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Chad Belisario Joins FINN Partners as Vice President and Co-Lead of West Coast Luxury Travel Team

August 12, 2024

NEW YORK – FINN Partners, a leading global integrated marketing and communications agency, today announced the appointment of Chad Belisario as Vice President for the US Travel Practice. Based in California after years in New York, Belisario doubles as Co-Lead of the FINN West Coast Luxury Travel Team.

Belisario arrived at FINN Partners in April 2024, bringing two-plus decades of public relations, marketing, and communications experience focused on travel and hospitality, as well as a keen sense of the evolution of luxury within the industry. He puts it all to work developing PR strategies to ensure the agency meets the goals and exceeds the expectations of its travel clients, including those seeking to capitalize on residential and real estate development.

To that end, Belisario heads the account team for Habacoa, soon to be the largest superyacht marina in North America and newest luxury residential community in the Bahamas. Other clients on his plate include Hapuna Estates at Mauna Kea on the Kohala Coast of Hawaii, and Montage Hotels and Resorts in Big Sky, Montana; Park City, Utah; and Bluffton, South Carolina.

“I’ve known Chad for years and was delighted for him to join us as we continue to serve clients and look to expand into new travel spaces,” said Jennifer Hawkins, Managing Partner of FINN Partners. “Even with his experience, Chad continues to sharpen his expertise on burgeoning areas of the travel industry, and he is always up for new challenges.”

Belisario joined FINN Partners from 5W Public Relations in New York whereas Vice President, Consumer & Emerging Technology he brought travel clients into the agency’s innovation space. Other outfits to benefit from his expertise over the years include Evins Communications, Parasol Marketing, and Millennium Hotels and Resorts, where he was Corporate Director of Brand Communications, North America.

The most formative of Belisario’s experiences was his seven-year turn as Communications and Residences Marketing Manager with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, which changed his career trajectory and opened his eyes to the emerging residential sector of travel as he worked closely with developers on branding and taking their products to market. Belisario also spent five years as Director of Admissions, Marketing & Communications at the Harvard Club of New York to get experience in hospitality operations – a move he recommends for travel PR talent on the rise.

Raised in Carmel, California, Belisario has long had a passion for food and had hoped to make a culinary career out of it. But instead, he followed his father’s advice to first earn a four-year degree, resulting in Bachelor of Arts in business economics at UC Santa Barbara. He then a earned a Culinary Arts degree from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City and spent two years in the test kitchens at Hearst Magazines before settling into travel PR for good.

Said Belisario of his appointment: “I’m excited to bring the boutique PR mindset that I’ve honed over years to an amazing organization, and to be able to tap into the brain trust of the talented people at FINN Partners.”