Stephanie Byington named SVP & CMO at Visit Seattle

Visit Seattle has announced that Stephanie Byington will be its next senior vice-president and chief marketing officer effective July 31.

The veteran Seattle marketing executive has led marketing for several influential Seattle area brands, including Slalom, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, TCS World Travel, Nordstrom and Starbucks.

At Visit Seattle, Byington will oversee all marketing and brand development initiatives to promote tourism to the city across travel segments, including meetings and conventions, leisure, transient and international markets.

Byington has worked in the marketing industry in Seattle for over two decades and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from different sectors, including wine, professional services and consumer brands, giving her a unique position primed for innovative thinking.

“Marketing is how we position Seattle as a premier travel destination,” said Tammy Blount-Canavan, president and CEO of Visit Seattle. “We searched far and wide for the best candidate for the CMO position and found it right in our backyard with Stephanie. She has spent years honing her skills at some of the biggest brands that call our great city home. We’re looking forward to seeing Stephanie put her magic to work for us.”

Byington also has extensive experience in the travel and tourism space, having served as vice-president of marketing and product development at tour operator TCS World Travel, as well as director of global advertising and sponsorships for Continental Airlines.

At TCS World Travel, she won the Global Leadership Award from its parent company Travelopia in 2019.

“Stephanie is a results-driven marketer who made a lasting impact at TCS World Travel, where she served as vice-president of marketing and product development,” said Shelley Cline, president of TCS World Travel. ”During her time at TCS she successfully led many efforts that drove greater awareness of our company and product, including a re-launch of the brand, an overhaul of our website and the creation of a new PR strategy. I am excited to see Stephanie return to the travel and tourism space in her new role with Visit Seattle, and am looking forward to seeing what amazing things she will do for our city.”

Byington has broad expertise in the brand and experiential marketing spaces. A longtime Seattle resident, she is an esteemed leader with proven success in developing high-performing teams.

In her previous role as senior director of marketing at consulting firm Slalom, she developed the company’s first-ever global brand marketing campaign, which resulted in a material increase in new customer acquisition and significant return on investment.

Before Slalom, she was director of product innovation at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, spearheading the Elicit Wine Project, an innovation hub for value creation.

“I moved to Seattle thinking I would be here for two years and that was 20 years ago,” said Byington. “I am looking forward to sharing all the things that have kept me here, including our incredible food and wine scene, the vibrant arts community, the many ways to connect with nature, and the leadership of companies in the business and technology space.”

In her free time, Byington is working on a graduate certification in teaching English as a second language with hopes of teaching English to adult immigrants.

She’s a certified specialist of wine and volunteers with Food Lifeline, a local nonprofit organization addressing food insecurity.

Byington replaces Visit Seattle’s former CMO and SVP Ali Daniels, who was with the organization for over 12 years and now serves as senior vice-president of marketing for Seattle Kraken.

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