John Curran is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Big Bus Tours Chicago. Big Bus Tours is the largest privately held open-top sightseeing company in the world, giving visitors the freedom to hop-on to discover and hop-off to explore the cultures of 27 global cities. John’s professional tourism career includes leadership roles in tours and transportation, destination management, restaurants and publishing. As a civic volunteer, John has dedicated more than 20 years serving as a board member, executive committee member and committee chair for organizations including The Magnificent Mile Association, Illinois Office of Tourism, Chicago Loop Alliance, Choose Chicago and U.S. Travel Association’s National Council of Attractions & Experiences. His extensive tourism sales experience includes managing domestic and international travel trade for 26 North American Rainforest Café locations, serving as managing director of international MICE and leisure sales for Choose Chicago and recruiting and training local attraction partners to build host city participation for IPW 2014 and IPW 2025, both held in Chicago. John has also played a key role in producing landmark events in the city, from managing transportation logistics for the historic 2008 Barack Obama Election Night in Grant Park to coordinating championship ticker tape parades for NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL and Olympic athletes. Through his two decades of leadership with The Magnificent Mile Association, he directed the annual Magnificent Mile Lights Festival parade and oversaw consumer marketing, corporate partnerships, and events strategy for Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue and the surrounding district. # # # For more information about Big Bus Tours visit www.bigbustours.com