Frank Lockwood will likely be the next executive director of the Durango Area Tourism Office.

The DATO board approved his appointment as deputy director in early April and will work with Executive Director Bob Kunkel from during May and June. The board will vote again after his tenure as deputy director on his appointment to the executive director position.

Lockwood worked for 30 years as a lawyer in Hawaii where he specialized in family law and mediation. He owned his own firm for 25 years until he retired nine years ago.

While he does not have a background in tourism or marketing, he has experience in management and as a community and consensus builder.

“They didn’t really want a marketing person, they wanted a community person,” he said.

His focus will be on developing tourism into a year-round industry to help support businesses in the area, he said.

Kunkel will remain on contract for six months after leaving the post, to help through the summer season and to help with the 2018 budgeting process, a news release said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com