Biography

Alicia Astudillo, marketing director for IVI Destination Management for the past ten years, is a professional’s professional. She can see the “big picture” and orchestrate the company’s marketing strategies throughout Latin America, but she also can roll up her sleeves to make sure an IVI proposal is precisely matched to a client's needs. IVI places a strong emphasis on marketing, and the company’s steady growth is due in large part to having Ms. Astudillo's steady presence in the wheelhouse.

Alicia began her career with a job as Sales Assistant and continuously has added to her skill set, and taken on increasingly more important responsibilities, ever since. She started in the hospitality business by working at service-oriented hotel chain such as Westin and Intercontinental hotels.

Ms. Astudillo says she "fell in love" with the destination management business nearly 20 years ago, and has become a consummate professional in this demanding arena. She admits to being addicted to continuing education, and has completed dozens of courses conducted by the Association of Destination Management Executives (ADME), Society of Incentive and Travel Executives (SITE), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and Hospitality Partner in the Financial and Insurance Conference Planners (FICP HP). She also has competed specialized courses on ISO 9000 quality standards, and works hard to ensure that IVI Destination Management annually earns certification as the industry's only DMC to meet ISO quality standards.

Alicia earned the rare honor of becoming the first in Mexico to become a Destination Management Certified Professional. She currently is one of the international team for reviewing and rewriting the Best Practices in Destination Management Book produced by ADME.

Alicia leads an exceptionally talented and experienced team of marketing professionals, and makes sure that IVI’s role as the leading DMC in the Americas is visible in the marketplace. Ms. Astudillo’s program includes having IVI spokespeople and exhibit booths to promote the company's capabilities at the MICE industry's important trade shows worldwide.

Ms. Astudillo was born in Acapulco, where Mexico’s tourism industry began. She has lived briefly in inland metropolitan areas, but greatly prefers being surrounded by the sounds and breezes of the sea. In her leisure time, Alicia enjoys oil painting, reading a good book or taking in a movie.

Alicia is proud of her country, but she is strongly opposed to the old-fashioned Latin view of 'mañana' (tomorrow), where time is irrelevant. In her personal life, and with her professional marketing team at IVI, she has completely eliminated this concept And no-one appreciates this more than IVI's clients.