With more than 30 years of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry, Joseph Marinelli currently is the president of Visit Savannah, the destination marketing organization for Savannah, Georgia and Tybee Island. 

Prior to taking the helm of Visit Savannah in January 2007, Joe served as Senior Vice President at Experience Columbus, the convention bureau for the Columbus, Ohio region. Prior to his 10 years in Columbus, Joe served in sales and marketing roles for Westin Hotels and Resorts in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Washington DC and at the famed Plaza Hotel in New York City. Now in his role overseeing Savannah’s primary tourism marketing organization, Joe and his team focus on attracting both the leisure visitors and conventions/meetings to the Savannah area while driving business to the more than 2,000 members of the Savannah Chamber.

Joe sits on the statewide boards of the Georgia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus, as well as nationally serving as Chair of the Destinations International Foundation in Washington D.C.  Joe is also on the Boards of the following local organizations: the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center, the United Way of the Coastal Empire, the National Mighty 8th Air Force Museum and the Savannah Music Festival, and has been appointed by Governor Nathan Deal to a state-wide tourism oversight board.

Joe is a professional member of the American Society of Association Executives, the Professional Convention Management Association and Meeting Professionals International. 

In his free time, Joe enjoys golfing and playing tennis and has a passion for the professional  sports teams of his home town, Cleveland, Ohio. He and his wife Rene have a 16-year old son and live on Savannah’s Whitemarsh Island