Tourism Program Manager

Stafford County•Stafford County, VA

37d

About The Position

Stafford County Government is seeking an energetic and strategic Tourism Program Manager to lead efforts that promote Stafford as a premier destination for visitors, businesses, and events. This position plays a key role in fostering partnerships, supporting local tourism stakeholders, and advancing initiatives that drive visitation and economic impact throughout the community. The ideal candidate is a collaborative leader with strong relationship-building skills, a passion for community engagement, and the ability to connect people, organizations, and opportunities that showcase the unique experiences Stafford County has to offer. Performs difficult skilled clerical, technical, and administrative tasks related to the department's Tourism program. Works to recruit meetings, events, sports tourism, and leisure travel opportunities to the County with an overall goal of increasing hotel stays that will, in turn, increase the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) collected and provide a positive economic impact to the County. Works alongside the Director and Project Manager to manage, develop, and execute the department’s Tourism marketing plan, strategic plan, department's Tourism website, social media, and collateral sites related to tourism. Work is performed under general supervision.

Requirements

Thorough knowledge of the principles, practices, techniques, and methods for planning, developing, and maintaining a comprehensive tourism program
General knowledge of the principles, practices, techniques, and methods for developing and implementing marketing and/or economic development programs
General knowledge of the geographic layout of the County and surrounding areas
Ability to plan, develop, and implement advertising and marketing strategies
Ability to develop and write promotional copies, speeches, and correspondence
Ability to work independently
Ability to maintain effective working relationships with coworkers, other County departments, community leaders, local historic groups, tourism-related businesses, hoteliers, media, County officials, and state, federal, and local tourism agencies
Ability to express ideas and present programs and in an enthusiastic and dynamic manner that aligns with the department’s mission and the vision from County Administration
Skill in public speaking before groups of various sizes
Skill in using computers, CRM systems, and using a variety of office machines
Ability to travel up to four weeks per calendar year to attend trade shows, conferences promoting the Stafford Tourism destination, and tourism best-practices conferences
A combination of education and experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree in business, public administration, marketing, economics, or a field related to the work
4 years of experience in travel, tourism, leisure, business studies, marketing management or journalism

Nice To Haves

Experience at a program management level or higher is desired

Responsibilities

Develops, implements, manages, and markets, programs that promote the County as a premier tourism destination
Assists with the development and marketing of Stafford County's economic development initiatives as they relate to Tourism
Supports and assists in the marketing of Stafford County as a premier tourism destination for a positive economic development program
Frequently reviews and responds to sports, group and meeting Request for Proposals (RFPs) to promote Stafford County as a host destination
Develops and implements Tourism Programs to enhance visitor experience and desire within the destination
Executes the implementation of a Tourism Strategic Plan
Manages contractors for Tourism related tasks
Represents Stafford County at applicable tourism councils and committees in the region
Serves as the primary liaison with County and regional tourism assets and partners and is responsible for maintaining ongoing partnerships
Oversees the maintenance of the County and regional tourism events calendars
Works with the Project Manager and/or website consultant to manage updates to the Tourism website and takes primary responsibility for ensuring the website aligns with the tourism strategic and marketing plans
Maintains Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database of all interactions with tourism assets and partners, to include hotel, restaurant, attractions, and County parks, as well as all interactions with sales leads for conferences, sports tourism events, community events as related to tourism, and other applicable interactions that are vital to the tracking metrics as set by the Director of the department
Manages County listings on applicable tourism websites
Assists in preparation of monthly tourism e-newsletter, Tourism Advisory Group meetings, tourism brochures, and media copy
Participates in and represents the County at trade shows to market Stafford Tourism and the destination
Maintains a contact list of agency contacts, clients, County attractions, offerings, events and visitors and gathers analytics on County and regional lodging activity
Drafts the tourism budget and tourism-related procurements, subject to Director approval
Assists in promoting Stafford Tourism by developing and implementing the Tourism Marketing Plan
Organizes and maintains a portfolio of relevant tourism photos and images/graphics that are replenished frequently
Prepares and maintains files and records
Answers inquiries and provides information and referrals
Attends tourism conferences to stay in tune with best practices and tourism industry trends
Performs related tasks assigned