Aug. 16—TUPELO — Stephanie Coomer has been in the tourism industry for 28 years — more than half of that with the Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau — and her career has come full circle.

Coomer was appointed the Tupelo CVB's new executive director by Mayor Todd Jordan on Tuesday, a decision he said was easy to make.

"This is a well-deserved appointment for Stephanie Coomer to take over leadership of the Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau," said Jordan. "Stephanie has been an essential component of the CVB for many years now and moving her into the director's role was an easy decision. I believe Stephanie will do a terrific job in continuing the great work the CVB is doing in attracting visitors to our city."

Coomer is only the fourth leader of the 38-year-old Tupelo CVB, following the footsteps of Sam Fleming, Linda Johnson and Neal McCoy.

"I'm beyond excited," she said. "I've been here for 15 years. Before that, I was with Bobby King & Associates advertising agency, and the Tupelo CVB was my account. So, I've had a passion for Tupelo, a passion for promoting Tupelo as an international destination for a long, long time. Just to be raised up under the leadership of Linda Johnson and Neal McCoy and traveled that road with them, I feel prepared for the role."

McCoy, who joined the CVB in 2004 and was named its executive director in 2010, has shifted roles and is now a project manager and based in City Hall.

Coomer earned both her Bachelor of Business Administration and Juris Doctor at the University of Mississippi before beginning her career.

After serving as director of account services with Bobby King Associates and ReidRejebian, where she managed the TCVB account, she joined the TCVB staff as director of marketing and public relations in January 2009. Coomer became deputy director of the organization in June 2010, where she managed the TCVB budget, staff and partnerships until her appointment as executive director.

"I'm looking forward to furthering the work of the CVB ... it's seen a lot of successes and I'm excited about where we go from here," she said.

Coomer said the Tupelo CVB will continue to adapt with the changes in the destination marketing world, where its role has changed from marketing to management over the years.

"I think product development is going to be one of the most important things in the future," she said. "We're always going to be promoters of the town through public relations and advertising, but partnerships are very important and product development is the next step in importance for us."

Product development is about new experiences, Moody explained.

"When we do our research, we're always looking at (whether we're) having first-time visitors or a lot of repeat visitors, and Tupelo has a lot of repeat visitors with our corporate travelers, group travelers," she said. "Of course, we have a lot of Elvis birthplace visitors. We have a lot of people who come to Tupelo, and they need new experiences."

One of those recent new products was the last year's Cocktail Trail through downtown. The Aquatic Center, built nearly a decade ago, was a new product in which the CVB invested, much like the pickleball courts currently under construction.

"We're looking at how people are traveling, why people are traveling and how we can attract them here," she said.

Moody said it will be business as usual at the Tupelo CVB for the time being, but some introspection is on tap. The bureau and its staff members have earned numerous industry honors over the years, but Moody isn't going to let it rest on its laurels.

"From a different perspective I want to look at all of our programs and make sure we're on the right path," she said.

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