Travel Impressions restructured its top management, naming Susan Black, formerly executive vice president of global e-commerce, as its new executive vice president and chief marketing officer, and moving John Hanratty, who has been serving as chief marketing officer, to the role of executive vice president and chief operating officer. Steve Gorga remains president and CEO.

According to Gorga, "Travel Impressions is all about our travel agent partners and we want to provide them with the products, services and tools available in mobile and social media so they can compete in the global marketplace,. Having Susan Black in the digital space with her significant digital marketing background gives us an advantage which we are using to benefit the agency community.”

Black, co-founder and former partner of travel industry consulting company The Black & Wright Group, was brought to Travel Impressions two years ago to help with the company's expansion of its online and ecommerce marketing.  "I am asking Susan to help take us into the future to help Travel Impressions assist travel agents to embrace the tools available and help supplier partners further their business in the digital space," Gorga said. Black will continue with her global e-commerce responsibilities in an integrated marketing role that encompasses all marketing and promotion.

As chief operating officer, Hanratty will have responsibility for Travel Impressions' global sales and destination teams.  In addition, he is adding all "customer-facing" departments of the organization including call centers and customer service. Travel Impressions expansion into online marketing includes the recent launch of Social U, a series of travel agent education programs about social media.  Other digital marketing programs will be rolled out over the next few months.

Black's previous posts included serving as chief marketing officer of CheapCaribbean.com; executive vice president, marketing for Liberty Travel/GOGO Worldwide Vacations; founder, TravelCom Conference & Expo; general manager and publisher of Thomas Publishing's Travel Group; and associate publisher of Corporate Travel Magazine. Prior to joining Travel Impressions in late 2004, Hanratty spent seven years at Certified Vacations Group, Inc. (CVG), where he held two major roles as president and general manager of Future Vacations and vice president of corporate marketing for CVG. Before CVG, he was vice president of marketing and sales at Haverfield Corporation, where he grew its sales base by 400 percent over his five-year tenure at the company.

Founded in 1974, Travel Impressions is one of the nation's largest leisure tour operators and a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express, offering travel packages to more than 200 destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, Dubai, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Islands of Tahiti, Canada, Hawaii, Alaska and the continental U.S.