Building on Banner Year, Leon County Hires Next Tourism Leader

 

Building on Banner Year, Leon County Hires

 Next Tourism Leader

With 20 years of experience in the tourism marketing industry, Leon County is excited to announce the appointment of Kerri Post as Director of Tourism Development (Visit Tallahassee). Post is a recognized leader in the industry at both the local and statewide level with a vision to make Leon County a national tourism destination.

Post currently serves as the Deputy Secretary of State, where she oversees the state’s cultural, heritage, library and marketing programs with more than 170 staff and a $50 million budget. Through her leadership and experience with grant management, Post also secured $500,000 in tourism marketing grants to assist the region and state as part of the BP oil spill recovery efforts.

“It’s always the goal to hire a leader who can take your organization to the next level,” said Leon County Administrator Vincent S. Long. “And I cannot think of another candidate in the entire industry more capable of doing just that than Kerri. Under Kerri’s leadership, I know we will grow our local tourism economy like never before.”

With a proven track record as a trailblazer, Ms. Post provides the leadership and knowledge needed to make Tallahassee/Leon County a premier travel destination. To build a culture of innovation, Ms. Post created a Leadership Program in 2014 to prepare the next future leaders with the Department of State. She also led VIVA Florida 500, a campaign that in 2013, resulted in the engagement of more than 2,000 statewide partners through over 900 events in all 67 counties, garnering more than 3.5 million media impressions.

From 2009 to 2012, she served as the Senior Marketing Director for Leon County Tourism which, during that period, experienced increased visitor spending by 5.5% to $553 million and expanded local tourism industry employment to by 6.8% to 11,569 employees. 

“To say that I am excited about my return to Leon County would be an understatement,” said Post. “I look forward to raising the bar through creativity and innovation making Leon County a prime tourism destination, full of cultural, historical, recreational and educational assets, for both the state and nation to enjoy.” 

Before coming to Leon County in 2009, Ms. Post spent over a decade at VISIT FLORIDA, ascending to Vice President over various tourism and marketing divisions. From 1998 to 2009, she led creative programs that highlighted Florida’s historic cultural, nature-based and road-less-traveled experiences such as the “Worth the Drive” and “Downtowns and Small Towns” and “Florida Trails” campaigns, all resulting in a positive economic impact for Florida. She will bring her expertise back to Leon County starting Monday, August 8.  

For more information, contact Mathieu Cavell, Leon County Community and Media Relations, at (850) 606-5300 / cmr@LeonCountyFL.gov .