Louisville Tourism Announces Leadership Changes

Updated: 7:15 PM EST Jan 29, 2021
Kaelin Massey
With the long-time leader of the Commission of Louisville Tourism set to retire this year, the group has announced a succession plan as it tries to get visitors back to the Derby City.Current President and CEO Karen Williams of the Commission of Louisville Tourism will retire June 30, after a 30-year career with the organization. The Commission has named current Chief Operating Officer Cleo Battle to head the city's tourism agency.Williams has worked for the hospitality industry for 40 years beginning as a sales manager at the Ritz -Carlton Hotel in Atlanta. After opening 18 hotels worldwide, Williams returned to Louisville and severed 23 years at what was then the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau. She retired in 2012 as Executive Vice President but shortly returned as CEO in 2014. Williams has served on several tourism industry boards, both local and international. In recognition of her diverse achievements and longevity of her hospitality career, Williams received the Dan Mangeot award in 2012 given to an individual who has greatly contributed to Louisville’s tourism initiatives."It would be impossible to overstate Karen Williams’ impact on the record tourism growth that Louisville has seen in recent years, with a pre-pandemic peak of 19 million visitors in 2019, said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. "Beyond being one of our community’s most optimistic, dynamic cheerleaders, Karen brought incredible skills, experience, and a sense of collaboration to the job. She was instrumental in working with the city, state, and tourism stakeholders to finance and support the beautiful renovation of KICC, which positions us well in a competitive market as people begin traveling again post-pandemic."After working alongside Williams for the past eight years, this will be Battle's second time taking over for her. After he was appointed executive vice president in 2013 before being named COO in 2019. Battle has worked in the hospitality industry for 34 years. Before coming to Louisville, Battle spent 12 years as Vice President of Sales & Services for the Richmond Convention & Visitors Bureau in Richmond, Virginia. He began his hospitality career in the hotel industry working for Embassy Suites, Holiday Inn, and Sheraton Hotels.Battle will step into his new role July 1 and says getting out of the pandemic is his number one priority."Most immediate, we've got to get through this process with the vaccinations around the country, and then Louisville like many other destinations will be fighting for visitors and so we've got to position ourselves through marketing," said Battle. "Our pillar museum and attractions in this city to attract visitors back here. We were a hot destination nationally and we plan to get back there shortly."

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