Cockerell brings nearly three decades of operational leadership experience in large-scale hospitality and education enterprises. He spent 26 years at The Walt Disney Company, finishing his career as VP of Disney’s Magic Kingdom, where he led 12,000 cast members at one of the most operationally complex hospitality environments in the world. Most recently, he served as CEO of Torrens University in Sydney, Australia. Cockerell is the co-founder, with his wife Valerie, of Cockerell Consulting, and is the author of How’s the Culture in Your Kingdom, a book on leadership and organizational culture in service-driven companies.
“Boyne Resorts has grown from a regional operator into the largest family-owned, independent mountain resort company in North America, with 13 resort and attraction properties from Vancouver to Maine, and 11,000 team members in peak winter,” said Kircher. “Adding a president of operations is the right organizational move at this moment in time. With my recent assumption of the NSAA chairmanship and our continuing and potential growth across the network, the timing is right to bring on a leader of this depth in experience, who can serve as a stronger central partner to our senior team and strengthen succession planning and leadership development across the company. Dan brings the experience, the philosophy and the discipline this role requires, and he has known Boyne for years through industry collaboration and prior work with our teams. The fit is genuine.”
The new role is designed to bolster operational leadership capabilities across the Boyne Resorts collection while preserving the resort autonomy and support local decision-making that have defined the company’s culture since its founding by Everett Kircher in 1948.
“Boyne Resorts has built one of the most distinctive collections of resort and four-season properties in North America, and it has done so as an independent, family-owned company over multiple generations,” said Cockerell. “That is rare, and it is worth protecting. I have admired this company for a long time, and I’m honored to join Stephen and the team at a moment when there is so much ahead, from executing the long-range plans at each resort to growing the bench of leaders who will carry Boyne forward for the next generation.”
