Subscribe
to the E-Star!

Yosemite Visitors Bureau names new executive director

By Elizabeth Gabriel

(Updated: Thursday, July 24, 2008, 4:43 PM)

The man is in tourism, promotion, PR.

It's no wonder Dan Cunning comes off in a phone interview as the friendliest, most enthusiastic, smilingest guy to come down the pike in a long time.

And that's just what the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau board probably sought when they started looking for a replacement for longtime director Dan Carter, who resigned in January.

Besides a history of work in fairs and tourism, Cunning, 63, had a little something extra going for him: He is a local -- mostly.

He graduated from Fresno State College (as it was then) in "1969 or 1970." He worked for the Madera District Chowchilla Fair. He has owned land in North Fork for four years and had a home built on the five acres two years ago. His three grown sons live in the Valley.

Going even farther back in his extensive résumé, he ran the cafeteria at Yosemite National Park for Curry Co., the old concessionaire at the park, worked at Badger Pass and helped with the fire fall on summer nights.

Serendipity

Since 2003, Cunning has been the president and CEO of the Lake Havasu Visitors and Convention Bureau in Arizona. He has been the film commissioner for a goodly chunk of Arizona. He is on boards and commissions and has had a gaggle of projects in the pipeline.

But one day as he was perusing the Sierra Star online, he saw a story about a YSVB event that mentioned the search for a new director. He hadn't seen the job posting anywhere.

"I thought to myself, 'I'm not looking for a new job, but I want to come home.'"

That started a process that he said went "pretty quickly."

"I met the board, and we got along well," he said. "It really worked out."

It worked out so well that his first day on the job is Aug. 1.

Rhonda Salisbury, president of the bureau board, said she is pleased with the decision to hire Cunning.

"The visitors bureau is very excited to have Dan on board as new executive director," she said. "He brings excitement, enthusiasm and a lot of knowledge with him."

Cunning acknowledged that he's stepping into a big job, and he apparently already has some goals in mind.

"There are so many things ..." he said. "The bureau needs to represent all of Madera County. And the county has so many things to represent."

He sited agritourism, culinary tourism, the Wine Trail, Chowchilla's Mammoth Orange project, the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway, fairs, Bass Lake, historic sites and spas as part of how he sees his promotional prowess moving into high gear.

"The bureau is not there to tell people to drive through Oakhurst on their way to Yosemite," he said.

"Now," he said, "the bureau needs to convince people in all those areas -- and others -- that we want to work with them."

Go places, do things

With 11 years in tourism on his curriculum vitae, Cunning has the bona fides to speak about the tourism industry as if it should carry a capital "T" and capital "I."

"The world of tourism has changed," he said. "People want to do things, not just get on a bus and look at things."

Promoting events, sites, locations where people can do, rather than look is on his list of challenges to take on.

His own leisure time interests may point to a place he'd like to go with that concept.

"I was a die-hard surfer," he said, "then I decided I wanted to be a cowboy."

He produced rodeos, even participated in a few. Now he is into equestrian events. He golfs, plays tennis and loves to backpack in the John Muir Wilderness.

Hit the ground running

Cunning said he already has meetings scheduled. He will spend some time getting to know the bureau's Partners in Tourism and hit all the chambers of commerce to find out their ideas are.

"Let's start making things happen, let's get things going" he said.

The first thing he'll get going is himself.

"I'm coming home," he said.