Spurred by the company’s growing client b ase, Longwoods International announced today that Helen Marano will join the company as its Senior Vice President on September 1^st.  For the past three years, Helen has provided strategic counsel and guidance to her clients as the founder and president of Marano Perspectives.  Prior to that, she served as Executive Vice-President of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), where she built the government and industry affairs effort to present the industry’s perspective to government leaders and organizations around the globe. 

“To say that Helen is well-known and well-respected throughout the travel and tourism industry world-wide is a vast understatement,” said Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International.  “Her insights and experiences will be a major benefit to both Longwoods clients and the Longwoods team.  We are thrilled to have her join us as a senior leader of our company.”

Prior to her international work with the WTTC, Helen led the National Travel & Tourism Office of the United States for over a decade.  Her responsibilities included industry relations, policy formation, and oversight and interpretation of the statistical system for tracking the U.S. travel and tourism industry.  She also has professional experience at a top DMO, a market research firm, and in the financial services industry.

“Research-driven decision making has been a hallmark of my extensive career in travel and tourism,” said Helen Marano.  “It is critical in this period of transformation that we also innovate to provide the new and best measures for actionable decision-making by the leaders in our industry.  I am thrilled to be joining Longwoods, the premiere research and data consultancy for our great industry!”

Helen’s leadership also includes the following current board positions:

The Travel Foundation, Chair of the Board of Trustees

ArtWorks for Freedom (Human Trafficking), Secretary and Board Member,

Blacks in Travel and Tourism Collaborative, Advisory Board Member

Bella Vista Institute for Higher Education, Switzerland AG, Advisory Board Member

Longwoods International is a leading travel and tourism research consultancy with headquarters in Toronto, Canada and Columbus, Ohio, and offices in Florida and Wisconsin.  It conducts Longwoods Travel USA^®, the largest ongoing survey of American travelers, as well as image, advertising effectiveness, advertising return on investment and other custom research in 12 countries around the globe.