Industry Day 2023

Adam Sacks is the founder and President of Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company dedicated to understanding the relationship between travel and the economy. For more than 25 years, Adam has worked with destinations, industry associations, and companies around the world to deliver market assessments, forecast scenarios, policy evaluations, and economic impact studies. Adam is a member of the US Department of Commerce Travel & Tourism Advisory board and his work regularly informs national and local government advocacy efforts. Adam sincerely enjoys speaking at industry conferences but prefers singing and playing guitar.

A 33-year veteran of the Travel & Tourism industry, Amir joined Longwoods in 2015 from his previous role as Vice President, Partner Engagement with Brand USA, the public-private partnership serving as the destination marketing organization dedicated to increasing international visitation to the US. Prior to joining Brand USA, Amir served as Director of the Ohio Office of Tourism. He has also served as Executive Vice President of the Ohio Hotel & Lodging Association, Assistant Director of the Ohio Tourism Division, and Sales & Marketing Manager with the Steuben County Conference and Visitors Bureau. Amir is a regular speaker on market research and tourism at conferences and events around the country. His thoughts on the tourism industry and travel trends are often quoted in the media, and he has appeared in dozens of interviews among many national media outlets. Amir is an active member of many Travel Industry committees and task forces, and currently serves on boards for the Destinations International Foundation and the U.S. Travel Association. Amir holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Dayton and resides in Columbus, OH with his wife and two children.

Hannah serves as the Senior Analyst at STR and previously worked on the Consulting team for STR, focusing on providing custom data and analytics solutions to clients using STR’s extensive database. Today, on the Product Analytics and Insights team, she works to enhance STR’s product offerings through the CoStar platform. She is an experienced speaker at industry conferences and events, and assists in the production of industry articles, reports, and videos. Hannah earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.

Denise serves as the project lead for most of SMARInsights' tourism projects. By combining her marketing and research expertise, she brings valuable insight to developing new consumer programs and refining the marketing and implementation of existing programs. She works with state and local organizations that promote economic development in the areas of target marketing, advertising effectiveness, and economic impact. She is a frequent speaker at tourism industry conferences, including the Travel & Tourism Research Association (TTRA), International Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus, and State tourism conferences including: Arizona, Indiana, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and South Carolina. Denise has a solid track record of experience and accomplishment in tourism marketing and research since 1988. She was the director of two convention and visitors’ bureaus in Indiana, serving for three years as the State Travel Director. She joined David Seiferth at SMARI in 1991.

Cree Lawson is an award-winning writer, publisher, journalist and entrepreneur. Currently serving as CEO of Arrivalist, Cree travels around the world presenting unique Arrivalist's unique insights in to the way media influences tourism to the 60+ cities, states and countries that Arrivalist counts as clients. Prior to Arrivalist. Cree founded Travel Ad Network Inc. (TAN), one of the leading Vertical Ad Networks, with less than $500,000 in investment and turned it into the largest travel information audience in the world. Travel Ad Network made INC Magazine's Fortune 500 Fastest-Growing Companies before raising $35 million in venture capital. Prior to founding Travel Ad Network, Lawson served in a variety of Management, Sales, Business Development and Marketing roles at Random House, the Associated Press, Gannett, Time Warner Trade Publisher and two Internet start-ups. Cree is also a nationally-recognized investigative reporter and an academic All-American athlete. His publishing career began in 1994 when, as editor of the college newspaper, he made The Belmont Vision one of the first 5 college papers published online. Lawson lives with his wife and kids in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.