Destination management consultant. Managing Principal, Oldford Global Consulting. Former CMO, CSO, and Acting CEO, PROMTUR Panama.
Woodrow Oldford is a destination governance and economic development strategist and the Managing Principal of Oldford Global Consulting, specializing in DMO formation, destination strategy, governance reform, and national tourism brand development.
Woodrow Oldford builds destination institutions and the governance, brand, and measurement frameworks that determine whether they generate lasting social, environmental, and economic impact.
Over 20 years he has held CEO, CMO, and CSO roles across Canada, Latin America, and the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia he served as Interim Head of the Destination Marketing Organization for a large-scale PIF-backed regenerative tourism development aligned with Vision 2030. He designed the DMO governance model for 14 destinations, established a 29-role organizational structure with a board accountability framework and five-year strategic roadmap, evolved the destination brand to a narrative framework differentiating the regenerative model through community impact, coral restoration, and cultural preservation, and executed an integrated destination marketing launch across Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar. He built and trained the internal marketing team for program handoff.
He served as Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, and Acting CEO of PROMTUR Panama, where he built the national DMO from inception, developed Panama's first unified national destination brand, and connected a USD 22M promotional investment to USD 1.8B in annual economic impact. All three four-year organizational targets were achieved ahead of schedule.
As VP Global Marketing at Banff and Lake Louise Tourism he built a unified global demand strategy across competing mandates and grew year-round destination occupancy from 65% to 78% by redirecting investment toward off-season dispersal rather than peak demand.
Oldford Global works with governments, ministries, and DMOs on formation, governance design, destination strategy, brand architecture, and economic impact attribution.
Organizational design, board accountability frameworks, enabling legislation, transition planning, and operating models for national and regional destination authorities.
Long-horizon destination development planning aligned with community, environmental, and economic objectives. National tourism master plan development and implementation.
Full brand architecture from DNA to deployment: brand promise, essence, positioning, platform, psychographic segmentation, visual identity, and multi-channel execution.
Multi-source attribution models connecting promotional investment to national economic outcomes. Business intelligence infrastructure, multiplier methodology, and public reporting frameworks.
Governance models that embed social, environmental, and economic accountability into destination management. Regenerative tourism frameworks and community benefit structures.
Program-based marketing models that build lasting destination consideration across the full traveler journey rather than burst-and-blackout campaign cycles.
| 2023 – Present |
Managing Principal
Oldford Global Consulting
Panama City – MENA – International
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| 2020 – 2023 |
Chief Marketing Officer & Chief Strategy Officer | Acting CEO
PROMTUR Panama
Panama City, Panama
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| 2016 – 2020 |
VP, Global Marketing
Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
Banff, Alberta, Canada
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| 2010 – 2016 |
Director, Creative Services & Digital Operations
WestJet
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Oldford Global works with governments, ministries, DMOs, and destination development organizations on the mandates that determine whether tourism generates lasting social, environmental, and economic impact.
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