VANCOUVER — Yesterday, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages announced the appointment of Marsha Walden as Destination Canada’s president and Chief Executive Officer.
“On behalf of the board of directors of Destination Canada, I am pleased to welcome Marsha Walden as our new president and CEO. Marsha is a well-respected and trusted member of the ‘Team Canada’ tourism community. Her experience and impressive record of success will be an asset to Destination Canada, and the sector as a whole, as we build a more resilient visitor economy,” says Ben Cowan-Dewar, chair of the board of the directors, Destination Canada.
Walden joins Destination Canada from Destination British Columbia, where she served as the president and CEO since 2013. There she successfully led the newly formed provincial Crown corporation to create ground-breaking strategies for tourism development and nationally recognized, data-driven performance marketing. Most recently, her attention has focused on leading the organization to support the ongoing recovery of B.C.’s tourism sector.
Throughout her career, she occupied several additional executive positions, notably with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation and BBDO Canada.
“Tourism goes well beyond the one-in-10 jobs it creates nationwide; tourism intersects economic, social, environment and community development,” says Walden. “This is a critical time for the sector and I’m thrilled to be joining Destination Canada as we work to support a resilient visitor economy.”
Walden’s first day with Destination Canada will be August 24. She takes over leadership of the organization from David Robinson, who led Destination Canada as interim president and CEO for the past six months.
