Barret Fisher Barrett Fisher, President & CEO, Tourism Whistler
Barrett Fisher is the President & CEO of Tourism Whistler. She brings to her position 20 years of tourism experience, and is responsible for marketing and selling Whistler world-wide, for leading Tourism Whistler into new markets and segments, and for creating new strategic alliances and partnerships for the association.
In addition to heading up the tourism organization of Research, Marketing, Leisure Sales, Conference Sales, Communications and Events, Fisher’s responsibilities also include overseeing the operations of the Whistler Conference Centre, the Whistler Golf Club, the Whistler Visitor Centre and Coast Mountain Reservations (the call centre for Whistler.com and 1-800-Whistler).
In addition to being the President & CEO, Fisher has held a number of key positions with Tourism Whistler, including President, Vice President of Marketing & Sales, Vice President of Marketing, Director of Marketing, and Director of Advertising & Promotion.
Some of Fisher’s accomplishments include launching the grand re-opening of the Whistler Conference Centre’s $12 million expansion and upgrade; negotiating a number of title sponsors for the organization; overseeing the creation of a long-term tourism strategy for the Resort; and leading the development and execution of a dozen Olympic & Paralympic tourism strategies to maximize Whistler’s marketing opportunities surrounding the 2010 Winter Games.
Currently, Fisher serves on a number of boards, including the Vancouver Organizing Committee of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the Pemberton Airport Authority, Coast Mountain Reservations, and the Whistler Chamber of Commerce. Fisher was one of the founding members of One Whistler, a broad committee of Whistler’s leaders who come together to brainstorm solutions on resort-wide issues. As well, she sits on the Economic and Partnership committees of the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s 2020 Sustainability/ Community Plan.
Fisher has served on a variety of tourism committees in conjunction with the Canadian Tourism Commission, Tourism British Columbia, the Council of Tourism Associations, and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. Also, Fisher was a founding member of the Canadian Destination Ski Consortium, a national consortium of ski destinations who market co-operatively to international markets.
Prior to Tourism Whistler, Fisher worked in the newspaper industry for seven years as Managing Editor of the North Shore News, and before that News Editor, Lifestyles Editor and Reporter. Fisher was honored with the MacMillan Bloedel Journalism Award for Investigative News Reporting in 1986.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from the University of British Columbia, a Diploma in Journalism from Vancouver Community College and a Diploma in Marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago.
Fisher was honored by the North Shore Business & Professional Women’s Club as Business Woman of the Year in 1987, and was recognized by Business in Vancouver as one of 10 Influential Women in Business in 2006.
Born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Fisher is married and has one daughter. Fisher is an avid downhill skier, cross country skier, cyclist and swimmer.
