Virginia Messina

Senior Vice President, Advocacy & Communications, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)

With over 15 years of experience Virginia has spent the last decade advocating for Travel & Tourism. She joined WTTC in 2013 as Chief of Staff responsible for driving the strategic plan and was appointed Executive Director of the Global Travel Association Coalition which aligned key industry organisations (ACI, CLIA, IATA, ICAO, UNWTO and WEF) to speak with ‘One Voice’.

Prior to joining WTTC, she spent a decade in the Mexican Government, including the Presidential Office under Felipe Calderon (2006-2012). During her time at the Ministry of Tourism, Virginia was instrumental in the creation of the National Agreement for Tourism which aligned the public and private sectors around ten key strategic pillars and resulted in Mexico being one of the most visited countries globally. In 2012, under Mexico’s G20 Presidency, she chaired the Tourism Working Group and was critical to the delivery of the Tourism Ministerial meeting which resulted in tourism being recognised as a key pillar for economic growth by the G20 Leaders.

As Senior Vice President, Advocacy & Communications, Virginia oversees WTTC’s policy and research, communications, government and industry affairs as well as the delivery of WTTC’s strategic priorities such as sustainability and digital solutions amongst others.