Bruce Bommarito - Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

Bruce C. Bommarito joined TIA as Vice President of International Market Development in December of 2006 and in September 2007 assumed the additional responsibility of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He reports directly to CEO Roger Dow and is responsible for all TIA departments except for advocacy and communication. He remains General Manager of International Pow Wow but will oversee all events through their respective departments. 

In this role he is also responsible for increasing the visibility of the United States as a tourism destination in new and existing travel markets as well as expanding global travel market share for the U.S.

Prior to joining TIA, Mr. Bommarito was Director of the Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) which included international satellite offices in China, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom. He directed the creation and establishment of Nevada's tourism office in Beijing in 2004, when NCOT became the first U.S. tourism entity to be granted a license by the People's Republic of China to advertise to prospective outbound Chinese visitors.

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Commerce selected Mr. Bommarito to co-chair the U.S. Tourism Export Expansion Initiative working group that was formed to implement a landmark agreement between the United States and Japan to rebuild tourism between the two nations after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on America. He was appointed co-chair again in 2006 when the working group was reorganized under a new Commerce secretary. Mr. Bommarito also serves on the Western States Tourism Policy Council and is a past two-terms chairman of the Nevada Hotel and Lodging Association.

Before Gov. Kenny Guinn appointed Mr. Bommarito to direct NCOT in 2001, he had served for three years as vice president of operations at Caesars Tahoe resort hotel and casino at Lake Tahoe, where he managed 1,200 employees and a $200 million budget.

Mr. Bommarito's extensive career also includes executive management positions in hotels, casinos and convention centers in many cities and states throughout the country. He began his career in 1973 in his native Detroit at Detroit Metropolitan Airport where he directed food and beverage operations for 20 restaurants and lounges that served 20 million travelers a year.

He was educated at Michigan State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management at the College of Business, and at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and University of Nevada Reno, where he completed the Executive Development Program. Mr. Bommarito is a certified hotel administrator and taught hotel administration at the University of South Carolina School of Hotel Management. He is on the Michigan State University School of Hospitality Management Alumni Association Board of Directors and is a member of the Chaine des Rotisseurs, the world's oldest gourmet association.