2 million; COVA manages tourism advertising, marketing, promotion, public relations, industry relations, special event management and the region-wide Housing Bureau. For more information, visit www.VisitCentralOregon.com or call 800-800-8334.