Deb Ward — President

“Do or do not. There is no try.” ~ Yoda

Deb Ward (formerly Collins) was born into the hospitality industry, literally! Her family hails from generations of New Hampshire innkeepers dating back to the late 1800’s. Growing up in both the front-of-the-house service and back-of-the house operations, the complexities and nuances to running a successful hospitality business are second nature to her.

Fast-forward to today, where she combines this early training with 25 years of professional work in the industry. Her professional career spans an array of marketing and strategic roles on both the client and agency side of the business. Deb has a proven track record for her creative approach to developing strategies and improving business processes that drive revenues. From leading RFP teams to implementing new marketing automation tools, she is recognized for her ability to deliver projects on time and on budget.

Prior to starting Peak Vantedge, she was the Division VP of Sales & Marketing for Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts where she developed the strategy, infrastructure, systems and innovations to support the sales and marketing needs of diverse holdings comprised of 26 unique resort and attraction destinations around the world. Under her tenure, the portfolio routinely outperformed the respective markets in each geographic location, most notably the years following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.

Deb’s education spans an undergraduate degree in English at the University of New Hampshire, international studies in psychology and philosophy in Vienna, Austria, and an MBA from Plymouth State University.

Deb has been a featured speaker at:

TravelCom’s Executive Women’s Forum
National Park Service Tourism Committee Annual Meeting
California Travel & Tourism’s Sustainable Tourism Conference
National Park’s Promotional Council Market Research Conference
International Entrepreneurs Mission (Brazil) – Deb served as facilitator and featured speaker during a multi-city outreach program throughout Brazil to educate and develop public private partnerships for tourism and conservation in Brazilian national and state parks.