To: eTourism Summit Community & The Travel Vertical Readers
From: Jake Steinman
I’m delighted to inform you that I’ve sold the eTourism Summit to Connect Marketing, a division of Tarsus International, a UK-based B2B exhibition company with more than 150 events worldwide. 
Will Seccombe, an eTourism Summit board member and former president & CEO of Visit Florida, is the president of Connect Marketing and will continue the tradition and tone of eTourism Summit. Our intention is to take a successful event and continue to evolve it so that it remains as relevant 18 years from now as it was in 2000 when we started. I will remain involved as chief of content and Chairman Emeritus.
The press release follows.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONNECT MARKETING ACQUIRES eTOURISM SUMMIT
ATLANTA, March 27, 2018 — Connect Marketing, a division of Connect (a Tarsus Group company), has acquired the eTourism Summit from North American Journeys, Inc. Founded in 2000, eTourism Summit is the leading event and community that connects destination marketing professionals with best practices and innovations in digital media.
Connect Marketing’s mission is to connect marketers with the products, services, people and ideas necessary to thrive in a rapidly evolving and highly competitive global marketplace. The acquisition of eTourism Summit supports this growing mission.
The restricted attendance format of the eTourism Summit balances demand for delegate spots with the deep networking opportunities in an intimate learning environment. Peer-to-peer sharing is integral to the aims, benefits and actionable takeaways for those who attend.
“Jake Steinman and his team have built a world-class event with a tight community of tech-savvy tourism marketers,” said Will Seccombe, president of Connect Marketing. “We believe that the addition of the eTourism Summit to the Connect Marketing portfolio of events will provide the tourism and hospitality marketing community with an unparalleled thought leadership and networking platform.”
Attendees at the eTourism Summit get up-to-the-minute, real-life examples of the latest applications in video, content marketing, email marketing, search, social media, mobile and web design. They learn how fellow tourism marketers and their media agencies are using the newest tools to build incremental traffic at every stage of the funnel.
“eTourism Summit connects the travel industry with Silicon Valley,” said Jake Steinman, founder of eTourism Summit. Not only do attendees receive critical information on the latest trends in e-mail marketing, search, social media, mobile and web design, but they also learn how tourism marketers are using new tools to uncover new growth. I am thrilled that the event will now be part of the Connect business, and I look forward to working with the team to make the event even more valuable to the community.”
“We look forward to working with Jake, his team and the Advisory Board to ensure that the eTourism Summit continues to be the premier educational conference for digitally focused tourism marketers,” said Seccombe.
Registration is open for the 19th annual eTourism Summit in San Francisco, Oct. 10-11, 2018. For more information, please visit www.etourismsummit.com.
CONNECT Marketing
Connect Marketing is the marketing division of Connect, serving marketers with bleeding-edge thinking, cutting-edge strategy and industry best practices through immersive and engaging educational events. We connect marketers with the products, services, people and ideas that allow them to thrive in a rapidly evolving and highly competitive global marketplace. For more information, visit connectmarketinglive.com.
CONNECT/Tarsus Group
Connect is a leader in the meetings, travel and tourism industry. Specializing in destination marketing, the company produces a full suite of digital programs, online and mobile solutions, meetings business and travel magazines, trade shows and consumer events, travel guides for newspapers and leisure magazines and destination information, which is distributed through broadcast and custom programs. More information about the company’s brands and services is available at connectmeetings.com. Connect is part of U.K.-based Tarsus Group, a business-to-business exhibition company with more than 150 events worldwide.
North American Journeys
North American Journeys is the leading event and media company offering a suite of products for the tourism and travel industry. Visit www.northamericanjourneys.com for more information.
Kind regards,
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