Tourism Vancouver has hired a longtime corporate fundraiser and sporting event organizer to replace longtime CEO Rick Antonson in July.
Ty Speer, who is currently the deputy CEO of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, is winding up his affairs in Scotland’s largest city and will move to Vancouver before those games start on July 23.
His role with Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games was to line up about $180 million in private financing through corporate sponsorships, ticket and merchandise sales and broadcast rights.
“I agreed with the organizing committee that I would wrap up my role early because the money was there and I had done the big job that I needed to do,” Speer told Business in Vancouver June 3.
“When you’re in the event business you like to see the fruits of your labour but if you feel you’ve done the job and there’s something exciting to move towards, it makes it easier [to miss seeing the Commonwealth Games in person.]”
Antonson announced last August that he would leave Vancouver’s tourism marketing organization to spend more time on what has been a sideline job of writing travel books.
Speer first visited Vancouver in the lead-up to the 2010 Olympics when he was working with the organizing committee for the London 2012 Olympics.
“Vancouver has always been on my list of cities for which I’ve had admiration for,” the 48-year-old said. “So, I’m a fan of the city as a business traveler and tourist. Then, from a functional point of view, I wanted a leadership opportunity.”
Speer has not yet been a CEO of an organization although he was the top executive in Australia for global sports marketing giant Octagon.
“We’re extremely fortunate to have secured the services of Ty, whose extensive sales, marketing and senior international leadership background will help lead Tourism Vancouver through both busy and challenging times in the years ahead,” said Tourism Vancouver chair Bob Lindsay.
“While this year and next are expected to be good performing tourism years for visitation and spending with major events such as Grey Cup in November 2014, FIFA Women’s World Cup in June and July 2015 and the TED conference in March 2015, we still have much work to do to build business and generate demand for our destination in these years and over the coming decade.”
Speer will be in Vancouver for Tourism Vancouver’s June 26 annual general meeting and formally become the organization’s CEO on July 14.
