As a tourism professional for over 25 years, David Holder co-founded Clarity of Place with a hands-on understanding of what destination leaders need to be successful. David leads stakeholder engagement efforts and crafts tactical plans to ensure destinations are equipped with the data and industry insights to react to changing environments but still attain their strategic vision.

In leading a variety of destinations, David proved himself to be an industry innovator, taking new perspectives on what it means for destinations to be competitive and specializing in setting and meeting measurable marketing, sales, and product development results.

A versatile and effective communicator, David honed his destination management skills by collaborating with industry partners though service on the board of directors for Destinations International, the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program and the US Travel Association Destinations Council, to name a few.

Before starting Clarity of Place, David was part of the Global Tourism and Destinations team of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Hotels Group. As the team’s Vice President, David developed destination strategic plans using research & extensive stakeholder engagement across a diverse range of organizations, each seeking innovative new approaches, focused problem solving, or stronger stakeholder connectivity.

In David’s earlier career, he served as the President of Visit Syracuse (the Syracuse CVB) and led all advocacy, operations, and programming. While there, his innovative branding efforts led measurable return on investment: increasing visitor flow and travel spending, measurably improving hotel performance, and garnering the region recognition as the "Official Home of Winter”. Prior to leading Visit Syracuse, David was Vice President for CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity - a 2,000-member regional chamber of commerce and economic development organization that was the predecessor organization from which Visit Syracuse was formed. Additionally, David served the communities of Fredericksburg, VA and the Corning and Finger Lakes region in similar executive capacities.

David received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Tourism Management from North Carolina State University. He is a Certified Destination Management Executive and Immediate Past Chair of the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program.