The Washington Tourism Alliance (WTA) has announced the appointment of Louise Stanton-Masten as its executive director. Stanton-Masten has more than 25 years of experience in organization management, business development, strategic planning and government and community affairs. She is a graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management, has directed and served on numerous nonprofit boards and commissions  and operated a successful consulting practice providing public policy and planning to clients in Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

Stanton-Masten served as President & CEO of the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce from 2001 to 2011 and as Business Development Director for the Economic Alliance of Snohomish County from September 2011 to January of 2012.  She resumed management of her consultancy, Stanton-Masten Consulting, from January to present.

 "I am excited to be working with our members and very dedicated board of directors to help advance the tourism industry in Washington State," said Stanton-Masten. "Tourism is a $16 billion industry, responsible for more than 150,000 jobs in Washington State.  While building upon the successes of the WTA over the past year, we'll be aggressively working to establish a long-term and sustainable funding model for statewide tourism marketing and promotion in the future."

Stanton-Masten's education includes a Master of Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Science  from the University of Vermont, in addition to her organizational management degree from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

She serves on the Future of Flight Foundation Board of Directors and served on the City of Everett Lodging Tax Advisory Committee and the executive board of Leadership Snohomish County. Professional affiliations include the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE),  American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and the American Planning Association.  She served on the Washington Chamber of Commerce Executives  board of directors between 2006 and 2012 and was board chairman between 2011 and 2012.

Stanton-Masten succeeds Suzanne Fletcher as WTA Executive Director. Fletcher stepped down last month after fulfilling her one-year employment contract, but remains an active WTA consult.

The Board of Directors of the Washington Tourism Alliance (WTA) has announced the organization's move toward building advocacy for its long-term, sustainable funding model designed to create an industry-funded organization. The move involves finalizing a plan that will set up a mechanism to collect funds from various tourism-related business sectors in the state, and the funds will be used to promote the state as a travel and tourism destination.

The WTA was formed in March 2011 in anticipation of the June 30 closure of the Washington State Tourism office. On July 1, the WTA became Washington State's official tourism marketing organization and assumed ownership and operation of tourism office assets in order to preserve Washington's tourism market share. 

Lopez, Orcas and San Juan Islands are gearing up for their holiday events and festivals, meant to attract visitors during the "Quiet Season." Arts and crafts markets featuring the islands' unique artists, tree lightings with caroling and hot chocolate, and Christmas ship parades are fun for the young and the young at heart. Lodging and dining specials are also packaged around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Holidays. You'll find these events and specials, and more, at www.VisitSanJuans.com.