Messages from the President & Board Chair

Message from the President & Board Chair

NO EXCUSES…MORE OPPORTUNITIES

To our fellow stakeholders,

Thank you. Thank you for your commitment, thank you for your support, thank you for your engagement, and thank you for your open and honest evaluation and feedback.

COLLECTIVE AMBITION!

Why would we begin this opportunity to speak directly with stakeholders with THANK YOU? It's simple. Every success that we achieved in 2021 is a reflection of our work together. Many times, as the staff begins the planning process, we remind ourselves that we own no hotel, no restaurant, no historical or cultural attraction or museum, and no facilities or event venue. Our job is to promote and connect, engage, and inspire the Jackson community to be a welcoming destination for conventions, meetings, sporting and special events, resulting in rich, cultural, and memorable experiences with a rewarding sense-of-place for visitors and an economically beneficial and an enhanced quality-of-life for residents. Our job is to be an extension of you, our tourism industry, product, and community.

Are we proud of our accomplishment over the past year? Yes, we are!

In fact, in October during the 2021 Governor’s Conference on Tourism hosted in Mississippi’s Capital, we were privileged to be recognized by our industry peers with the following accolades: • Best Overall Social Media Strategy Award • Research-in-Action Award • Tourism Achievement Award, and the • Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) of the Year for budgets over $1,000,000

However, we are far more grateful and humbled for you entrusting us to be a reflection of your individual tourism products and brands and for allowing us to be innovative and just a little bit “out of the box” to create our shared initiative, we call The City With Soul.

The Jackson Visitor Industry is resilient! Even during a global pandemic, multiple water crises, a winter ice storm, and an increase in unfortunate crime statistics, our work together has sustained our industry resulting in a significant impact to Mississippi’s Capital City. But that’s what we do as Jacksonians; we face adversity, develop, plan, and execute! Together we can and will be successful. The Soul of our city understands that if we remain committed, transparent, and treat our constituencies, clients, stakeholders, human capital, vendors and partners, with honor and respect; nothing can stop us.

Thank you.

Rickey L. Thigpen

Rickey L. Thigpen, PhD President & CEO Visit Jackson

Carol Burger

Carol Burger Board Chair Visit Jackson