Hornblower Cruises and Occasions names new Director of Tourism

As national tourism director, Hippensteel will be responsible for defining and leading the short and long term strategy for the national travel trade and third party customer relationships for Hornblower Cruises and Events

• Tara Hippensteel has been named the new National Tourism Director of Hornblower Cruises and Events
• Hippensteel will work with local regional teams to provide leadership and expertise to deliver effective, sustainable sales growth and brand awareness in the tourism market in line with the company’s overall vision and strategy
• Tara began her travel and tourism career at Hornblower’s Spirit of Chicago in 2002-2003 as a tourism development manager

Hornblower Cruises and Events announced today that Tara Hippensteel has been named National Director of Tourism. Hippensteel joins the company with more than 20 years of experience in the national and international travel industry.

“We are delighted to welcome Tara back to our cruises and events department as our team’s national tourism director,” said Paul Sanett, SVP for sales and marketing. “We are confident that Tara’s extensive travel industry expertise, proven dedication to her customers, and forward-thinking mindset will help advance our company’s business goals in the travel and tourism industry.”

As the national tourism director, Hippensteel will be responsible for defining and leading the short and long-term strategy around the national travel trade and customer relationships with third parties Hornblower cruises and events. Hippensteel will work with local regional teams to provide leadership and expertise to deliver effective, sustainable sales growth and brand awareness in the tourism market in line with the company’s overall vision and strategy.

Copy and paste this HTML code into your webpage to embed.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Hornblower family and working with a group of people driven by their core corporate values ​​and dedication to delivering unique, one-of-a-kind guest experiences,” said Hippensteel. “I look forward to working with the expanded team to drive overall business growth, identify and develop new opportunities, and continue to create unforgettable memories for such loyal guests.”

With over two decades of industry experience, Hippensteel recently developed a national tour and travel program for nearly 60 top golf venues across the country. Hippensteel previously held various roles at Hard Rock Cafe, including National Tourism Sales Director in North America, where she supported and worked with over 40 Hard Rock Cafés nationwide. In addition, Hippensteel continues to be active at all important national and international travel fairs in order to include participation at board level in accredited industry associations such as ABA, NTA and SYTA.

Tara began her travel and tourism career at Hornblower’s Spirit of Chicago in 2002-2003 as a tourism development manager.