Tourism Prince George chief executive officer Aidan Kelly will be leaving the position in December.
Kelly said Monday he is stepping down because he needs to relocate for personal reasons and declined to provide further details.
"It's nothing related to the job or the organization or even the community," Kelly said, adding he hopes to be back in Prince George in a few years time.
"I'm a huge fan and supporter of Prince George," Kelly said. "A lot of the great opportunities in my life have been given to me by my decision to come to Prince George, so I'm definitely looking to be back here to settle down for the long term."
Rebecca Menge, chair of the organization's board of directors, commended Kelly for giving Tourism Prince George the lengthy advance notice and said he will be missed when he is gone.
"I think he's left some shoes to fill, he's done a really good job with Tourism Prince George," she said.
Kelly will have held the job for slightly more than three years by the time he has stepped down.
Asked what have been Tourism Prince George's biggest achievements over that time, Kelly cited the inroads gained within the industry across the country and creation of a full-digital marketing platform through traditional websites and social media channels and other networks.
Over 2011 and 2012, hotels in Prince George have seen an 18-per-cent increase in revenue. Kelly cautioned that much of that is due to the boost in the resource sector and the consequent increase in business travel but added Tourism Prince George deserves some credit for the hike.
The centrepiece of Tourism Prince George's operations is a marketing program financed primarily by a hotel room tax that generates $670,000 a year. It was implemented in January 2010 at the same time Tourism Prince George was created and Kelly was hired nine months later.
Tourism Prince George also operates two visitor information centres. Its total budget for 2013 is $1.2 million with $327,000 of that coming from the City of Prince George.
Kelly moved to Prince George from the Fraser Valley 11 years ago to attend UNBC and in 2006 graduated with a bachelor's degree in commerce, majoring in marketing.
Prior to taking on the job at Tourism Prince George, Kelly was the parks and solid waste manager and previous to that, the transit analyst at the City of Prince George.
A committee will be formed to carry out a search for a replacement. In general, they will be looking for "someone who definitely has the passion for the industry, like Aidan does, because that transfers through to the organization," Menge said.
Making the most of the tourism potential the 2015 Canada Winter Games stands to generate will be a major task for the newcomer, Menge said.
