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Taylor Beard Stanley of Visit Lake Charles awarded Rising Star of the Year
Annual awards recognize best of the Louisiana tourism industry
CHARENTON, La. (Feb. 5, 2020) – The Louisiana Travel Association (LTA) introduced Taylor Beard Stanley, Senior Sales Manager of Visit Lake Charles (VLC), as the winner of the 2019 Rising Star of the Year during its Annual Meeting in Charenton, La. This year, LTA presented 19 “Louey Awards” to honor and showcase individuals and organizations who have made outstanding contributions to the Louisiana tourism industry.
“I am so humbled to have received the Rising Star Award. It is such an honor to be recognized for the hard work and dedication I try to bring to the job every day. However, most importantly, I want to say how much I love the tourism industry. I’ve always said tourism weaves together so many of my passions- people, Lake Charles, history, sharing the culture of Louisiana, advocacy, and so much more,” said Taylor Beard Stanley. “I am so lucky to be a part of such an incredible industry, and I can only hope that if I continue to share my love for this community and strive to think outside of the box that I will live up to the title of this award.”
A graduate of Grand Lake High School and McNeese State University, Taylor began her career at Visit Lake Charles in October 2016 as Sales Manager. After being promoted to Senior Sales Manager in March 2018, she aligned her vision on how Visit Lake Charles could provide added value and educational opportunities to hotel partners. Taylor has recently developed and launched the Hotel Onboarding Program to educate hotel partners’ front-line and management on the role of Visit Lake Charles and how to strengthen our relationship and create a better experience for visitors.
Additionally, she has developed several other programs such as the Partner Shadowing Program for the VLC Sales Department, the Meeting Planner Incentive Program to increase association and corporate meetings, and the Softball Housing Program to coordinate the lodging of 95 softball teams, to name a few.
“Throughout her time at the CVB, Taylor has consistently shown professionalism, leadership and has taken on a substantial amount of responsibility in a short time. She has proven her commitment to the advancement of our destination by garnering valuable relationships with our partners, coupled with innovative product development,” said Eric Zartler, Sales Director at Visit Lake Charles. “I am proud to have a Rising Star like Taylor on our team, and I am looking forward to what she accomplishes in the future.”
She has also developed and organized Baton Rouge and Houston sales missions to market Southwest Louisiana as a corporate, associate and group business destination. Among her many sales accomplishments, Taylor has worked to bring in the 18th CWC World LNG & Gas Series: Americas Summit & Exhibition to Lake Charles, which is the first-ever international conference to be hosted in Southwest Louisiana.
She currently serves on the board of the Louisiana Society of Association Executives and is a proud graduate of the Louisiana Tourism Leadership Academy.
About the Louisiana Travel Association, LTA
LTA is a trade association leading and strengthening Louisiana’s vibrant tourism industry through promotion, education and advocacy on behalf of our members. Tourism generated $1.9 billion for Louisiana in 2018 and employs more than 237,200 people throughout the state.
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