Salt Lake City (July 19, 2021) — Following the launch of the new “West of Conventional” brand, Visit Salt Lake (VSL) named Bart Blaisdell the new Senior Vice President of Finance & Operations. In his new role, Blaisdell will oversee financial reporting and budgeting for Visit Salt Lake as well as managing day-to-day operations.

“We’re so pleased to have Bart on board,” said Kaitlin Eskelson, president & CEO. “He brings a wealth of knowledge to our team, and his steady hand will ensure we can focus on our top mission of promoting Salt Lake as an intriguing travel destination for tourism and conventions.”

“It’s an exciting time to return to Salt Lake,” said Blaisdell. “As the team is actively telling would-be visitors and convention attendees about our modern mountain hub of the west, I’m eager to support these efforts by managing our financial and operational structure to better enable them to succeed.”

Prior to coming to Visit Salt Lake, Bart was the chief financial officer for Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines, a sightseeing tour and charter company and one of the oldest airlines in the world. Bart has over 10 years of financial management experience, holds a master’s degree in accounting and is a certified public accountant. Bart’s previous roles include working for Ivory Homes and Intermountain Healthcare.

Bart was born & raised in Utah and attended the University of Utah. He and wife and two children enjoy sports, hiking, camping, skiing and a wide variety of music.


Visit Salt Lake is a private, non-profit corporation responsible for the promotion of Salt Lake as a convention and travel destination. In partnership with Salt Lake County, Visit Salt Lake improves the area economy by attracting and providing support to conventions, sports events, leisure travelers and visitors with a strong commitment to sustainability and stewardship of the area’s natural environment. Through its sales and marketing programs, Visit Salt Lake’s impact on Salt Lake’s annual $5.4 billion visitor economy equates to nearly $1,800 in tax relief for each household within Salt Lake County. For more information on all that Salt Lake has to offer, go to www.VisitSaltLake.com.