Joe Buhler

Current

Senior Destination & Social Media Marketing Analyst at PhoCusWright, Inc.
Partner & EVP at Level 9
Principal at buhlerworks (Sole Proprietorship)

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Past

EVP, Business Development, Strategic Alliances & Industry Relations at EuroVacations.com
Director, North America at Switzerland Tourism
Director, UK & Ireland at Switzerland Tourism

Director, Canada at Switzerland Tourism
Director, Japan & SE Asia at Switzerland Tourism
Sales Manager, Japan at Kuoni Travel Group

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3 more...

Recommended

4 people have recommended Joe

Connections

444 connections

Industry

Leisure, Travel & Tourism

Websites

Joe Buhler’s Summary

Broad based experience in executive management, marketing, e-commerce and strategic business development in leisure travel & tourism.

Hands on know how of the cultural and business environments in the most important global tourism source markets, North America, Europe & Japan/Asia in particular.

Acquired leadership and management skills by having overall responsibility for the performance of business operations in key global markets.

Held at various times influential elective positions in professional industry associations and interest groups.

Interested in working with innovators in leisure travel and tourism and provide them support to achieve their business objectives by using the web as the most effective and efficient distribution and communications channel.

Joe Buhler’s Specialties:

Innovative, effective web based marketing solutions development for Tourism Marketing on the Smart Web, including Social Web Engagement • Brand Monitoring • Reputation Management

Joe Buhler’s Experience

Senior Destination & Social Media Marketing Analyst

PhoCusWright, Inc.

(Privately Held; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

April 2006 — Present (3 years 8 months)

Advise and work with management and marketing staff on all aspects of social media marketing. Manage and maintain the active presence of the company in all social media. Research and recommend new tools to expand activities in this area of communications.

Project specific work for research clients in destination marketing organizations (DMO). Support the custom research and analysis group in DMO client related services.
Partner & EVP

Level 9

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Financial Services industry)

February 2003 — Present (6 years 10 months)

Level 9 is a web and software development firm specialized in providing innovative technology solutions in the financial services and travel & tourism industries.

Level 9 assists customers in optimizing the web as the principal business channel with a strong focus on building effective solutions with clearly defined customer benefits.

• Develop the overall business strategy and key objectives together with the other managing partners
• Decide the best resources allocation to achieve objectives and targets and maximize ROI
• Support partners in active customer acquisition and recruitment of consulting assignments
Principal
buhlerworks (Sole Proprietorship)

(Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

April 2002 — Present (7 years 8 months)

Vision | Strategy | Innovation for Tourism Marketing on the Smart Web

Consulting services for the travel & tourism industry and destination marketing organizations on Social Media Measurement, Brand Monitoring and Web Reputation Management.

Interested in relevant project work and speaking engagements on this topic of expertise.
EVP, Business Development, Strategic Alliances & Industry Relations

EuroVacations.com

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

January 2000 — October 2001 (1 year 10 months)

Member of the executive management team of this new on- and offline tour operating venture, majority owned by Rail Europe Group the largest rail distribution company in North America.

• Worked on the development of the overall business plan and the corporate strategy.
• Researched and analyzed business development and strategic alliance opportunities for the company to assure continued business growth and maximize profit potential.
• Developed and managed the relationships with key strategic partners.
• Formulated the corporate marketing and communication plans.
• Established and expanded the company presence in the travel industry and the relevant media through effective corporate communications and active industry relations.
• Concluded a key contractual agreement with the largest online travel site to sell the company’s product through a co-branded website.
Director, North America

Switzerland Tourism

(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

May 1993 — December 1999 (6 years 8 months)

Responsibility for the overall management and marketing of Switzerland as a preferred destination for travelers from the United States, Canada & Mexico. Supervision of the New York based Travel Industry Relations, Media Relations teams and Customer Contact Center as well as the regional offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Toronto.
Director, UK & Ireland

Switzerland Tourism

(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

April 1988 — April 1993 (5 years 1 month)

Responsibility for the overall management and marketing of Switzerland as a preferred destination for British and Irish travelers. Profit & Loss responsibility for the sale of Swiss railway products and airline tickets. Annual Revenue: $ 4 Mio.
Director, Canada

Switzerland Tourism

(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

March 1984 — April 1988 (4 years 2 months)

Overall responsibility for the management and marketing of Switzerland as a preferred destination for Canadian travelers.
Director, Japan & SE Asia

Switzerland Tourism

(Non-Profit; 51-200 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

June 1976 — February 1984 (7 years 9 months)

Overall responsibility for the management and marketing Switzerland as a preferred destination for Japanese and South East Asian travelers.
• Established Switzerland's first presence in this fast growth tourism market with the opening of the tourist board’s first Asian office in Tokyo.
• Expanded the activities to other emerging key tourism source markets; Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Sales Manager, Japan

Kuoni Travel Group

(Privately Held; 5001-10,000 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

1970 — 1975 (5 years )