WTTC President and CEO Gloria Guevara to Step Down

WTTC outgoing President and CEO Gloria Guevara. Photo source: @WTTC

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global travel and tourism private sector, has announced that its president and CEO, Gloria Guevara, will be stepping down after four years of leadership.

The former Tourism Secretary of Mexico, Guevara, joined WTTC in August 2017, and has led the council and its members through a transformational agenda over the past years, including the sector’s significant impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to an announcement by the WTTC, Guevara was the strong voice in leading the global travel and tourism sector through the most difficult year in history and has helped unite the sector and define the path for the recovery.

She will be succeeded on August 15, by International Airlines Group (IAG) Executive Committee Member Julia Simpson.

“I leave WTTC after completing my mandate, in a stronger position as the voice of the private sector and the leader of the global agenda. I know that under Julia’s solid leadership, WTTC will continue to build on this legacy and lead it into its next chapter, championing the entire global travel and tourism sector to its recovery,” Guevara said.

International Airlines Group (IAG) Executive Committee Member Julia Simpson

Simpson will bring extensive experience of the travel and tourism sector, having served on the boards of British Airways, Iberia and most recently as Chief of Staff at International Airlines Group. She previously worked at senior levels in the UK Government including advisor for the UK Prime Minister.

“It will be a great privilege to lead WTTC as it emerges from the worst crisis in our history… The travel and tourism sector has shown real leadership in ‘reopening’ the world safely and securely; and I look forward to shaping and driving the sector’s ambitious agenda to achieve long-term sustainable and inclusive growth,” she said.