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Biography

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For over 18 years, Laura Vandegrift has been working in the tourism industry in a variety of capacities – Tour Operator, Tour Director, President of the Arizona Guides Association, Operations Manager of a tour company, Former Park Ranger at Montezuma Castle National Monument, Founding Member of a national tourism organization, and Teacher/Trainer for an international tour directing school. She was also a Training Consultant with a major communications company.

Ms Vandegrift was a Tauck World Discovery Tour Director for 7 years before working freelance for various tour companies. She was a Phoenix city tour guide for Collette Vacations and a Meet and Greet representative for Globus/Cosmos Tours.

As a local tour guide, Ms. Vandegrift received her Arizona certification in 1993 and has been delighting visitors with her infectious love of the West. As President of the Arizona Guides Association (AGA), she promoted the association at tourism functions, established membership in local Bureaus and Chambers, increased membership by enhancing recruitment efforts, built rapport and strengthened community relations, and introduced training activities for new guides. She continues her Public Relations activities promoting the AGA, the Sedona Historical Museum, and local affiliates at trade shows and community functions.

Ms. Vandegrift was a founding member and Vice President of the National Federation of Tourist Guide Associations, serving on the Public Relations Committee to help raise public awareness of guides, locally, nationally and internationally. She drafted the by-laws, developed and edited the organization brochure, and served as Newsletter Editor.

For 2 years, Laura was an Interpretive Park Ranger at Montezuma Castle National Monument. She is an amateur archeologist and loves to take groups to the ancient Indian ruins around Sedona

As a Teacher/Trainer for the American School of International Tour Directing, Ms. Vandegrift delivered lectures on conducting research and presenting commentary on tour, supervised field trips and made recommendations to major tour companies. Her communications skills and tourism experience helped the students improve their presentations and job opportunities.

For over 10 years, Ms. Vandegrift was involved with the Dale Carnegie organization, both as a Training Consultant and Graduate Coach in their Communications, Sales, and Leadership Training Courses.

Laura Vandegrift is active with various Convention/Visitors Bureaus, Chambers, and networking groups throughout Arizona. She has a BS in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco, and can be contacted at 928-554-4072 or .

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
-- Robert Frost