West Palm Beach, FL -- The chief executive of the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association, Jorge Pesquera, has been named the new president and chief executive of the troubled Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Pesquera will assume his new duties on Nov. 1. He succeeds Warren "Mac" McLaughlin, who resigned following a scandal in which the bureau's former controller embezzled $1.6 million.
Roy Assad, who led the CEO search committee for the bureau's board of directors, said that Pesquera's "combination of industry expertise and experience was a key determining factor in the decision."
Pesquera is a 30-year hospitality veteran, holding senior executive positions at the former Hilton International and at Conrad Hotels. For 10 years, he served as CEO of the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau. He has served at the Aruba association since 2004.
In late July, the former controller, Donna Duffer, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for forging 225 bureau checks over three years to pay for online gambling.
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