Robert Lopez is stepping down as Visit McAllen’s vice president and headed to Abilene, the McAllen Chamber of Commerce announced Monday.
Lopez, who joined the chamber in 2012 as director of sales, was named vice president in October 2019.
Alexandra Arevalo will assume Lopez’s duties, interim Chamber President Blanca Cardenas said Monday.
Visit McAllen was formerly known as the Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Speaking to The Monitor on Monday, the outgoing VP’s attention was very much focused on the future.
Lopez, who is slated to sign on as the vice president of the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau in March, said the potential of growth in that town prompted the move.
“There’s a lot of great things that are happening in Abilene right now,” he said. “It’s a growing city, and I want to join that team and be part of that city’s growth. When I went up there to visit with them I met a lot of amazing people, and I was really impressed with the community and the vision that they share for the city. That was exciting for me.”
Lopez said he feels progress in McAllen’s sports tourism market was the overarching theme of his tenure at the chamber, progress he said was aided by municipal growth, opening a new sports facility, hotels and baseball and softball parks.
“We were able to create this booming sports tourism market,” he said. “Abilene is in that same process. They just opened a new sports facility, they just opened a new convention center, a downtown convention center hotel that’s opening. So, when I look back at McAllen and the accomplishments, there were a lot of those opportunities throughout my career in McAllen, and I was able to really capitalize on those opportunities and make the most out of them.”
A release from the chamber lists other accomplishments during Lopez’s tenure, among them record-breaking hotel occupancy numbers and revenues, an agreement to host Copa Amistad International youth soccer tournament and booking the Texas Football All Star Showcase among Lopez’s successes.
The soccer tournament alone is expected to generate $12.2 million for the economy and 17,750 hotel room nights for McAllen hotels.
“Although the McAllen Chamber staff and I will be sad to see Rob go, we are proud of his accomplishments during his leadership in the Visit McAllen CVB department,” Cardenas wrote.
Lopez also launched the McAllenExperience.com website and the Safe Stay Commitment program, the release said.
“The Chamber wishes Robert much continued success in his career endeavors and knows that he will be a great asset to Abilene as he was to the city of McAllen,” it reads.
Arevalo, who will take over Lopez’s duties in the organization, is director of sales and will serve as interim director in her new post.
“Robert Lopez, our current Convention & Visitors Bureau Vice President, has done a fantastic job leading our team for the last few years and I know I have big shoes to fill, but I’m confident we can carry on with Robert’s plan,” Arevalo wrote in a release. “I am excited to continue to lead the team in a forward-thinking way.”
The release said she has worked with Visit McAllen for more than two years in a sales capacity and previously worked as a convention sales manager. She has worked for the city of McAllen as an event coordinator for the Convention Center and Performing Arts Center and began her career in the hospitality industry in Austin, working with a destination management company handling incentive travel for Fortune 500 companies.
“We’re very excited to have Alex as our new Interim Director of CVB. She brings a lot to the table and we’re confident she will do an amazing job. Her current relationships with the hotels are another value added that will aid in her transition to her new position,” Cardenas wrote.
Lopez’s exit is not the chamber’s only recent high-profile departure.
In October, longtime chamber president Steve Ahlenius resigned from his post, a departure some reporting indicated was contentious.
