Chicago’s Hunden Partners, a full-service real estate development and tourism consulting firm, hired two executive vice presidents.
Jay Burress joins as Executive Vice President of Tourism and Bethanie DeRose as Executive Vice President of Consulting, both bringing extensive destination planning and development experience to the firm.
Burress, most recently the CEO of Visit Anaheim for 11 years, is a Destination Management Organization (DMO) leader who has transformed destinations like Anaheim, Dallas, and Arlington through placemaking and tourism efforts while furthering the quality-of-life assets for residents for over 35 years.
He has hosted mega events including the Super Bowl, World Cup, and NBA All-Star games, played a pivotal role in the expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center, and collaborated on the development of AT&T Stadium and the evolution of Disneyland. As EVP of Tourism at Hunden Partners, his primary focus will be on the development of placemaking plans as he bolsters Hunden’s tourism and DMO services. This includes oversight of destination development studies and implementation efforts for clients’ major tourism assets such as convention centers, sports facilities, destination districts and major events.
DeRose is a highly regarded advisor to tourism, hospitality, and convention industry leaders with expertise on both the operations side and the planning side, building strategies for destinations across the U.S. and internationally. She is known as a research-driven, evidence-based strategist and decision maker with an ability to vision with practicality in mind. Currently, DeRose is part of spearheading the largest DMO-led statewide tourism strategic plan in the United States for Visit California.
Her previous work as EVP at JLL, co-leading the Global Tourism & Destination Advisory Practice in hundreds of destinations, informs her role at Hunden in overseeing the development and delivery of studies, master plans, strategic plans, and advisory work. Under DeRose’s leadership, that practice has increased five-fold over an eight-year period.
In addition to her responsibilities at Hunden, DeRose will continue to consult for Visit California’s project, which aims to craft 12 regional tourism strategic plans to assist tourism stakeholders, local communities, and civic collaborators in planning for the future of their destinations over the next 10 years.
