NYC & Company, the official marketing, tourism and partnership organisation and convention bureau for New York City, has promoted Hills Balfour’s Paul Black to direct its European sales and marketing activity within the meeting and events industry.

Jerry Cito, NYC & Company’s first vice president of convention development, commented: “Europe remains a key market for New York City for meetings, incentives, conferences and events and so we are keen to enhance our presence further, under the direction of Paul Black.

“Working with the team at Hills Balfour, Paul has delivered solid results for us during the past 18 months in the UK and we have now extended this remit to further expand New York City’s meetings business from throughout Continental Europe.”

Black has eight years’ experience within the events industry, having previously worked for London & Partners in its Event Solutions team, and for Spanish theme park resort PortAventura.

In his current position at Hills Balfour, Paul has worked full time on behalf of NYC & Company, managing its meeting and events sales and marketing activities for the UK market since joining in August 2010. 

Amanda Hills, chief executive at Hills Balfour, added: “We are thrilled with this appointment for Paul. The events industry is becoming increasingly competitive in a challenging market place and so it remains vital for destinations such as New York City to remain visible and pro-active.

“We are pleased to be able to provide a unique proposition for NYC & Company in delivering activities in the events industry across territories both in and beyond the UK”.