ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - (April 5, 2016) - The Visit Albuquerque (Visit Albuquerque) announces the hiring of Alex Shelton as the organization's new Vice President of Convention Sales, Services & Sports.

Shelton begins at Visit Albuquerque this week and will oversee the Convention Sales, Services and Sports divisions, which are responsible for generating qualified meeting, convention and sporting event leads to be distributed to Albuquerque's hotels, the Albuquerque Convention Center and area event and sports facilities. In his role, he will guide the collective destination team to turn those leads into definite business for Albuquerque and ensure the groups have successful meetings and events in the city.

"Alex's impressive hotel and meetings sales background-along with his destination sales, revenue management and sports knowledge-make him an ideal fit for our team," said Visit Albuquerque President & CEO Tania Armenta. "With over 25 years of industry experience, Alex brings new ideas and perspective on the destination, which will be beneficial as we continue honing our approach to market Albuquerque as the Southwest's premier destination to meeting and event professionals across the country."

"I'm excited about this opportunity because of all of the natural strengths that Albuquerque has to offer as a meetings destination," said Shelton. "You're not going to find its atmosphere or unique attributes anywhere else. These intrinsic assets have helped the city grow in recognition as an ideal location in the eyes of meeting planners, and I am looking forward to strengthening Albuquerque's role as a one-of-a-kind destination within the meetings and conventions industry."

Shelton's career has afforded him the opportunity to be involved in all job areas associated with the role of Vice President of Convention Sales, Services & Sports for Visit Albuquerque. He has experience as a trade show producer, trade show contractor and director of convention sales, along with working with sports commissions across the country and being a sales leader within the convention and visitors bureau (CVB) model. Shelton joins the Visit Albuquerque team most recently from Innovative Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada where he served as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Shelton has also been selected by his peers within the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) to serve as National Chairman of the Industry Issues Committees within these organizations, and was a guest speaker for PCMA, IAEE and Meeting Professionals International (MPI) national conventions.