COOKEVILLE – Despite 2020 being the most challenging year to-date for the travel industry, the 2021 outlook of the Cookeville-Putnam County Visitors’ Bureau is a positive one. Restoring to full staffing for the first time since 2019, the visitors’ bureau recently hired Amber Asberry to serve as Marketing & Sales Director.
Asberry will be tasked with overseeing strategic marketing and brand management, along with event and group travel recruitment, serving with Executive Director Molly Brown.
“Amber is well-equipped to carry out her new role,” said Brown. “With years of marketing strategy experience, data and analytics knowledge, as well as her passion for travel, she brings an exciting dynamic to our team.”
In her new role, responsibilities include curation and management of content shared through social media and web, traditional and digital media placement, visitor lead generation, creation of data analytics reports for stakeholders and recruitment of events and group travel.
Having built a foundation in the advertising agency industry, Asberry will bring new perspective and insights to successfully inspiring overnight stays to Putnam County.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing with a minor in history from Tennessee Tech University, professional training in graphic design, and is set to complete a Master of Business Administration degree in marketing and strategy from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill later this year.
A native of the Chattanooga area, Amber resides in Cookeville with her husband and Irish Terrier.
Asberry joins an impressive overall team, as the visitors’ bureau falls within the same organizational hierarchy as the Highlands Economic Partnership and the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, under the leadership of President/CEO Amy New.
“We are in the best position to bring Putnam County and the region to the top of the list for tourism destinations in the Southeast,” said New. “Amber’s extensive marketing and social media knowledge as well as her contagious passion for the area will be huge assets in accomplishing this task.”
About: The Cookeville-Putnam County Visitors’ Bureau, a program of the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, serves as the designated destination marketing organization (DMO) for Putnam County with the objective of inspiring travel and overnight stays resulting in increased sales and lodging tax revenues for the purpose of providing a tax relief for local residents.
For examples of the work being done by the Cookeville-Putnam County Visitors’ Bureau, go to: VisitCookevilleTN.com.
Putnam County currently ranks 16th of Tennessee’s 95 counties in visitor spending. Most recent economic impact numbers (2019) report $145.45 million in visitor spending, generating $2.92 million in local taxes, an increase of 3.55 percent over the previous year and $8.82 million in state taxes, up 4.26%.
These tax revenue increases demonstrate the value of tourism in Putnam County, resulting in an annual tax relief to local residents. If not for visitor spending, each Putnam County household would pay $377.97 more in taxes each year.
