Director, Global Travel Trade Engagement

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Director, Global Travel Trade Engagement will help shape the future of international inbound travel to the U.S. by leading travel trade engagement and buyer recruitment for IPW—America's premier international inbound travel trade show. The successful candidate will help identify, qualify, and engage the world's most influential travel buyers to ensure our exhibitors connect with the right partners across global distribution channels.

This role requires strong expertise in travel distribution and an understanding of how travel products move from suppliers to market through various channels. This position will also support aspects of the delivery of U.S. Travel’s international inbound segment agenda in addition to the core responsibilities outlined below.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Own the full buyer recruitment lifecycle from planning to execution with a focus on maximizing qualified IPW attendance from both mature and emerging international markets.
• Develop year-round recruitment roadmaps and manage international agencies, vendors, committee partnerships, and associated budgets.
• Benchmark IPW against top global trade shows (WTM, ITB, ILTM, etc.) and implement best practices.
• Collaborate with the Communications team to ensure alignment on IPW media recruitment process and cycle.
• Oversee buyer qualification and classification in partnership with International Advisory Committees (IACs)—comprised of international industry leaders from hotels, airlines, U.S. suppliers, and trade experts—who assist in identifying, screening, and approving inbound travel delegates; this role holds final approval authority for all attendees.
• Ensure strategic mix of buyer types (OTAs, wholesalers, tour operators) aligned to exhibitor needs.
• Track industry evolution and emerging distribution channels to keep portfolio current.
• Regularly review recruitment numbers for each market and segment to align with strategic goals.
• Collaborate with the events team to execute marketing plans and manage registration pacing.
• Serve as primary liaison to international rep agencies, buyers, and advisory committees to drive shared goals.
• Collaborate with events and marketing teams to provide tools, communications, and support to activate these groups in recruitment efforts.
• Engage high-impact buyers through personalized outreach and targeted communications.
• Set KPIs for recruitment and engagement; report progress and recommendations to leadership.
• Test new recruitment, retention, and promotion concepts and optimize based on data and market feedback.
• Support cross-functional improvements to show format and buyer experience.

WHAT YOU BRING

Key Strengths

OTHER

BENEFITS

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