With Lars Büttner from Essen, a proven expert in marketing and tourism takes over the management of Stadtmanagement Itzehoe GmbH.
Two months ago, Itzehoe’s long-time city manager Lydia Keune announced her departure at the end of the year. Now a successor has been found. On 01.01.2024 Lars Büttner will take over the management of Stadtmanagement Itzehoe GmbH.
The 51-year-old is moving to the Stör from EMG – Essen Marketing GmbH, where he has held various positions since 2003. With a degree in geography and a focus on urban development, he has extensive experience in tourism and event organization. As head of the tourism, convention and digitization division at EMG, Büttner was most recently responsible for coordinating comprehensive tourism digitization projects within the digitization strategy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He was also responsible for tourism marketing, the operation of Tourist Info Essen and the Essen Convention Bureau as well as travel services. In addition, Büttner was the direct project manager for the AI Biennale Essen 2022 as well as for the “Essen1887” project, the world’s first mixed reality tour. Büttner is a member of various tourism working groups and advisory boards at both regional and state level and is therefore very well connected.
About his new place of work, the future Itzehoe city manager Lars Büttner says: “I am already very much looking forward to the city management team and, of course, to the new diverse tasks that await me. Above all, however, I am looking forward to Itzehoe itself, which I have come to know as a very likeable city.”
The City of Itzehoe is a co-partner in Stadtmanagement Itzehoe GmbH. The main shareholder is the “Wir für Itzehoe” association. Its chairman, Sven Haltermann, is highly satisfied with the successful recruitment process, as is Mayor Ralf Hoppe. “Lars Büttner has an impressive professional resume to show. His expertise in tourism marketing as well as his ideas for new event formats, especially with regard to the advancing digitalization of society, have convinced us. We are sure that modern concepts that have already proven themselves in big cities can also be effective in Itzehoe. We are pleased that with Mr. Büttner we were able to win over someone who wants to further advance the awareness and attractiveness of our city,” say Hoppe and Haltermann in a joint statement.
