Stacey Yates

Chief Marketing Officer

Biography: As Chief Marketing Officer for Louisville Tourism, Yates oversees brand strategy, publicity, and marketing communications for the destination. Under her leadership, Louisville Tourism promotes the city through the brand pillars of Bourbon, Culinary, Authenticity, and Southerness, helping position Louisville as the global capital of bourbon tourism.

Since joining Louisville Tourism (formerly the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau) in 2005, Stacey Yates has helped shape the modern identity of Louisville as a must-visit destination. Early in her tenure, she helped position Louisville as the Gateway to Bourbon Country, laying the groundwork for a tourism strategy that would evolve into the city’s current identity as Bourbon City—a place where the culture, craftsmanship, and culinary traditions of America’s native spirit come to life.

Yates and her communications team developed and launched the Urban Bourbon Trail® in 2008, a pioneering experience that connects visitors with Louisville’s bourbon bars, distilleries, and culinary scene. The program helped spark a wave of bourbon-related product development across the city and has since welcomed millions of participants. In 2013, she expanded the destination’s focus on Louisville’s emerging culinary scene, elevating the city’s reputation as one of the South’s most exciting food destinations.

If you enjoy an Old Fashioned, you can thank Stacey and her team. In 2015, they led the successful campaign to have the Old Fashioned named Louisville’s Official Cocktail by mayoral decree, followed by the launch of Old Fashioned Fortnight, an annual June celebration of the classic bourbon cocktail.

Before joining Louisville Tourism, Yates worked for the Kentucky Derby Festival, a private nonprofit civic celebration that produces more than 70 events each spring and one of the largest annual fireworks displays in North America. She held a variety of roles with the organization, ultimately serving as Vice President of Communications and primary spokesperson.

A lifelong Louisville resident, Yates is a graduate of Assumption High School and the University of Kentucky, where she earned a B.A. in Marketing. She also holds the Certified Festival Executive (CFE) designation from Purdue University. Yates serves on the board of the Kentucky Derby Festival and Actors Theatre and was a founding board member of the Bourbon Women Association. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America, Kentucky Tourism Industry Association, Les Dames d’Escoffier International, and Destinations International, and is a past board member of the International Association of Business Communicators and Trinity High School.