Update of New Orleans Tourism Industry

Mark is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for New Orleans & Company, the city’s destination marketing organization. From 2011 through 2019, he was President/CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation (NOTMC), the city agency that promoted New Orleans as a leisure tourism destination. His efforts at New Orleans & Company include strategic marketing and promotion that includes print, broadcast and Internet advertising and public relations. New Orleans & Company is known for its cutting-edge web and social media presence. Websites: NewOrleans.com; gonola.com; twitter.com/visitneworleans. Mark is also the stadium announcer for the New Orleans Saints, succeeding his father, Jerry who served in the same role for 44 years. Mark’s Dad, Jerry, and his Grandfather, Jeffrey H. Collins served as members and presidents of the New Orleans Rotary. His Aunt, Bobbie Collins, served as Executive Secretary for many years.
Prior to joining New Orleans & Company and his serve at NOTMC, Mark served as Vice-President of Marketing and Public Relations for HCA Inc. – Delta Division (Hospital Corporation of America). Prior to HCA, Mark had a sixteen-year career at Peter A. Mayer Advertising. Named Top Executive by the Advertising Club of New Orleans in 2002, he was promoted to President of Peter A. Mayer Advertising’s Public Relations Division in 2004, managing a staff of ten professionals and dozens of clients. From 1985 to 1987, and then again for a brief period in 1988, Mark served on the Secretary’s staff at the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. There, he worked as a Staff Assistant to Secretary Elizabeth H. Dole and performed a similar role for Mrs. Dole during her husband’s run for the presidential nomination in 1987-88. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., Mark was Director of Protocol and Guest Relations for the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition (1984 World’s Fair) from 1982 - 1984. Immediately following the World’s Fair, he served a brief stint as Executive Director of LaFete, New Orleans’ Summer Festival, the non-profit organization promoting New Orleans during the summer months. Prior to joining the World’s Fair team, Mark was part of the team that developed the New Orleans Inter-Continental Hotel and was hired as its first National Sales Manager.
Active in his community, Mark, along with his father Jerry, served as Co-Chair of the Media & PR Committee for the 2013 Super Bowl XLVII Host Committee and worked in a volunteer leadership role for the city’s participation in the 2012 Bicentennial of the War of 1812 (NOLA Navy Week). He is a former member of the Board of Trustees and Board Secretary for Xavier University of Louisiana. Mark also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Emeril Lagasse Foundation and Audubon Nature Institute. He is affiliated with City Year – Louisiana, serving as a City Year – Louisiana Champion. He is also a former member of the New Orleans City Park Board of Commissioners, Covenant House of New Orleans. He is active as a member of the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame.
Mark is a former Chairman of the Board of The Idea Village and is Vice-Chairman of the Fore!Kids Foundation Board of Directors, producers of the annual PGA TOUR ‘s Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He is a former President and Chairman of the Board of the Sugar Bowl Committee, heading up the organization during Hurricane Katrina, when the annual event was temporarily relocated to Atlanta (currently a member of the Executive Committee). He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Project Lazarus and the Southern Repertory Theater. Mark is past International President of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity (TKE) and is a former board member of the TKE Educational Foundation. Mark is a graduate of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute and Leadership Louisiana. For several years Mark taught public relations courses at Tulane’s University College.
Mark graduated from Brother Martin High School and attended the University of New Orleans, where he received his B.S. from the School of Business Administration (School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration) in 1978. While in college, Mark interned at the Royal Orleans Hotel, working in several departments to gain experience and credit toward his degree. He was named the school’s outstanding alumnus in 2012. Mark is a member of St. Rita Parish in New Orleans. He was also honored by the Young Leadership Council as a Role Model and received St. Elizabeth’s Guild Volunteer Activist Award in 2008. In 2016 he was named Outstanding Alumnus of the University of New Orleans and in 2018 was presented the Ella Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award by the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience.