Sep 2, 2024
Beacon, NY, August 2, 2024 – Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Olga Luz Tirado to the New York State Tourism Advisory Council (TAC), effective September 2024. Tirado served as the Executive Director of the Bronx Tourism Council (BTC) from June 2012 to June 2022. In that capacity, she was responsible for producing the borough’s signature events, such as Tour de Bronx, Bronx Week, and Savor The Bronx Restaurant Week. She also published the first Annual Bronx Visitor Guide for eight consecutive years and was the producer and co-host of the Go Bronx Podcast, which won a 2021 Webby Award for Best Limited Series. She collaborated with Bronx businesses, restaurants, and cultural institutions to create initiatives that increased tourism traffic to tourism-ready areas. Visitorship to The Bronx increased by 14% within her first year on the job.
Since leaving the BTC, Tirado relocated to the mid-Hudson Valley and launched a marketing and communications company, O-Communications & Solutions, serving clients throughout the mid- Atlantic region. She is also on the board of directors of the New York State Tourism Industry Association (NYSTIA), where she serves as the chair of the DEAI subcommittee, and a member of the board of Orange Bank & Trust, headquartered in Orange County with branches in lower Westchester and The Bronx. Additionally, she serves as a member of the Fishkill Avenue Concepts Committee, appointed by the Mayor of Beacon.
The New York State TAC comprises eighteen members tasked with identifying and reviewing tourism-related issues and current state policies and programs that directly or indirectly affect tourism and travel in the state. They recommend the adoption of new, or the modification of existing, policies and programs. Other duties include advising the department in its promotion and development of tourism and travel facilities and services, as well as in the development and implementation of the state's tourism marketing and business development program, including long-range strategies for attracting tourists to the state. TAC is also responsible for reporting and advising the department, the governor, and the legislature concerning recommended legislation necessary to foster and promote the prosperity, expansion, and development of tourism and travel concerns within the state, as well as issues concerning existing laws, rules, regulations, and practices of state agencies that are counterproductive or inimical to the prosperity, expansion, and development of tourism and travel concerns within the state.
“I am grateful to both Governor Hochul and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for this opportunity and look forward to joining the other 17 members of TAC to continue to do the work highlighting the tourism and hospitality industries in our great state,” says Tirado.