North Little Rock Tourism has promoted three of its team members, the destination marketing organization announced today: Stephanie Slagle is Vice President of Marketing & Communications; Heather Kouns is Vice President of Strategic Sales, and Shelbey Morris is Senior Manager of Sales & Partnerships.
“Proud to have these three women leading North Little Rock Tourism’s sales and marketing efforts,” said Karen Trevino, President & CEO. “Their proven track records of attracting new visitors, improving visitor experience and communicating about all North Little Rock has to offer help North Little Rock stand out as a destination.”
Slagle has more than 16 years of experience in the hospitality and tourism industry, 11 of which over communications for North Little Rock Tourism. Slagle oversees and implements strategic communications, advertising, social media and marketing for the destination marketing organization in leisure travel, sports, meetings, groups and events. She was recognized in 2021 as a Hospitality Hero by the Arkansas Hospitality Association and highlighted in Little Rock Soiree’s “Women to Watch” 2022. Her photography on behalf of North Little Rock Tourism has been featured in Little Rock Soiree, AY Magazine, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Times, Block Street & Building, Arkansas Money & Politics and Arkansas Business. A graduate of Hendrix College, Slagle has a graduate certificate in strategic communications from University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is a certified Travel Marketing Professional (TMP) through Southeast Tourism Society Marketing College. She is a member of North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Travel & Tourism section of PRSA.
Kouns is graduate of Florida State University with more than 12 years of experience in hospitality and tourism industries, working in destinations such as Miami Beach (Florida), Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands), Hebron (New Hampshire), Bentonville (Arkansas), and now, North Little Rock. She currently manages “Setting the Table” culinary initiative, group travel sales and the Downtown Riverside RV Park. Kouns has been awarded the “Rising Star Award” by the Southeast Tourism Society, “Emerging Hospitality Leader Award” by the Arkansas Hospitality Association, and the “Rising Star Award” by Arkansas State Tourism. She is a Culinary Destination Marketer (CDM) through World Food Travel Association and is also a Professional in Destination Management (PDM) through Destinations International.
Morris is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas, with more than six years of experience in the tourism industry working in partnership with a magnitude of destinations throughout Arkansas and tourism organizations nationwide. Previous work at Arkansas Tourism, a division of Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, included processing Arkansas Regional Tourism Association grant program applications, lead sourcing and distribution, establishing and implementing destination visibility efforts through innovative sponsorship and marketing the destination as a premier host to event organizers of the sports and meetings market. As Senior Manager of Sales and Partnerships, Morris will lead North Little Rock Tourism sales efforts in the sports and meetings markets and manage the event grant program. Morris is a Certified Tour Professional (CTP) through the National Tour Association, Sports Tourism Strategist (STS) through Sports ETA and Travel Marketing Professional (TMP) through Southeast Tourism Society. Throughout her career she has been awarded a Hospitality Hero by the Arkansas Hospitality Association and Rising Star by Sports ETA.
The North Little Rock Tourism team was recently recognized as a finalist for Best Convention & Visitors Bureau in AY Magazine’s Best of 2024; Tourism Office of the Year 2023 by Southeast Tourism Society; a finalist for Arkansas State Tourism’s Henry Award for Tourism Organization of the Year 2023, and Small Business Partner of the Year 2023 by North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.