Maui Visitors and Convention Bureau Names PR Director

Leanne Pletcher. PC: MVCB

The Maui Visitors and Convention Bureau announced the appointment of Leanne Pletcher as its new director of public relations. She will be responsible for promoting Maui Nui globally as a preferred leisure and business destination within the Hawaiian Islands.

Pletcher will focus on developing and executing strategic communications programs that align with MVCB’s parent company, the Hawaii Tourism United States managed by the Hawaiʻi Visitors and Convention Bureau, the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, and Maui County. Her responsibilities will include managing media relations, partnerships, promotions, special events, crisis and issues management, and overseeing initiatives that elevate brand awareness for the islands of Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi.

“We are excited to have Leanne join our MVCB team and know her valuable experience as a marketing communications professional in Hawaiʻi will have immediate impact to our public relations programs and ability to keep Maui Nui top-of-mind in a competitive travel environment,” said Sherry Duong, MVCB’s executive director. “Her extensive network throughout Hawaiʻi and North America, coupled with her knowledge of the national media landscape, gives me great confidence that Leanne will be an effective team member as we continue to develop innovative marketing programs for the islands of Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi.”

A 16-year veteran of Hawaii’s tourism industry, Pletcher brings more than 28 years of experience in communications and marketing to MVCB. She most recently served as director of marketing communications at the Hilton Waikoloa Village from 2003-2017 directing the marketing and public relations efforts for the 1,240-room resort. There, she was responsible for creative writing, hosting national and international media and social influencers, working with national television outlets, managing social media platforms, collaborating on the resort’s digital marketing efforts, representing the property on media blitzes.

Prior to her time with Hilton Waikoloa Village, Pletcher held the positions of executive director for the Kona Association of Performing Arts in Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi from 2001-2003 and director of communications at Holy Cross Resources, Inc. in South Bend, Indiana from 1998-2001.

Pletcher graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana where she earned her master in business administration with a concentration in marketing. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

When she’s not in the office, Pletcher volunteers at Hospice of Kona and has served on the board of directors for the Visitor Aloha Society in West Hawaiʻi. As an avid runner, she also enjoys spending her time swimming.