Tourism Sarnia-Lambton names Adam Veen executive director

ourism Sarnia-Lambton has appointed Adam Veen executive director, ending six months as interim after Mark Perrin’s departure. The Point Edward agency markets the county and spends a share of local hotel tax.

Tourism Sarnia-Lambton has appointed Adam Veen executive director.

The board announced the appointment Sept. 10 and said it took effect Sept. 8. Veen had been marketing director at the Point Edward agency. He has run the office on an interim basis since March 24, when Mark Perrin left after about seven years as executive director.

The Journal covered that change in April. Board chair Al Duffy thanked Perrin at the time and said the board would look for a permanent replacement within three to four months. The board kept Veen in the job through the summer and has now dropped the interim title.

Tourism Sarnia-Lambton is the destination-marketing organization for Lambton County. From its office at 1455 Venetian Blvd. in Point Edward, it promotes the region as Ontario’s Blue Coast, works with hotels, festivals and sports groups, and spends a share of the municipal accommodation tax collected from overnight visitors.

In Sarnia and Point Edward that hotel tax has recently brought in about $700,000 to $800,000 a year, split between the municipality and the agency. TSL’s portion is meant for marketing, advertising and help underwriting larger events.

Sarnia’s written agreement governing that split expired in 2024. City and agency have kept working under the old terms. In April, Sarnia council voted to renegotiate rather than look for another way to spend the tax. Mayor Mike Bradley said he wanted to see the agency under new leadership before making a longer call. Veen, then still interim, told the Observer he wanted a renewed deal with clearer communication about how and when the hotel-tax money is spent.

Veen lives in Oil Springs and has sat on that village’s council since 2018. This spring, as interim director, he told Plympton-Wyoming council that Lake Huron access, farm country and the corridor between Sarnia and Grand Bend were still underused tourism assets — beaches, trails, farm stays and food.

The appointment puts a marketer who already knows the office, the municipal partners and the hotel-tax file in charge heading into a municipal election on Oct. 26. Sarnia and the agency still have to sign a new hotel-tax agreement.