Visit Pensacola Welcomes President and CEO Darien Schaefer

Media Contact:

Nicole Stacey
Visit Pensacola
(850) 434-2142
nstacey@visitpensacola.com

Pensacola, Fla. (April 20, 2020) – Visit Pensacola is pleased to welcome its President and CEO, Darien Schaefer.

Schaefer joins the team from Visit Big Bear in Big Bear Lake, Calif. where he served as CEO for the past three years. He brings to the team over 20 years of destination marketing experience, including his most recent roles as CEO of VISIT Lake Geneva and Executive Director of the Wausau/Central Wisconsin CVB and Sports Authority.

“I'm very excited to join Visit Pensacola and work with its excellent staff to promote one of the best beach destinations in the nation, Darien Schaefer said. “This is a challenging time for the Pensacola area, and our focus will be to help our tourism industry recover from the COVID-19 pandemic as quickly as possible.”

“One thing I’ve already come to appreciate about Pensacola and Escambia County is the quality of the people I've met and how proud they are of their community. Promoting the history, culture, and sports of Pensacola will be a focus to extend our visitor's experience beyond the beach.”

Schaefer will work with Interim President and CEO, Jack Brown, while he settles into his new role. Visit Pensacola invites the community to attend the April board meeting via zoom on April 29, 2020, at 3 p.m. to meet Darien virtually.

For those interested in contacting Darien Schaefer, please email dschaefer@visitpensacola.com.

About Visit Pensacola

Visit Pensacola is the destination management organization for Escambia County which includes Pensacola, Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key. With over 450 years of rich history and 18 miles of sugar-white sand beaches bordered by the emerald-green waters of the Gulf of Mexico, visitors from all over the world are lured to our pristine shores every year. Visit Pensacola supports the community vision of tourism by serving as the central body responsible for building tourism as an economic engine for our community through leadership, connection, collaboration and communication.