LUY-Development

Natchez tourism director resigning to take North Carolina job

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NATCHEZ. Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson said Natchez tourism director Devin Heath is resigning to accept “a very lucrative offer” in North Carolina as Fayetteville’s tourism CEO.

The Natchez Convention Promotion Commission will be in charge of finding someone to replace Heath, who’s been Visit Natchez’ executive director since March 2021.

He becomes in December chief executive officer of Distinctly Fayetteville, the private tourism-marking arm for a community of about 330,000 residents in an area that promotes itself as the “nicest place” in North Carolina to visit with its history and art museums, breweries, nature areas and other tourist attractions.

Heath says he became interested in the “DistiNCtly” Fayetteville position because of the city’s growth potential and the community’s focus on collaboration.

“I am extremely excited to join the DistiNCtly Fayetteville team and to work with the community to expand the future for Cumberland County,” Heath said in a press release issued Monday by his new employer.

He’s returning to a region of the country he’s from. A Washington D.C., native, Heath went to college in Maryland, is an “avid” University of North Carolina sports fan and worked as head of Cobb County, Georgia’s tourism agency before taking the Natchez job.

Gibson expressed disappointment in Heath’s departure. “We appreciate him so much,” the mayor said as he announced Heath’s resignation during a Monday evening meeting of the Natchez Board of Aldermen.
The six-member Natchez Convention Promotion Commission will appoint a new director after seeking applicants. The NCPC is the governing board for the city’s tourism agency. In addition to Heath’s departure, the commission is dealing with the recent resignations of two members: Katie McCabe and Dana Wilson, who have each been serving on the commission for about eight years.
The mayor said he and aldermen will seek people interested in being appointed to the commission.
State law gives the commission — an autonomous municipal agency — control over the expenditure of Natchez’ tourism tax revenues to market the city.
Visit Natchez has a budget of about $1.5 million for this fiscal year, according to a report presented by Heath last month at the annual Natchez tourism summit. The money comes from the city’s special tourism sales taxes: a 1.5 percent tax levied on restaurants and bars; 3 percent levied on hotels and B&Bs; and an additional $2 “heads on beds” tax imposed on lodgers.

Visit Natchez has budgeted about $352,000 for marketing/promoting Natchez and $138,400 for visitors services.  There’s also a $497,000 line item for the convention center.

In addition, Visit Natchez has $600,000 allocated by the Mississippi Tourism Recovery Fund. The state money is to help the tourism industry recover from the economic damage caused by the COVID pandemic in 2020-21.

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