The Discover Dominica Authority today announces that Mr. Colin Piper has been appointed its new CEO and Director of Tourism, effective as of Monday, February 16, 2009.

A Dominican native, Mr. Piper has over two decades of sales, marketing and operations experience both domestically and internationally with clearly demonstrated results.

Prior to his new position as CEO, Mr. Piper worked for Microsoft Corporation, where he developed strategies for sales to the financial services sector. These sales strategies generated over $12 million in sales of software products for computing devices worldwide to clients including U.S. Bank, the 6th largest bank in the US, and Ameriprise Financial, the 3rd largest financial advisory firm in the U.S. ranked by number of advisors.

Mr. Piper further spent two years working as a key member of the management team of the National Development Corporation for Dominica. He played a vital role in operations at the World Creole Music Festival and acted as the executive director for the 2001 staging of the Festival.

Mr. Piper also was a principal of FreeStyle Inc, a leading local media consultancy firm, where he helped develop destination marketing campaigns to grow the destination’s tourism industry. Mr. Piper served two years as treasurer of the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association where he implemented fiscal policy to balance the books.

Mr. Piper is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance and his MBA in Marketing, Finance and Strategic Management.