News Release
February 25, 2011
Contact: David Blandford
Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau
(206) 461-5806/
dblandford@visitseattle.org
Frank K. Finneran Chosen as First Recipient of Seattle’s Tourism Leadership Award
SEATTLE – The regional tourism industry’s highest honor will be bestowed to Frank K. Finneran on March 22 at the Seattle Tourism Outlook, the annual meeting of Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau. Finneran is the recipient of the inaugural Tourism Leadership Award.
Finneran is widely credited with positively transforming the regional tourism landscape over the course of his three decades in hotel management, development and consultation, convention center stewardship and a broad spectrum of group and leisure travel leadership.
Finneran has served on the Washington State Convention Center’s board of directors since 1988. In 2003, Governor Gary Locke appointed him Chairman and CEO and he continues to serve as Chair today. Finneran was instrumental in helping build the convention center in downtown Seattle and, during his 20-year tenure, has worked tirelessly to promote its success and expand needed meeting and exhibit space in 2001 and 2010. In recent years, he has led a state-wide effort to build a separate, equally sized convention facility near the existing center to maximize economic benefit from meetings and conventions for the city, region and state. In 2010, Finneran oversaw the state convention center’s successful transition to a public facilities district formed by King County ordinance.
Finneran’s hotel experience ranges from management of the Olympic and Westin Hotels in Seattle and the Plaza in New York, to development of the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, the Seattle Waterfront Marriott and the Monterey Marriott Hotels. He is twice past president of the Washington State Hotel and Motel Association.
Finneran has impressive experience across many tourism sectors. He served as Chief Operating Officer of the Space Needle Corporation and is a past president and past board chair of Seattle’s Convention and Visitors bureau. Washington Governors John Spellman and Chris Gregoire, respectively, appointed Finneran to their tourism commissions.
For more than 20 years, Finneran has operated an independent hotel consulting company, Frank K. Finneran & Co., providing asset management, workout, development and other executive-level advisory services to hotel owners and lenders.
In addition to the presentation of the Tourism Leadership Award, the Seattle Tourism Outlook will feature a keynote address by Roger Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, a regional state of the tourism industry report and presentation of the 2011 Seattle Tourism Ambassador of the Year Award. The event takes place March 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Washington State Convention Center. to reserve a table register independently, visit
www.regonline.com/tourismoutlook2011.
Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, a private, nonprofit marketing organization, has served as Seattle/King County’s official destination marketing organization (DMO) for more than 50 years. The goal of these marketing efforts is to enhance the employment opportunities and economic prosperity of the region.
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