Key Points
Fred Dixon is in advanced talks to leave Brand USA and return as CEO of NYC Tourism + Conventions, where he previously spent nearly 20 years and led the organization through the pandemic and record international visitation growth.
NYC Tourism is not running a formal executive search to replace departing CEO Julie Coker, with sources indicating Dixon is the leading — and effectively only — candidate, pending board ratification.
Dixon’s departure leaves Brand USA leaderless amid severe challenges: an 80% funding cut (capped at $20M), 15% staff layoffs, a 5.5% drop in U.S. inbound travel, and a fraught relationship with the Trump administration.
Summary
Brand USA CEO Fred Dixon is reportedly in advanced negotiations to return to NYC Tourism + Conventions, the organization he led for a decade before departing two years ago. NYC Tourism’s finance committee is set to approve his compensation, and while the board must still ratify the appointment, sources describe it as effectively a “done deal,” driven partly by the absence of other candidates to replace outgoing CEO Julie Coker (who is leaving to head Visit California). Dixon’s expected exit leaves the top job at Brand USA vacant at a precarious moment: the national destination marketing organization has seen its federal funding slashed 80% (capped at $20 million), laid off 15% of staff, and endured a strained relationship with the Trump administration, which fired five of its board members in 2025 without replacements. The move comes amid a broader downturn in U.S. inbound tourism, which fell 5.5% last year.