Lisa Simon

Lisa is a Cygnet strategic partner and President & CEO at the Simon Connection.

Lisa Simon’s expertise is in association management, strategic planning and tourism market development. With nearly 30 years of experience in association management, her facilitation skills and analytical abilities have proven effective in leadership development, strategic planning, organizational structure and change management.

Lisa most recently served as the president of NTA (National Tour Association), the premier travel and tourism association in North America. NTA has a global membership of 3,000 tourism professionals in 44 countries involved in the growth and development of the packaged travel industry.

Lisa began her association and tourism career with NTA in 1985 when the association was managed by Host Communication, Inc.  During her tenure with Host, later purchased by IMG Worldwide, Lisa managed NTA’s education, certification and marketing activities, as well as serving as the director of its philanthropic arm, the National Tourism Foundation (now Tourism Cares) and its for-profit publishing division, National Tour Marketing Services. Lisa served as NTA’s senior vice president from 1998 to 2004 and president from 2007 to 2013. Prior to serving as NTA’s president, Lisa oversaw IMG’s association management company as senior vice president of association management. Additionally, she served as the executive director of the International Coach Federation, a global association for business and life coaches.

Lisa has spoken on global and domestic travel, tourism marketing and travel industry trends throughout the United States, and on the American market in Canada, China, Egypt, India, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, Tanzania and the UK.

Lisa is a member of the American Society of Association Executives. She previously served on the boards of the U.S. Travel Association, Caribbean Tourism Organization, Destination Marketing Association International Foundation, the Association for Coach Training Organizations and Tourism Cares. She received the Certified Tour Professional designation from NTA in 1994.