WHY IT RATES: Ed Simon brings more than 20 years of leadership experience to his new role in Fort Lauderdale.—Mia Taylor, TravelPulse Senior Writer.MORE PeopleThe Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau has announced Ed Simon will be joining the bureau, as Senior Vice President of Convention Sales & Services, effective February 26.Simon brings more than 20 years of leadership experience and business development within the hospitality industry. His depth of industry knowledge and proven ability to generate significant sales production, as well as build high-performance sales teams, will be key to growing the destination’s customer base for the Broward County Convention Center and the destination’s lodging sector.“Ed’s market expertise, industry connections, and sales abilities fit perfectly with our goals to aggressively promote Greater Fort Lauderdale as a top-tier convention destination and drive greater market share in quality meetings, group, convention and exhibition business, said Stacy Ritter, president and CEO, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “He is a great addition to the Bureau in this leadership capacity.”Prior to joining the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Simon created and launched the Association Meeting Buyers Collective, a first-of-its-kind membership-based organization to enhance the buying power of the association industry. Before AMBC, he was vice president of sales for Destination Hotels. With more than 40 prestigious properties coast to coast, he was responsible for the redevelopment and execution of brand-wide national sales strategies, led a team of 10 national sales professionals and doubled the company’s national sales revenue in two years.Other key positions held by Simon include VP of Sales and Marketing at Remington Hotels and Regional VP of Sales at Associated Luxury Hotels International.In his role at the CVB, he will lead the strategic and tactical efforts for the significant expansion of the Broward County Convention Center including an additional 500,000 square feet of meeting space and an upscale 800-room headquarters hotel, to maximize the economic value of these important tourism assets for Greater Fort Lauderdale."With development at its peak and a growing international reputation for Greater Fort Lauderdale, the timing is ideal to launch a determined and fresh approach to group sales development," Simon said. "I’m excited to join the innovators at the Bureau to help lead a new pathway to success."Simon joins the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau at a time when the destination is experiencing significant growth in hotels in all lodging categories, expansion programs and new flights at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and terminal and cruise line developments at Port Everglades cruise port.SOURCE: Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau press release