Travel Institute president Diane Petras will retire at the end of 2025. She has overseen the nonprofit organization for the last seven years of her nearly 40-year career in the industry.
Petras' involvement with the Travel Institute goes back decades. She started volunteering on its national advisory board and managing its annual conferences in the 1990s. She was named chief operating officer in 2010 and president in 2018.
Her career in the industry began as a travel agent in 1986. She has experience in corporate travel, training event production and agency ownership as well as developing and marketing travel software with TRAMS and Sabre.
She has led a number of milestones in her tenure as president, including moving the institute from printed textbooks to an e-commerce website, bringing third-party subject matter experts to the institute's content, providing more than $1 million in scholarships and launching an interactive learning platform.
Petras said that her biggest accomplishment is hiring the team that currently leads the Travel Institute.
"I'm able to let go and leave because things are truly the best they've ever been for the Travel Institute," she said.
She plans to spend time with family, support local nonprofit causes and enjoy leisure travel in her retirement.
"Diane's contributions to the Travel Institute cannot be overstated," said the institute's board chair, Gary Pollard, who is also president and CEO of Ambassador Tours. "She's taken both the Travel Institute -- and our entire industry -- to a higher level."
The board is currently searching for her replacement, but Petras will remain available as a consultant into 2026.