Josh D'Amaro
{{Short description|American businessman}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=May 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Josh D'Amaro
| image = Josh D'Amaro (49606712743) (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| office = Chairman of Disney Experiences
| term_start = {{start date|2020|05|18}}
| term_end =
| predecessor = Bob Chapek
| successor =
| office2 = President of Walt Disney World Resort
| term_start2 = {{start date|2019|11}}
| term_end2 = {{end date|2020|05|18}}
| predecessor2 = George Kalogridis
| successor2 = Jeff Vahle
| office3 = President of Disneyland Park
| term_start3 = {{start date|2018|02}}
| term_end3 = {{end date|2019|11}}
| predecessor3 = Michael Colglazier
| successor3 = Rebecca Campbell
| birth_name =
| birth_date = c. 1971
| birth_place = Medfield, Massachusetts,{{cn|date=October 2024}} U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| known_for =
| education = Georgetown University
}}
Josh D'Amaro is an American businessman who has served as Chairman of Disney Experiences since 2020.{{cite news |last1=Parker |first1=Ryan |title=Josh D'Amaro Named Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products {{!}} Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/josh-damaro-named-chairman-disney-parks-experiences-products-1295048#:~:text=The%20Walt%20Disney%20Co.,in%20February%2C%20replacing%20Bob%20Iger. |work=www.hollywoodreporter.com}} Prior, D'Amaro was employed with the Walt Disney Company for 22 years in roles specialized in the company's resorts sector.
Education and early career
In 1993, D'Amaro graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.{{cite web |title=Josh D'Amaro |url=https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/leaders/josh-damaro/ |website=The Walt Disney Company}}{{cite news |last1=Bilbao |first1=Richard |title=The Keys to the Kingdom |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2020/01/30/beyond-the-berm-getting-to-know-walt-disney-worlds.html|url-access=subscription|work=Orlando Business Journal|date=January 30, 2020}} He began his career in the finance department of the Gillette Company based in Boston before joining the Walt Disney Company in 1998.{{cite web |last1=Ludwig |first1=Ashley |title=Promotions Announced At Disneyland Resort |url=https://patch.com/california/ranchosantamargarita/promotions-announced-disneyland-resort |website=Rancho Santa Margarita, CA Patch |language=en |date=February 1, 2018}}
Career in the Walt Disney Company
For the first 10 years of his career at Disney, D'Amaro held various leadership positions. From 1998 to 2008 he was vice president of sales and travel trade marketing.{{Cite web |date=May 18, 2020 |title=Disney World: Josh D'Amaro promoted; Jeff Vahle takes over as president |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-bz-disney-president-promoted-damaro-vahle-20200518-wnkwciyehzfphoa4to73jfvabe-story.html/ |access-date=July 5, 2023 |website=Orlando Sentinel |language=en-US}} During that time he was also director of business planning and strategy development from 2005 to 2006. In 2008, he became chief financial officer of Disney Consumer Products Licensing business and held the position for two years.
=Positions within Disney Parks, Experiences and Products=
In 2010, he was promoted to vice president of Adventures by Disney based in Celebration, Florida. This position meant he oversaw all group guided tour operations to various U.S. and international destinations.
From 2013 to 2014, D'Amaro served as vice president of Disney's Animal Kingdom. Ultimately, D'Amaro was vice president as the theme park planned its major expansion to include Pandora - The World of Avatar, the joint venture between Disney and James Cameron and the largest expansion in its history.{{Cite web|url=https://dpep.disney.com/leaders/josh-damaro/|title=Josh D'Amaro|website=Disney Parks, Experiences and Products}} After the expansion of Disney's Animal Kingdom began construction, in the September 2014, D'Amaro became senior vice president of Resort & Transportation Operations at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, working in this position until February 2017.
From 2017 to 2020, D'Amaro's positions within Parks, Experiences and Products changed quickly. In 2017, he was promoted to CCO of the Walt Disney World Resort, a higher position that he held for a year before taking on the role of president of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, another role he held for a year and a half, before returning to Florida to become president of Walt Disney World Resort.{{Cite web |date=June 23, 2023 |title=VIDEO: Josh D'Amaro Message Now Playing on Disney Resort TVs - WDW News Today |url=https://wdwnt.com/2023/06/josh-damaro-video-message-playing-on-disney-tvs/ |access-date=July 5, 2023 |website=wdwnt.com |language=en-US}}
In 2020, Bob Chapek succeeded Bob Iger as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. On May 18, 2020, D'Amaro succeeded Chapek as chairman of Disney Experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The chairmanship means D'Amaro is responsible for the management of attractions, cruise ships, merchandise and retail of all six theme parks in California, Florida, France, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.{{cite press release |title=Josh D’Amaro Named Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products and Rebecca Campbell Named Chairman of Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer and International |url=https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/josh-damaro-named-chairman-of-disney-parks-experiences-and-products-and-rebecca-campbell-named-chairman-of-disneys-direct-to-consumer-and-international-2/ |website=The Walt Disney Company|date=May 19, 2020 }}
On September 29, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney was forced to cut 28,000 employees from its theme parks.{{cite news |last1=Whitten |first1=Sarah |title=Disney to lay off 28,000 employees as coronavirus slams its theme park business |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/disney-to-layoff-28000-employees-as-coronavirus-slams-theme-park-business.html |work=CNBC |date=September 29, 2020 |language=en}} Despite the phased reopening of many Disney resorts around the world during the summer of 2020, Disneyland Resort in California was unable to reopen its theme parks and furloughed cast members and staff.{{Cite news |last=Diaz |first=Johnny |date=April 12, 2020 |title=Disney World Furloughing 43,000 Workers |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/business/disney-furloughs-coronavirus.html |access-date=July 16, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}
In the beginning of April 2021, as Covid restrictions were being lifted, D'Amaro had set about reopening certain Disney parks and services to the public. On April 30, 2021, Disney reopened Disneyland Park in Anaheim,{{cite news |title=Disney Parks to re-open - but no screaming please |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56434911 |work=BBC |date=March 17, 2021 |language=en}} which was the final Disney resort to reopen after the initial closure. Disneyland Paris reopened on June 17 after the second closure on October 30, 2020, making it the final Disney parks and resorts to be reopened overall and one of three Disney resorts to close, reopen, and close again due to local government restrictions, the others being Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland.{{Cite web|url=https://insidethemagic.net/2021/06/josh-damaro-optimistic-disneyland-paris-kc1/|title = D'Amaro "Incredibly Optimistic" of Future as ALL Disney Parks Are Open Again|date = June 17, 2021}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/leaders/josh-damaro/ Corporate biography]
{{Walt Disney World}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Amaro, Josh}}
Category:Chairmen of The Walt Disney Company
Category:Walt Disney Parks and Resorts people
Category:McDonough School of Business alumni
Category:Procter & Gamble people