Bruce Bommarito attended Michigan State University in the early 1970s, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management at the College of Business, and later studied at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of Nevada Reno, where he successfully completed the Executive Development Program.
In 1973, Bruce Bommarito began a career in his field of study in his hometown of Detroit, overseeing the food and beverage operations for 20 restaurants and lounges at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. These facilities were responsible for serving over twenty million travelers each year.
Following his position with the Detroit airport food and beverage operations group, Bruce Bommarito had the privilege of serving for three years as VP of operations at Caesars Tahoe resort hotel and casino at Lake Tahoe, overseeing 1,200 employees and a $200 million budget. A wide-ranging career that included executive management positions in hotels, casinos and convention centers in many cities and states throughout the country gave Bruce Bommarito a wealth of knowledge about restaurant and hotel management around the United States. This included the position of Managing Director and Property President for the Broad Water Beach Resort and President Casino.
Bruce Bommarito is a certified hotel administrator and also taught hotel administration at the University of South Carolina School of Hotel Management. Bruce Bommarito serves on the Michigan State University School of Hospitality Management Alumni Association Board of Directors and is a member of the Chaine des Rotisseurs, the world’s oldest gourmet association.
In 2001, then Governor of Nevada, Kenny Guinn, appointed Bruce Bommarito to direct the Nevada Commission on Tourism in 2001. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Commerce selected Bruce Bommarito to co-chair the U.S. Tourism Export Expansion Initiative. This was a group whose mission was to implement an historic agreement between the United States and Japan to rebuild tourism after the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on America. Four years later, Bruce Bommarito was reappointed co-chair when the working group was reorganized under a new Commerce secretary.
Bruce Bommarito has served as Director of the Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT) and oversaw international satellite offices in China, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom. In 2004 Bruce Bommarito directed the creation and establishment of Nevada’s tourism office in Beijing China. The Nevada Commission on Tourism was the first U.S. tourism group to be approved by the People’s Republic of China to advertise to its prospective outbound traveling citizens. Bruce Bommarito is a member of the Western States Tourism Policy Council as well as a past two-terms chairman of the Nevada Hotel and Lodging Association.
In December of 2006, Bruce Bommarito joined U.S. Travel as Vice President of International Market Development. Nine months later, Bruce Bommarito added the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer to his duties. Bruce Bommarito reports directly to CEO Roger Dow and is responsible for all U.S. Travel Association departments and is also General Manager of International PowWow. At U.S. Travel, Bruce Bommarito is responsible for promoting awareness of the United States as a tourism destination to both new and current travel markets as well as working to expand the travel market share for the United States around the world.
