This position will be responsible for the following duties for our Pigeon Forge and Branson Truth Traveler locations. The position will be on-location at our Pigeon Forge location.
Position Overview
The Regional Events & Partnership Specialist is a revenue-focused, relationship-driven role responsible for building the event and partnership ecosystem that drives direct ticket revenue for Truth Traveler Pigeon Forge across the Smoky Mountain market and its surrounding regional feeder markets. This is not a traditional brand ambassador or promotional role. It is a partnership development role with measurable revenue expectations.
The primary focus of this position is developing meaningful, ongoing partnerships with conference centers, event organizers, faith-based groups, hotels, and community organizations in a way that generates direct ticket sales across the full Truth Traveler Pigeon Forge experience, which includes Truth Traveler, Ray's Stargazer Planetarium, and Timeless Treats.
The single biggest opportunity in this role is the conference and event center ecosystem in and around Pigeon Forge. The LeConte Center, Sevierville Convention Center, and Gatlinburg Convention Center collectively host hundreds of events annually and draw tens of thousands of visitors to the area. A significant percentage of those events are faith-based, and those audiences are among the most naturally aligned with Truth Traveler of any group in this market. The challenge is that most of them never hear about Truth Traveler before or during their event. This role exists to change that.
This role works closely and collaboratively with the Sales Manager as a peer, with both positions reporting to the General Manager. The Regional Events & Partnership Specialist owns the event, partnership, and regional outreach pipeline while the Sales Manager leads group sales strategy and execution. The two roles are designed to complement and reinforce each other.
This role is expected to generate direct, attributable ticket revenue through partnership agreements, combo ticket arrangements, reseller relationships, and event referrals. Success is measured in outcomes, not activity.
Primary Focus — Conference and Event Center Partnerships
The Opportunity
The Pigeon Forge and Smoky Mountain area is one of the most event-rich markets in the Southeast. The three major conference venues, LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge, Sevierville Convention Center, and Gatlinburg Convention Center, host a continuous calendar of events year-round. These include Christian conferences, church gatherings, homeschool conventions, ministry retreats, faith-family events, and general tourism and trade events. Combined with the national profile of Dollywood, the Smokies, and the broader Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this market draws visitors from a wide and deeply faith-aligned regional base.
Truth Traveler is perfectly positioned as the faith-forward add-on experience for this audience. The opportunity is to get in front of event organizers early, propose meaningful partnership structures, and ensure that every faith-aligned event in this market knows about Truth Traveler and has a simple way to add it to their attendees' experience.
Conference and Event Center Partnership Development
- Build and maintain a pipeline of upcoming conferences, conventions, and large group events at LeConte Center, Sevierville Convention Center, Gatlinburg Convention Center, and other event venues in the area, prioritized 6 to 12 months in advance by audience size and faith alignment.
- Contact event coordinators and organizers directly well ahead of their event. Introduce the full Truth Traveler Pigeon Forge experience, explain why it resonates with their audience, and propose specific partnership structures.
- Negotiate and execute combo ticket arrangements: a discounted Truth Traveler ticket bundled into or offered alongside event registration, with a commission or margin retained by the event organizer. Position the combo as a value-add the organizer can offer their attendees, not an afterthought.
- Leverage the multi-experience advantage: Truth Traveler, Ray's Stargazer Planetarium, and Timeless Treats together offer a compelling half-day itinerary that is easy to recommend as a full event add-on experience.
- Explore sponsorship and booth presence at larger multi-day events, particularly those with downtime between sessions when attendees are actively looking for activities in the area.
- Build ongoing relationships with event coordinators and venue managers at LeConte, Sevierville, and Gatlinburg so that Truth Traveler is the first call when event organizers ask for local recommendations.
- Follow up after every event partnership. Track attendance, gather feedback, and use that data to refine the approach for the next event.
Regional Outreach and Feeder Market Development
The Smoky Mountain market draws from a wide and distinct regional feeder base. This role extends partnership outreach into those markets to build relationships with organizers before they arrive in Pigeon Forge.
