ASTA Election Results

Congratulations to Arizona Chapter members Leila Dada, incoming Chapter President, and Laura Rodriguez, newly appointed Area Director.

Please see below the results of our National Board of Directors election. There were ten candidates vying for the five open At-Large seats on the board, one of which was vacant due to the resignation of a Director earlier this year. The newly elected directors’ two-year terms will begin at the close of ASTA’s Global Convention in Reno this coming September.

The following are the newly elected national directors-at-large, in alphabetical order:

  • Rick Ardis, Ardis Travel
  • Betsy Geiser, UNIGLOBE Travel Center
  • Scott Koepf, Avoya Travel (to serve the one year remaining on resigning Director’s term)
  • Olga Ramudo, Express Travel
  • Gloria Stock Mickelson, Travel Leaders Franchise Group (returning for a second term)

The At-Large Directors returning to serve the second year of their current term on the Board are as follows:

  • Jay Ellenby, Safe Harbors Business Travel Group
  • Dave Hershberger, Prestige Travel Leaders
  • Toni Lanotte-Day, Toni Tours, Inc.
  • Eric Maryanov, All Travel

The incumbent Board of Directors convenes in September to elect the new Executive Committee from the above nine directors-at-large. The Executive Committee is comprised of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary, Treasurer, and one Corporate Advisory Council (CAC) member Director. ASTA’s President and CEO is an ex-officio non-voting member of the Executive Committee. The new Board will convene for the first time in September at the ASTA Global Convention.

In addition to the nine national directors elected at-large for two-year, staggered terms, ASTA’s Bylaws provide for seven additional voting seats on the Board, as follows: two Corporate Advisory Council (CAC) members, Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg and Denise Jackson; one NACTA member director, Helen Prochilo; one Consortium member director, Alex Sharpe; and the three new Area Directors, Steve Powers, Laura Rodriguez and Chris Seddelmeyer.

For those chapters that transitioned from election to the appointment process this year, the newly appointed Chapter Presidents will begin their term at the conclusion of this year’s ASTA Global Convention. The new Area Directors will actively work with the Chapter Presidents and ASTA staff to continue to scout local leaders for those areas that are currently without an effective ASTA chapter presence. The newly appointed Chapter Presidents are listed below.

Chapter Presidents Council

Arizona Chapter
Leila Dada, Cruise Planners
Colorado/Rocky Mountain Chapter
Rob Hale, Travel N Relax
Georgia/Southeast Chapter
Susan Aft, Discount Travel and Cruise
Houston/Southwest Chapter
Mike Weingart, Air Land Sea Consultants
Midwest Chapter
Jesse Guerra, Astro Sports Tours Inc.
Minnesota/Upper Midwest Chapter
Jane Norman, RAZR Marketing
New Jersey Chapter
Joanne Hunt, Pompton Plains Travel
North Carolina Chapter
Crystal Smith, Envoy Travel
St. Louis/Missouri Valley Chapter
John Heimburger, TravelPlex Travel & Cruises
South Carolina Chapter
Rusty Pickett, Shellback Cruises Inc.
Southern California Chapter
Tama Holve, Willett Travel, a Frosch Co.
South Florida Chapter
Jan Hammond, Post Haste Travel
Young Professionals Society
Chris Minoletti, Bay World Travel & Tours

International Chapter Presidents Council

Bulgaria Chapter
Rozalina Kreissl, Mercury-97 Ltd.
Cuba Chapter
Tamas Nagy, Marysol Travel Service S.A.
Egypt Chapter
Anan El Sayed, Passant Travel & Tours
Iceland Chapter
Bjorn Gudmundsson, Cool Inspiration Ltd.
India Chapter
Joshi Sanjeev, Tourism India Management Enterprises Pvt Ltd.
Maldives Chapter
Yoosuf Riffath, Capital Travel & Tours Pvt. Ltd.
Nigeria Chapter
Gbemisola Emmanuella Adeniji, Appu Travels Limited
Turkey Chapter
Pinar Ozbilge, Intra Travel- M.I.C.E.
United Kingdom Chapter
Ken McNab, The Travel Company Edinburgh

The International Chapter Presidents’ Council (ICPC) elected its next ICPC Chair, Catalin Mogoseanu, who will sit on the Allied Marketing Committee and whose term will begin at the conclusion of this year’s ASTA Global Convention.