Ruth Williamson Waves Farewell After Fabulous Career

Stylish. Elegant. And ever so helpful.

Ruth Williamson, a long-time mainstay for the U.S. Commercial Service in Toronto and a popular figure in Canadian/U.S. travel circles, has stepped down after an illustrious career that included not just tourism and travel work but marketing consulting for major North American companies and even freelance newspaper writing about equestrian sports and dog-sledding.

Williamson, known for her elegant dress, poise and constant smile, has been a fixture at Canadian-American travel and tourism functions for the better part of a decade. She most recently served at the U.S. Commercial Service, handling not just travel and tourism but also entertainment (film, music) and other duties with a considerably lower profile.

"I was born in Montreal and had my own company, doing marketing and consulting for Fortune 500 companies more than 10 years," Williamson told TravelPulse Canada.

Williamson, never one to hog the spotlight, said it was best not to reveal the names of those companies publicly. But judging by what she told us on the QT, these were not mom and pop outfits but massive, international businesses that virtually anyone in North America would recognize.

At the same time she was doing her marketing work, Williamson also was taking photos and writing freelance stories for a variety of publications and groups, including the influential Montreal Gazette.

"For the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer (1994) I was sent to scope out the local Olympics organization before the games even happened. When I came back to Montreal I gave speeches and slide presentations and wrote articles about it.

"I also loved photography and writing. What I liked in particular was covering sports with people and animals. I covered a lot of equestrian events and dog-sledding races for the Gazette."

Williamson tells a hilarious story of travelling to the Arctic Circle in Norway for a photo assignment; a job that would've been reasonably manageable with the right equipment.

"I didn't have snowshoes," she recalled in her chat with us. "But I always carried a big, heavy Manfrotto tripod. I was sinking in the snow, so I used the spikes on the tripod to help me get through. That tripod was incredible; so strong."

Williamson said her career "sort of evolved" into travel and tourism.

"Whenever I did promotions for companies I'd try to tie in tourism and travel; maybe think of exciting travel prizes that could be won. I could see the importance of the tourism and travel sector early on. I would contact various tour operators and airlines like KLM and Air France to see what type of interesting promotions we could do together.

Williamson said she remembers a trip to France and hot air balloon rides.

"I also had trips to Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria back in the day. Bulgaria. Yes, that was a real eye-opener."

Williamson said she and her husband, Mark Walker, decided to move to Toronto and saw an ad in the Globe and Mail for someone to work in the U.S. diplomatic sector.

"That's how it started. I thought 'I've never done that before' but I was always very commercial and consumer focussed, very product focussed. I worked with the state of Florida and mostly with the state of Illinois. I worked in every sector imaginable, whether it was investment, food & beverage, foreign investment. I started to think that music and tourism could be really big, and I took a trip to Chicago that I found very inspiring."

"One year for Christmas I gave my husband a trip to Chicago. He wasn't sure about the city, but I said I wanted to see Chicago through the eyes of a first-timer. I told him I wanted to do a bus tour but he wasn't so keen. He said, 'that's for seniors.' But he loved it. He didn't want to get off the bus."

"Our first night in Chicago we wandered into Buddy Guy's club. The guy at the front said, 'You're in luck, Buddy's here tonight.' I told him I worked with the state of Illinois and worked on tourism, so he told Buddy, and Buddy said he wanted to meet us. He said that he wanted to have his picture taken with me. It was fantastic. The next night we want to the House of Blues and one of the performers asked if there were any professional musicians in the audience. I jumped up and said, 'Yes,' because Mark was a professional trumpet player and singer. They called him up on stage and he played the song "Kansas City." He was really good. People wanted to party with him and follow him around!"

"I visited our office in Chicago and told the marketing director about our trip. She got all excited, so we got a budget for travel and tourism."

Williamson then took a job with the U.S. commercial service, from which she recently retired.

"I was doing franchising and licensing as well as construction and consumer good. It wasn't just travel and tourism and entertainment. People think the travel and tourism stuff is fun. And it is. But it's also so important to a country's economy.

"International travel is the largest export of services for the U.S. and accounts for 36% of total service exports to Canada. Travel and tourism are the seventh largest employer in the U.S., representing I think 16 million jobs. That's huge. The U.S. has the U.S. Travel Association and Brand USA, but I don't think either the U.S. or the Canadian government truly understands how big travel and tourism are for the economy."

Williamson said she's particularly proud of a couple of initiatives she's worked on recently.

"I love Canadian Music Week. I think that should continue and it could even be bigger and better next year. We shouldn't just stop these music and travel/tourism programs. Music is so vital in the U.S. It has such a harmonizing influence."

She also recently has worked with the Toronto International Film Festival, helping stage a seminar for music supervisors (people who choose music for TV, films and advertising) in 2018. Williamson said she was thrilled to work at getting a memorandum of understanding signed in 2017 between The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association and the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada.

"This is something I think can really increase visitation from overseas. It's a unique product nobody else has."

Williamson left her job with the U.S. Commercial Service at the end of June.

"I consider everyone in travel and tourism as my friend," she told TravelPulse Canada. "It's been my pleasure to promote the U.S. in Canada and to see how Canadian tour operators and the media and DMO's can benefit from U.S. tourism."

"Ruth is very professional," said Charmaine Singh, head of Reach Global Marketing. "She loves the industry and is committed to getting results. Never mind the circumstances or situation, Ruth is always positive. I've never seen her upset or disappointed about anything."

Sue Webb, head of VoX Interntional, threw a surprise party for Williamson at the VoX offices last week.

is a classy woman, relentless, passionate and a true professional," Webb said. "She had an appendix operation only weeks before IPW but she showed up! And she had a full slate of appointments with US destinations promoting DACC membership and our events in Canada. I'm sure she was texting me on the way to your hospital room from the operating room, making sure the Canadian delegation reception at IPW was confirmed.

"She was the IPW (Pow Wow) Queen for Canada," Webb said. "She was responsible for developing the qualified list of Canadian delegates of buyers and media that would attend the annual trade convention held in the USA Ruth also was our lobbyist for assuring the Canadian delegates' hotel at IPW was a great location and an excellent property."

"Ruth was instrumental in assisting many US destinations plan successful trade missions for both tourism and economic development in Canada. She has hosted many mayors, governors and key industry personnel in Canada helping them make successful partners."

Webb said Williamson also was critical for the Discover American Canada Committee that promotes the USA to Canadians.

"Ruth has been our contact with the US Consulate and Embassy, assuring we were kept updated on any new travel policies or visa requirements or news on US plans for tourism development. She was our liaison. But she didn't just focus on travel and tourism; she had many more hats to wear helping US companies do business in Canada. I am sure those sectors will miss her as well as we will on tourism.

"The news of her retirement is bittersweet" Webb said. "We know she deserves to relax, maybe travel a bit, enjoy time with her supportive husband, Mark, but we will miss her tenacious spirit, friendship and professionalism.

Williamson said she and her husband have been back to visit family and friends in Montreal a couple of times already and will continue to do that. Of course, they'll also be making trips to the U.S.

"I've never had the summer off so I'm going to enjoy it."

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