Phares, formerly of VisitCape, chosen as Paducah visitor’s bureau director

Alyssa Phares, the account director at Red Letter Communications, has been named the eighth executive director of the Paducah Convention and Visitors Bureau in Paducah, Kentucky.

“Today’s announcement brings our search to an end,” Paducah CVB board chair Glenn Denton said in a Friday, June 14 post to the bureau’s Facebook page. “The board believes the search was well worth the effort and that we have found the right person to lead the Paducah CVB into the future.”

Phares has more than a decade’s worth of experience for Cape Girardeau’s tourism bureau VisitCape and served on its executive board. The Facebook post praised her “proven track record of fostering community partnerships and destination development.”

Her predecessor in the Paducah role, Mary Armstrong Hammond, had served as the bureau’s executive director for 23 years before her passing on March 3, 2024 at the age of 68. Phares will begin her work in July.

Since Hammond had previously announced she would retire in August 2024, the Paducah CVB was already undergoing a search to find her successor. With the aid of executive search firm GovHR, they evaluated 53 candidates, interviewed four, and ultimately chose Phares to lead the promotion of the city.

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