Visit Albany’s Kasey Summerville reflects on three months in new role

By Alan Mauldin

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ALBANY – After three months on the job in Albany, Kasey Summerville is confident she made the right move in relocating to southwest Georgia from her home state of Arkansas.

The Arkadelphia native was the sole finalist for the position of president and CEO of Visit Albany and has been on the job here since Oct. 1. Her past experience includes 15 years as tax assessor in Clark County, Arkansas, and 6 1/2 years at the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, during which time she served as vice president of marketing, communications and community engagement, senior director of tax revenue and director of national accounts.

“I can say after these three months that I feel right at home,” Summerville said. “What stands out most to me is how welcoming people have been, and I’ve also appreciated the Southern hospitality. Everyone has been welcoming and reacting positively to my presence.”

One of the things that attracted Summerville to Albany was the rich history of the area, she said, which is something she thinks will be important in attracting visitors to the area.

While Albany’s population is somewhat smaller than Little Rock’s, she sees a number of similarities. Among the attractions in Arkansas were a zoo, riverfront and a rich civil rights history, and like Little Rock Albany has a historically black university in Albany State University.

“The rich cultural history here is something I think we will continue to highlight,” Summerville said. “There is a niche out there. There are people who want to visit places like Albany, to hear those stories.

“As the destination marketing organization, we want to be loud about what we have to offer and talk about the rich culture here so people hear about it.”

Currently, Visit Albany is engaged in a legacy project that involves preserving those voices.

“We’re hearing from people, and we’re capturing those stories on video,” Summerville said. “What I’m hearing are some of the things that happened in Albany that were crucial to the civil rights movement. As it is close to Black History Month, we felt like it would be a great opportunity to hear why Albany is special to them.”

The new Visit Albany CEO and president said that she also is excited about the revitalization efforts in downtown Albany and the Harlem District that was once the center of black life in the city. The imminent opening of the renovated St. Nicholas Hotel in the downtown area and a hotel project in northwest Albany also are positives.

“That movement is part of what we want to see,” she said. “It’s important to have adequate lodging.”

Speaking of movement, Visit Albany’s new tagline is “Feel the Movement,” a phrase that Summerville said represents the momentum going on now. It does not refer to the civil rights movement, but to the spirit of moving forward.

A focus group helped select the tagline, and it is one that Summerville said she thinks gives a positive image of a community moving forward.

“We are excited about the campaign,” she said. “That’s the first thing that jumped out to me when I was doing research about Albany. I love that tagline. Feel the Movement is the one we use in all our marketing, and I love it.”

Some of the other initiatives that are coming include a text club that was recently launched and will start delivering text messages to those who opt in beginning in February. 

“The text club is important because statistics say 99% of text messages are opened,” Summerville said. “That gives us a great opportunity. This is one of the ways we have to reach out.”

Visit Albany also will be able to gather additional information from the text club program, and that information will further enhance its ability to use data for future projects.

“I think continuing to arm our citizens with information about things that are happening that they can continue to share will continue to bring energy,” Summerville said. “If we’re talking positively about our city and people hear positive things, they will want to come here. Community engagement is a high priority for me.”

Visit Albany also is looking to boost the county’s profile through other social media, including YouTube.

“We hope people will engage with us on all our platforms,” Summerville said.