Kitsap Sun staff
The regional tourism agency Visit Kitsap Peninsula has announced a new leader with the pending departure of director Patty Graf-Hoke.
Graf-Hoke has lead the organization since 2009 and planned to step down at the end of April. Her replacement, named by the Visit Kitsap Peninsula Board of Directors, will be Beth Javens, who most recently led the Visit Issaquah organization. The Board of Directors is extremely grateful to Graf-Hoke for her many years of dedication and leadership that transformed the VKP into a regional marketing machine and put the Kitsap Peninsula on the tourism map, said John Kuntz of Olympic Outdoor Center and the president of Visit Kitsap s board of directors. According to a statement from Kuntz, Graf-Hoke was instrumental in branding the Kitsap Peninsula as its own tourism destination, especially for outdoor recreation and adventure sports.