PHOENIX, AZ (February 18, 2016) - The Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association and Valley Hotel and Resort Association are pleased to announce Laura Cherry as the new Director of Business Development. Laura has an impressive industry background with Arizona-based Best Western Hotels and Resorts where she worked to enhance the company's global brand with member hotels, developers and investors. In her work with Best Western, Laura helped with the development and delivery of a strong sales message tied to brand expertise and creative initiatives.

"Laura is highly experienced with strong, established industry networks and a passion for the travel and hospitality sector," said Kim Sabow, President and CEO of the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association. "Her work with senior industry leaders combined with improving the quality of materials will be important to advancing the level of service we offer to existing and new members."

Laura brings an incredible background of creating engaging messaging for travel and hospitality teams, which has delivered high-performance sales results. Additionally, she has executed FAM trips and assisted in industry events and conferences. Before joining Best Western, Laura served in management roles at Insight Enterprises and P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Inc.

Laura will help strengthen the level of service we are able to offer members, as well as increase our overall membership.

Laura joins the team this week and will be introduced to statewide members during the annual Tourism Unity Dinner on Thursday, February 25 at the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa.

For additional information, please contact Kim Sabow, President and CEO at the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association at 602-604-0729 or ksabow@azlta.com.

The Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association (AzLTA) is the leading public policy advocate for Arizona's Lodging and Tourism Industries. Representing more than 40,000 rooms statewide and 500 members, including hotels, resorts, attractions, destination marketing organizations, B&B's and related industry partners, AzLTA's mission is to unify, protect, educate and promote the interests of the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Industries. For more information, visit http://www.azlta.com.