Eric Lutey, a long-time veteran and advocate of the travel industry, has joined the Tourism Academy team. In this new role, Lutey focuses his energy on developing industry partnerships and sponsorship sales.
“I feel fortunate to be joining the Tourism Academy team at such a historic point in our industry’s history. There’s an opportunity to help our community recover and grow in ways I never thought possible. By offering courses and programs that not only help the individual, but the global travel industry as a whole, we can bridge the gap in education/knowledge, help to increase service standards and do it with a focus on efficiency and sustainability. It’s perfect timing for me and my family, and I’m excited to get started.”
Lutey brings people and businesses together. For more than 20 years he’s been a constant force for collaboration within the tourism industry. He first shared his love for travel as a planner and tour operator before making a splash in the publishing industry, building successful business-to-business partnerships. He works to bring added-value to each relationship in his network. Giving back and paying it forward come naturally to Eric who has also held volunteer roles with the American Bus Association (ABA) and the Student & Youth Travel Association (SYTA).
Prior to The Tourism Academy, Lutey spent seven years as the director of sales at Group Tour Media in Holland, Michigan. GTM has a long tradition as a leader in the group travel industry, publishing Group Tour magazine and the Youth Travel Planner. Lutey has also held sales roles with Serendipity Media (Grand Rapids, MI), American Tours & Travel/All American Music Festival (Orlando) and Travel Adventures (Lapeer, MI).
“We are excited to welcome Eric to The Tourism Academy team and look forward to working with him to help destinations and associations build relevance and align their stakeholders. Having known Eric for years, his energy, drive and foresight will prove themselves to be critical to our growth.” - Stephen Ekstrom, Chief Strategist
Mr. Lutey resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his wife Rebecca and their three children; Mason, Christian and Charlotte. He enjoys hiking, biking, camping, travel and food (seriously, who doesn’t love food?)! Eric is just two adventures away from having visited all 50 states. Any guesses as to the last two?
Lutey started with The Tourism Academy on August 1, and has been busy learning how the academy utilizes technology, business psychology and instructional design to create more effective and efficient training solutions for its partners.
Eric C. Lutey
(616) 209-4388
The Tourism Academy is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving lives through travel and doing so by providing tourism professionals with the skills needed to advance careers, grow businesses and build sustainable economies.
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