Nicole Kirksey announces plans to retire after eight years as tourism director

Nicole Kirksey announced plans to retire August 2nd after eight years as the tourism director. During an interview, she talked about her future plans and recounted what led her to take the job in 2016. “I formerly ran a museum in Macon. I was in journalism first and television, and then I worked in tourism and marketing so it was the perfect match, as if this job was tailor made for me.”

She recounted her excitement when starting the position, listing the locations for a tourism director to showcase in Sumter County. “You’ve got two national parks, right, which there’s only two other states in the entire United States that have that.” She shared the reaction she had when given the opportunity to share all of Sumter County’s attractions. “Wow, there is a fully restored historic theater, a destination hotel, a winery, a distillery. I went ‘Oh, this is going to be fun.’”

When asked what opportunities the next tourism director would find, Kirksey replied; “Whoever takes this position, they are set up for success if they choose to go certain paths. I would highly recommend that person go to all the tourism conferences, get involved as much as they can to be taught how this works.” The tourism board is supported by the hotel tax. Kirksey noted how much of her work was invisible on a local level. She detailed how advertising is placed 80 miles or further away in order to attract the overnight visitors that fund the tax, an important point for the next director to keep in mind. “So that person needs to understand that and not get so caught up on trying to advertise things locally.” Kirksey detailed advertising in cities including Birmingham, Tallahassee, Tampa and Jacksonville, as well as Atlanta.

She explained how geo-fencing was one of the methods used to attract tourists in the digital age. The method allows electronic adds to be targeted to individuals in a specific area. Kirksey gave the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival as an example. “The Americus music fest is scheduled to be geo-fenced in that area, so when people go to the festival, and they’re looking at their adds, it’s going to pop up a lot.”

Kirksey talked about the need for strategic thinking. “I target affluent zip codes of communities. So I have to pick the top five most affluent zip codes. My goal is to get people to come in here and spend money, because that helps our local tax.”

Kirksey talked about the challenges facing the next tourism director. “They’re gonna need to be a storyteller, number one. You need to have strong writing skills, strong speaking skills. You need to be very strategic and understand strategic marketing and promotions.” She also commented on culture. “If we want to move forward, we have to be more open to all types of visitors, and I think that is always going to be a challenge in a smaller community where things move a little bit slower, ideas are a little bit more conservative.”

Kirksey still has plans to work after retiring as tourism director. “I have Nicole Kirksey Dream Vacations, which is a travel agency.” She also has plans to relax. “I’m 51 years old and my whole life I have worked in marketing, promotions. Never had normal hours, always working on weekends. Always in the public eye. I am ready to spend more time with my grandchild.”

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