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Brown established one of the first dedicated destination management and stewardship departments in the U.S. at Visit Durango.
Sarasota, FL–March 11, 2025—Destination Wayfinder is pleased to welcome Rachel Brown to the role of Destination Stewardship Director, North America.
In this role, Brown will lead the organization’s growth strategy to expand Destination Wayfinder’s presence in the travel and tourism sector and strengthen customer partnerships. She will focus on building relationships and developing tailored solutions that help tourism organizations strengthen their role in destination management.
Based in the U.S., this new position underscores Wayfinder’s commitment to helping destinations accelerate the pace of change for the communities they represent.
“We are thrilled to have Rachel join our team,” said Vice President, Destination Stewardship Kristin Dunne. “Her deep knowledge of the industry and experience developing innovative tourism strategies will be critical to Wayfinder’s continued growth in North America and globally.”
Brown brings more than 20 years of experience as a marketing professional with a dynamic career in the travel and tourism industry. Most recently, she served as Executive Director at Visit Durango where she led the organization’s groundbreaking transition from a destination marketing organization to a destination management and marketing organization focused on destination stewardship and regenerative tourism principles. In this role she also developed an advocacy campaign and ballot initiative that increased Durango’s lodgers’ tax and designated revenue for “sustainable tourism marketing.”
Prior to joining Visit Durango, Brown held key leadership roles at Visit Fisherman’s Wharf and Visit Oakland. She also served on the Board of Directors and chaired the Marketing Committee for the Colorado Tourism Office.
“I’m incredibly excited to join Destination Wayfinder and to take my passion for sustainable tourism to a new level,” said Brown. “I’m looking forward to helping destinations advance their stewardship strategies and representing an organization that provides the guidance and industry standards that were absent during my own experience leading a destination organization’s transition to a stewardship approach.”
Brown’s first official day with Destination Wayfinder was February 24, 2025.
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About Destination Wayfinder
Destination Wayfinder is an industry-led initiative and destination management tool enabling destination organizations to measure, monitor and improve destination stewardship capability and outcomes. It began as an intrapreneurial project at Miles Partnership, driven by the goal of sector-wide innovation to transform tourism for the benefit of both residents and visitors alike. Through strategic investment in research, technology and collaboration with the Global Stewardship Innovation Lab—a network of thought leaders, researchers and stewardship practitioners—Wayfinder delivers a best-practice destination management framework designed to guide organizations toward sustainable and regenerative outcomes.