DistiNCtly Fayetteville, the area’s leading destination authority for Cumberland County, will be ringing in the new year under new leadership.

With nearly 30 years of hospitality experience, new CEO Devin Heath officially began his duties on Dec. 4 with a new team and lofty goals for the new year. The Greater Fayetteville Business Journal got to chat with the newest community leader to find out a little of what the area can expect as he works to continue the organization's mission to position Cumberland County as a destination for conventions, tournaments and individual travel.

GFBJ: How did you find out about the position at DistiNCtly Fayetteville?

Heath: I had previously lived in North Carolina and it has always been one of my favorite places that I've lived. I'm born and bred in Washington, DC. My wife is from North Carolina and my kids are in the western part of Virginia and my youngest son was born in Cary so I've always been very fond of North
Carolina. I had actually been looking for a new opportunity and North Carolina was certainly high on my target list. It was on my radar and when I saw the opportunity arise, I just jumped on it. I had a very good experience before coming to Fayetteville, I was very familiar with it and saw that as a place that I can really embrace for a long term. 

GFBJ: What was previously known as the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau recently went through a rebrand to become what is now DistiNCtly Fayetteville. Is there a particular direction you see the brand going under your leadership?

Heath: I think it's really important for us to get dialed in with the community. I’ve done a lot of research and I’ve talked to the team and the board, but I think it’s important for us to understand what our community feels the brand is and what our community is looking to see in the future. We’re the tourism professionals, yes, but by the same token, our community as the community professionals, they know what that community has been through, they know what this community is really about.

GFBJ: You have an impressive resume including nearly 30 years of tourism marketing and hospitality management experience and serving as Executive Director at Visit Natchez. How do you think that kind of cumulative experience will be able to help you here in a new city?

Heath: I was continuing to really research Fayetteville and where Fayetteville is and where it has been. I saw a lot of parallels between what Fayetteville has been going through and the history of Fayetteville, as well as Natchez. Fayetteville launched the rebrand in November of last year. Natchez launched a rebrand in January of this year. There’s so many other things to offer in Fayetteville that people just need to understand and be exposed to and that was the same thing in Natchez, Natchez is in a military town, but it has the largest number of pre Civil War historic homes in the country. We really exposed everyone to all the different experiences that they could embrace in our city and I think that that's a huge opportunity for Fayetteville as well.

GFBJ: You earned your Bachelor of Business Administration and Management from Loyola University in Maryland, have you always wanted to work in the hospitality industry?

Heath: I wasn’t sure. When I was going to Loyola, I knew that I liked to lead, I knew I liked to work with teams. If you had asked me probably when I was in high school, I would have told you I was going to be a pro NBA player. But I knew I liked to work with teams and I liked to lead an organization but I didn't know in what capacity, I didn’t know what industry or what field. I went to an advisor while I was at Loyola, and she said, “Devon, you’ve got a great personality for hospitality and hotels, I think you’d be great working in hotels” and she clarified for me that it’s a major industry. Tourism is really your introduction to economic development in a community. Every impression that we all have of a destination comes from your experience as a visitor.

GFBJ: During your time in the hospitality and tourism industry, has there been a specific incident, position or experience that has stuck with you throughout the course of your career?

Heath: There's been countless things that have stuck with me; the individuals that I've had the opportunity to work with, either for or alongside, or even those that have worked, “for” me. You have huge opportunities to learn and every day should be a learning experience and I absolutely love that I get to learn from those that I'm around.

GFBJ: You officially start your new position on Dec. 4. Do you have any goals or plans you would like to accomplish on your first day?

Heath: Day one I really want to set a tone of where we're headed and expectations for the team. I believe in the team. We’re going to be successful together and it’s important that we establish what our expectations are of each other. I want to hear what their expectations are as well as share with them what my expectations are of them so we can really hit the ground running on day one. It’s my goal to sit back and listen and learn for a month or so. I don’t like to come in and make sweeping changes without really getting a chance to understand why we do things the way we do. But by the same token, I’m going to ask a lot of questions, I’m going to really hear from them what their perspectives on things are. I've had some great conversations where they've already shared some ideas and thoughts and opinions that are making a lot of sense to me and I really want to harness that and really make sure that they feel comfortable that this is going to be an environment where they’re going to be able to contribute.

GFBJ: Is there anything about taking on this new position that you’re looking forward to?

Heath: I think Fayetteville has such an opportunity to become one of the leading destinations, not just in the state, but in the country. I really see this city and the Cumberland County community, really having so much potential, that I think the sky’s the limit for us. I'm looking forward to working with everyone to really expose this community to the world to be able to come and experience.