Laurie Rowe began her 30-year career in the hospitality industry in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where she started working front desk services, moving up to director of sales and marketing for a beachfront hotel. Early on, she realized forging strong relationships with travel journalists resulted in earned media. In the early 90s, Rowe moved back to her native Georgia. She served as assistant director of the Dahlonega Chamber of Commerce, as the PR and Marketing Manager at the Marietta Visitors Bureau, and as director of domestic sales for the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Tourism Division. Rowe’s experience affords her a keen understanding of the challenges and needs of destination marketing organizations, including CVBs, chambers of commerce, tourism associations, and related tourism entities.
In 2006, Rowe created Laurie Rowe Communications, Inc. (LRC), to put her skills and experience to work for tourism organizations of all sizes and budgets. Starting with a handful of Georgia destinations and events, Rowe’s vision and leadership have built LRC’s client list to include some 50 destinations, festivals, events and travel regions in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana and Virginia. The combined talents of her staff provide clients impressions measuring from hundreds of thousands to billions within a contract period. Rowe and her team are recognized leaders in the industry and work with the Southeast Tourism Society to oversee and implement the Domestic Showcase Media Marketplace and the Top 20 Events.
In 2015, Rowe’s dream of creating a 24/7 online media resource to connect destinations and journalists was born in the form of the innovative www.TravelMediaPressRoom.com©. This site has proven to be an invaluable tool for both LRC’s clients and a network of more than 5,000 media professionals.
As an expert in the industry, Rowe has served on the board of directors for numerous industry associations. At the 2013 Georgia Governor’s Conference on Tourism, she was honored with the Larry Allen Tourism Leadership Award, which recognizes an individual who demonstrates excellence in leadership skills and abilities. A graduate of the Southeast Tourism Society (STS) Marketing College, she later served on the Board of Trustees for the STS Marketing College as well as an instructor at the annual educational program, where she shared her knowledge of travel media press visits, FAM trips and the fundamentals of tourism public relations/earned media.
While the LRC team thoroughly covers the Southeast, Rowe is based in Panama City, Florida, where she resides with her husband, Dan, and their two dogs, Maddie and Tripp.
