Destination Cleveland Selects Marie E. Scalia as Chief Marketing Officer

CLEVELAND – Destination Cleveland, the destination marketing and management organization for Greater Cleveland, has selected Marie E. Scalia as its next chief marketing officer after a national search.

Scalia most recently served as vice president of integrated marketing for the organization. Over the past eight months, she led the finalization of the Cleveland visitor brand refresh and marketing campaign development and launch, which showcases Clevelanders’ authenticity and creativity through a variety of initiatives — including a resident storytelling campaign.

“Marie’s deep consumer marketing background and bold vision for the Cleveland brand combined with her significant experience and knowledge of the region as a visitor destination will help carry us into the future,” said David Gilbert, president and CEO of Destination Cleveland. “Over the past ten years, Marie has progressively taken on responsibilities and proven herself as a valuable leader within the organization. She strives to ensure that our marketing efforts continually highlight how eclectic, diverse and authentic the Cleveland community is, and we’re excited for her to continue that work in her new role.”

Having joined Destination Cleveland in 2012 as a marketing manager, Scalia was part of the team that defined and introduced the Cleveland visitor brand in 2014, which resulted most notably in the creation of the now-viral hashtag #ThisIsCLE and Cleveland script signs. She has been instrumental in putting Cleveland in front of a global audience through her work related to the city’s hosting of the 2016 Republican National Convention, 2019 MLB All-Star Game, 2021 NFL Draft and 2022 NBA All-Star.

“I’m excited to continue to tap into my deep-rooted passion for our community and work with our team to make Cleveland a must-visit destination,” commented Scalia. “I believe by showing the more authentic side of Cleveland and leveraging our greatest asset – our people – we can bring visitors and talent to Cleveland. It’s important to me that we continue telling people’s stories and pursue big ideas and partnerships. In doing so, we’ll introduce more people to our brand while representing all our residents in our work.”

In 2021, Scalia earned the “Distinguished Sales and Marketing” award from Sales & Marketing Executives (SME) Cleveland. She holds a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communications with a minor in marketing from Kent State University and a Master of Business Administration from Cleveland State University.

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ABOUT DESTINATION CLEVELAND: Destination Cleveland is Cleveland’s destination marketing and management organization. This private, non-profit organization’s mission is to drive economic impact and stimulate community vitality for Greater Cleveland through leisure and business travel. In 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic reduced visitation by 30 percent, with 13.8 million visits occurring. Prior to the pandemic, Cleveland hosted 19.6 million visits annually, with the County experiencing annual visitation increases that surpassed the domestic travel growth rate for nine consecutive years. For more information, visit www.thisiscleveland.com.