TDTD Hires Abbie Gristy as New Rural Tourism Program Manager

NASHVILLE, TN - Nov. 19, 2019 - In response to Gov. Bill Lee’s first executive order to better serve rural Tennessee, TDTD has hired Abbie Gristy as the new Rural Tourism Program Manager.

In this newly-created position, she will be dedicated to rural tourism development with a focus on the distressed and at-risk counties. She will focus on the creation and implementation of a program for Tennessee’s distressed counties that will include working one-on-one with each county on tourism education, asset inventory and utilization, product development, branding and grant opportunities.

Abbie Gristy comes to TDTD from Miles Partnership, a strategic marketing company focused exclusively on travel and tourism. With more than 14 years of tourism experience and as an Account Executive at Miles, she focused on Memphis Tourism partners and Middle and West Tennessee partners, building and executing advertising partnerships to increase visitation.

Prior to Miles Partnership, she served as executive director of the Jackson/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Gristy’s background in building strategic partnerships in Tennessee communities and her knowledge in destination marketing will be an asset to strengthen the impact of tourism in Tennessee’s rural counties.

Welcome to TDTD, Abbie!