Tourism Director

SALARY DISCLOSURE/GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

Salary Disclosure:

Starting Salary: $63,887.00

Salary Range for this Position: $63,887.00 – $102,220.00

Current Pasco County Employees – Please refer to the Career Service Manual for starting salary information.

General Description:

Pasco County is becoming a Premier County through innovative strategies, continuous process improvement, and a focus on performance excellence.

The Office of Tourism Director is the primary liaison for Pasco County and its tourism interactions. This is a highly responsible management, administrative, and supervisory position that leads the implementation of a comprehensive program for tourism development for Pasco County, Florida through an adopted Tourism Development Plan. The position requires a high degree of initiative and strong communications skills to implement the tourism plan with the intention of increasing revenues and to be sustainable throughout its implementation and into the future. The position is both developmental and operational, helping to both create annual business plans and then ensure effective follow-through and measure program performance. The position reports to the Strategic Policy Administrator, but also works in concert with the Tourism Development Council and policy leadership provided by the County Administrator and the Board of County Commissioners.

The Director will promote and direct all efforts to attract and enhance all aspects of the Pasco County tourist industry and will analyze, administer, and direct all matters pertaining to the disposition of the Tourist development Tax revenues, to include budget planning and execution, revenue projections, and strategic planning and coordination regarding tourism advertising and promotion to improve the tourism development efforts of Pasco County.

Essential Job Functions:

• Serves as the Tourism Development Director for Pasco County.
• Implements a comprehensive Tourism Development Plan, securing organizational commitment for the plan from the County Administrator, Tourism Development Council, the Board of County Commissioners, and external stakeholders.
• Coordinates activities closely with the Cities, Chambers, regional and state partners as a whole. Engages a wide participation of public and private sector stakeholders.
• Serves as a focal contact point to facilitate stakeholder interests related to tourism development.
• Sets the priorities and supervises staff for the implementation of integrated marketing, advertising, media, and public relations strategies to promote Pasco County, through identifying tourist demand, monitoring competition, and establishing needed products in coordination with Pasco’s partners.
• Takes initiative to attract, grow and/or establish more longer-term anchor attractions or sporting events to Pasco as identified in the Tourism Development Plan.
• Seeks financial and technical resources needed to implement the Plan. This will include research and application of grant opportunities, and development and promotion of proposals to private and public funders or events planners at local, state, and federal levels.
• Assesses, advocates and supports needed changes to Plan implementation based on changing needs, market conditions, and opportunities over the course of the life of the Plan, working closely with partners.
• Develops and manages annual Office of Tourism Development budget, reviews and authorizes all expenditures, analyzes variances and makes adjustments as needed. Prepares regular and special reports.
• Represents the County in local, regional, and statewide promotional efforts; recommends initiatives; fosters intra-governmental business, media and public awareness of local tourism issues affecting Pasco; coordinates efforts with other municipal and county entities.
• Maintains and strengthens professional development and technical knowledge of staff and self by attending industry conferences, reviewing professional publications, establishing professional networks and participating in tourism conferences
• Provides oversight, assigns, and monitors staff work products and programs.
• Develops performance measures and assesses performance of staff, programs, and efforts for tourist development through indicators such as “brand awareness,” annual visitations, overnight visitor, out-of-state visitors, and economic impact indicators.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

• NOTE: These examples are intended only as illustrations of the various kinds of work performed in positions allocated to this class. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the position.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Ability to effectively lead, supervise, coordinate, and evaluate the activities of subordinate employees.

Strong proposal writing skills. Ability to make effective and persuasive public speeches and presentations on complex and controversial topics to top management, public groups, authorities, and advisory boards.

Ability to assimilate and analyze information from a variety of sources, and recommend courses of action and alternatives. Ability to plan, organize, and effectively present ideas, concepts, and alternatives to diverse audiences.

Thorough knowledge of the principles and approaches of tourism development policies, programs, and organizations, including branding, marketing, sporting events, ecotourism, and other special events.

Strong capacities in strategic planning and decision-making, with demonstrated capacity to generate wide support and buy-in for local change. Ability to set a vision for the future.

Knowledge of the principles of the Governor’s Sterling Award process, Baldrige or other high performance organizational theories/systems preferred.

Ability to make sound recommendations for office policies and procedures.

Possession of excellent customer service, leadership, and communication skills.

Minimum Requirements:

PHYSICAL SKILLS:

Ability to communicate effectively using speaking, hearing, writing and vision skills.

EDUCATION, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s degree in fields such as economics, communications, marketing, business administration or related field and six (6) years professional experience including some supervisory experience with demonstrated accomplishments in leading and guiding programs that transition and develop tourism activities. Demonstrated accomplishments in securing grant and contract resources from federal, state, and private sources to implement plans is preferred. Master’s degree in similar fields preferred.

A comparable amount of directly related experience MAY be substituted at the County’s discretion for the minimum educational requirements if candidates are not available that fully meet the minimum requirements of the position as posted.

LICENSES, CERTIFICATIONS OR REGISTRATIONS:

Must possess a valid driver’s license.

ADA STATEMENT: A qualified employee or applicant with a disability may be afforded a reasonable accommodation to perform the essential job functions of a position in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

DRUG FREE WORKPLACE: Pasco County BOCC is a drug-free workplace in accordance with Federal and Florida Law.