Former Visit Orlando executive Cranis selected as Brevard tourism chief

Brevard County Manager Frank Abbate has selected former Visit Orlando executive Peter Cranis as the new executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism.

If Cranis is confirmed by the County Commission at its Feb. 12 meeting, he will start in his new job on March 4. Cranis will earn a salary of $115,000 a year.

Cranis was vice president of global consumer and convention marketing for Visit Orlando (formerly known as the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau) from 1999 to 2016.

More recently, he was the head of marketing for the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye, a 400-foot-tall observation wheel in the heart of the Orlando tourist district, from 2016 to 2017.

Cranis grew up in Melbourne, and is a graduate of Eau Gallie High School and Brevard Community College (now Eastern Florida State College), where he graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in journalism. He also has lived in Cape Canaveral.

Cranis has Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in communication from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

In an email to members of the advisory Brevard County Tourist Development Council, Assistant Brevard County Manager for Community Services Jim Liesenfelt wrote: "The selection of a new director was not an easy decision, as all three finalists were strong candidates, and each offered many positive, creative and insightful plans for the future growth of tourism in Brevard County."

More:Three finalists named for Space Coast Office of Tourism executive director

More:5 candidates under consideration to become Brevard County tourism director

More:Former state legislator Deratany to chair Brevard County Tourist Development Council

The other two finalists were:

• Edward Caum, Collier County deputy director for tourism and sports marketing in Naples. He is the former tourism manager/public communications specialist at the Pasco County Office of Tourism Development in New Port Richey.

• Susan Phillips, director of tourism promotion and strategic alliances for the St. Johns County Visitors and Convention Bureau in St. Augustine. She is the former director of marketing at the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber/Convention and Visitors Bureau in South Carolina.

Cranis were selected from 15 initial applicants for the position.

Liesenfelt said Cranis now is doing tourism-related consulting work.

If confirmed by the County Commission, Cranis will succeed Eric Garvey, who left his county position on July 31. Garvey moved to a private-sector job as chief operating officer of the Baugher Hotel Group, a hospitality and real estate development firm founded and operated by Bob Baugher of Cocoa Beach, a member of the Tourist Development Council. 

Garvey's county salary was $128,546-a-year, and he was the highest-paid county department head.

Since then, Office of Tourism Deputy Director Bonnie King has been serving as the agency's interim executive director. King did not apply for Garvey's job on a permanent basis, as she is scheduled to retire on June 30. She has been with the Office of Tourism since 1987.

The Office of Tourism oversees one of the key drivers of the Brevard County economy. Tourism is a $2.1 billion-a-year industry in Brevard County that is responsible for more than 26,000 jobs. Hotels, restaurants, retail stores and attractions all benefit.

The county's tourism operations are funded by a 5 percent Tourist Development Tax on hotel rooms and other short-term rentals. That tax raised a record $15.58 million in the budget year that ended Sept. 30, and is projected to raise more than $16 million in the current budget year.

Cranis has a wide range of advertising and marketing experience in Central Florida, including in the banking and telecommunications sectors. Among Cranis' previous positions before joining Visit Orlando were:

• Director of marketing communications for the American Automobile Association's national office in Lake Mary from 1997 to 1999.

• Director of marketing for Kirchman Corp. in Orlando, a firm specializing in banking automation systems, from 1995 to 1997.

• Assistant vice president/advertising manager for SunTrust Banks Inc. in Orlando from 1990 to 1995.

• Advertising manager and community relations administrator for Sprint/United Telephone in Altamonte Springs from 1987 to 1990.

• Advertising/public relations manager for Church Street Station tourist attraction in downtown Orlando from 1985 to 1987.

Cranis also was an adjunct professor at UCF from 1989 to 2015. He taught classes in advertising copywriting and advertising/public relations campaigns at UCF's School of Communication, as well as classes in destination management and destination marketing at UCF's Rosen College of Hospitality.

Cranis is former chairman of the UCF Alumni Association board of directors; former president of the School of Communications chapter of the UCF Alumni Association; and an inductee into the UCF Nicholson School of Communications Hall of Fame.

A summary prepared for Brevard County by executive search firm SearchWide Global indicated that, while at Visit Orlando, Cranis was responsible for advertising and marketing programs in eight countries; managed the visitor and call centers; oversaw travel industry marketing in the United States and Canada; and managed several other departments.

When he left the organization in 2016, he was managing more than 40 staff members, a $25 million marketing budget, and attraction ticket sales of $14 million.

"His passion is marketing, tourism and Brevard County, where he has lived in a beach condo for the last 10 out of 11 years," the SearchWide Global report said.

The three finalists for the tourism director job had separate hourlong meetings on Jan. 24 at the Brevard County Government Center in Viera with a group that included two of the five Brevard County commissioners and seven of the nine members of the Brevard County Tourist Development Council. 

In his email to Tourist Development Council members, Liesenfelt wrote that he and Abbate "want to sincerely thank all of the TDC members who participated and helped in the selection process for our new director.  Your input was a valuable and important part of our hiring process, and we look forward to working with Peter to advance the mission of the Space Coast Office of Tourism." 

Berman is government editor at FLORIDA TODAY.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649

or dberman@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @bydaveberman

Facebook:  /dave.berman.54

Support local journalism:  Subscribe at floridatoday.com/subscribe.