By Danita Boonchaisri
PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. – (Dec. 18, 2008) – The Calvert County Department of Economic Development announced that Joyce A. Stinnett Baki, of Lusby, has joined their staff as
a tourism specialist.
Baki, a resident of Calvert County for many years, comes to the Department after five years as sales director of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau where she was responsible for developing and implementing sales strategies and marketing programs for meeting planners, group tour operators, motor coach companies and travel planners. Prior to that, Baki served as director of sales and service at the National Aquarium in Baltimore for eight years. She also taught travel and tourism industry courses as an adjunct professor at the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville from 2002 to 2006.
She brings a wealth of sales, marketing and tourism experience to the position and years of training in the industry. She is chair of the American Bus Association’s steering committee for Marketplace 2010, is a member of Meeting Professionals International, the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International, the Maryland Tourism Council and the Calvert County Optimist Club. In 2006, she was given the Maryland Tourism Person of the Year award at the Maryland Governor’s Conference on Tourism and in 2000 she received the Audrey Davenport Hospitality Person of the Year award at the same conference.
Baki looks forward to using her experience and industry connections to create fresh and creative strategies to enhance Calvert County’s tourism program. “My roots in this county run very deep,” she said. “This position will provide me with an excellent opportunity to showcase the greatest qualities of Calvert County to the visiting public. There are many innovative ways to attract visitors to an area and keep them coming back. I am confident that, by working with the team of professionals at the Department of Economic Development as well as with Calvert County’s own tourism industry partners, we can create a program that will make Calvert County a very attractive visitor destination.”
Linda Vassallo, director of the Calvert County, Md., Department of Economic Development, is certain that Baki’s talent and experience will be useful in marketing the many qualities that make Calvert County popular. “As a resident of Calvert County, Joyce knows what makes us special. But, more importantly, she knows the tourism industry and already has many great ideas for how to position Calvert County to receive a greater share of tourism dollars,” said Vassallo. “She will focus on developing new and niche markets, building partnerships both within the County and with others in Maryland and in the Washington, DC, area and creating new products and services that will serve to make Calvert County a top-choice destination for local and long-distance visitors,” Vassallo added.