The European Travel Commission elected Luis Araujo, CEO of Visit Portugal, as president, taking over from Peter De Wilde, CEO of VisitFlanders.
"[I am] extremely proud to be able to lead the European organization on behalf of our country and Visit Portugal, especially at a time when European, and even global, tourism is facing one of the greatest, if not the greatest challenge ever," he said.
Araujo will lead European destinations' joint efforts to rebuild the tourism sector in Europe in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis.
Araujo has led the Portuguese National Tourism Authority since February 2016, heading a team of 650 people and 350 external trainers, and he coordinates 20 tourism delegations covering 26 foreign markets for Portugal.