Brenda Scolari named Nevada tourism director

Brenda Nebesky Scolari, a deputy director who temporarily held the position of director of the Nevada Department of Tourism &Cultural Affairs since December 2018, has been appointed to the post full time.

Gov. Steve Sisolak on Tuesday announced the appointment about six weeks after the Nevada Commission on Tourism recommended her and a second candidate as finalists for the job.

Scolari has been with the department since 2014 and replaces Claudine Vecchio, who resigned more than two years ago to become CEO of Sonoma County Tourism in California. Deputy directors have led the department since Vecchio’s departure.

The Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs oversees the state’s tourism marketing initiatives in addition to the state’s museums and the Nevada Indian Commission.

The office works primarily to promote rural tourism in the state and often works with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority, whose top executives sit on the organization’s board of directors.