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Ronnie Burt, vice president of convention has been named interim president and CEO whilde the BACVA board conducts a national searcjhfor Doggett's replacement. Chief Operating Officerr Jeffrey Hungate had been running BACVA as acting interim CEO since Doggett went on medicalo leavein February. Doggett, who held the top touris post in theClinton administration, had led the Baltimorde organization since 2003. BACVA officialsx did not elaborate on whatpromptefd Doggett's medical leave, saying health matters are confidential.
Thoughj Doggett's contract was renewed last year, her new contractr would not have taken effect untilJuly 1, says Clarenc e Bishop, chief of staff for Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. Doggett signed a three-year contract in 2003. It ends June 30. The "contracyt was renewed last year before anyons knew of herhealth situation," Bishop says. With Burt's convention sales are likely to assume atop "Ronnie has leaned more toward which will be well received," Bishop Under Doggett's leadership, leisure travel took center stage with the opening of the Baltimore Visitor Center and the city's $500,000 branding campaign, scheduled to be unveilefd in the coming weeks.
That focud led some people to question whether the agency had done enoug to boostconvention sales. "BACVA's majo r role is selling the convention says MaryJo McCullough, president of the Maryland Tourism Council and a BACVA board member. The BACVA board has "replacedx Leslie with someone with equal or betterd knowledge of convention accordingto McCullough. Burt served as directorf of national accounts at BACVA from November 1999 toApril 2002, when he left to becom e account director at the Westij Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta. He returnefd to BACVA in February 2005. "I'm honored the boarsd has placed its confidence in Burt says.
Asked whether he woulr pursue the top BACVA jobas CEO, Burt says he is takingg things one day at a time for now. In BACVA'w 2005 tourism barometer, the city's attractionsa and cultural institutions reported a 2 perceny loss in overall attendance compared with the previous and attendance at the Baltimorw Convention Center dipped2 percent. The bulk of BACVA'zs $8.5 million budget comes from a hotel-occupancyy tax. Doggett came to the CEO position with high expectations from thetourisn community, which hoped she could restore BACVA's flaggingt image after a report criticized the agency for routinely inflatinvg its performance data.
Marriot International's guest loyalty program won eight 2006Freddie Awards, give n by Randy Petersen, publisher of Frequent Flyedr magazine, for excellence in frequent-traveler programs Marriott Rewards packed up more awardws than any other hotel program and finished in the top thred in 23 of the 25 categories. Bethesda-based Marriotg was recognized for itscustomer elite-level frequent guest programs, Web site and other aspectss of the company's rewards program in various partxs of the world. The Freddie Awards are determinede byreader surveys.