- Extend outreach into the top regional feeder markets: Knoxville (1 hour), Nashville (3 hours), Chattanooga (2 hours), Atlanta (3.5 hours), Charlotte (5 hours), Birmingham (3.5 hours), and Louisville (4 hours).
- Identify and cultivate relationships with conference organizers, event coordinators, and faith-based event producers in these markets who regularly bring groups to the Smokies. Surface warm introductions to the Sales Manager for group booking follow-through.
- Represent Truth Traveler at regional faith community events, church expos, and ministry gatherings in feeder markets where event decision-makers are likely to be present. Group travel leads generated here are passed to the Sales Manager.
- Develop materials and proposals tailored to the regional audience that make it easy for out-of-market event organizers to add Truth Traveler to their Smoky Mountain itinerary.
- Identify regional tour operators and motorcoach companies who bring visitors to Pigeon Forge and surface those relationships to the Sales Manager for group booking follow-through.
Secondary Focus — Local Hospitality and Community Presence
While conference and regional event partnership development is the primary priority, this role also maintains Truth Traveler's local presence and hospitality network in Pigeon Forge and the surrounding Smoky Mountain area. These responsibilities are important but secondary to the revenue-generating partnership work.
- Establish and maintain relationships with hotel concierge desks, front desk staff, and guest services teams throughout Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Sevierville who recommend activities to guests daily.
- Work with the Sales Manager to establish and maintain a reseller or FIT commission structure for hotels and local businesses who refer guests. Surface new reseller opportunities and pass them through the Sales Manager for formal agreements.
- Maintain a regular outreach route covering hotels, welcome centers, attractions, restaurants, and the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism. Keep materials current and relationships active.
- Ensure Truth Traveler PF is included in the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism group tours e-newsletter and any relevant tourism board materials.
- Attend Pigeon Forge and Sevierville Chamber of Commerce events, tourism association meetings, and local networking opportunities as a consistent representative of Truth Traveler.
- Distribute and manage marketing materials across the local outreach network including brochures, rack cards, and promotional handouts.
- Represent Truth Traveler at community events, festivals, and local gatherings when strategically appropriate.
- Capture photos, videos, and field content from outreach and events to support the digital content team.
Collaboration with the Sales Manager
This role and the Sales Manager function as a coordinated team, each owning a distinct but overlapping pipeline. Clear coordination is essential to avoid duplication and maximize coverage.
- Pass event leads and warm introductions generated through regional and event outreach to the Sales Manager promptly. This role opens relationships; the Sales Manager owns the group booking process from there.
- Stay aligned on pricing and package terms so that partnership conversations accurately reflect what the Sales Manager can offer when following up.
- Participate in joint planning sessions to align outreach priorities with upcoming promotions, seasonal campaigns, and revenue goals.
- Share field intelligence from partner conversations that informs the Sales Manager outreach strategy and messaging.
Reporting and Accountability
This role is measured on outcomes. The following metrics are tracked and reported weekly to the General Manager.
- Number of new event coordinator and conference organizer contacts made in Pigeon Forge and regional feeder markets.
- Number of active partnership conversations in progress.
- Number of combo ticket or reseller agreements executed.
- Estimated or actual ticket revenue attributable to partnership referrals and agreements.
- Hotel and hospitality partner count and active reseller relationships maintained.
- Weekly summary covering activity, partner feedback, pipeline status, and next steps.
Qualifications
- Proven experience in partnership development, community outreach, hospitality, tourism, event coordination, or a related field. A track record of building relationships that generate revenue matters.
- Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills with the ability to build trust quickly and sustain relationships over time.
- Self-directed and comfortable working independently in the field across a wide geographic territory.
- Familiarity with the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Smoky Mountain tourism and conference market is a significant advantage.
- Familiarity with faith-based communities and Christian organizational culture is a significant advantage. The ability to speak authentically to this audience is essential.
- Organized and process-oriented with the ability to manage a large and growing network of contacts across multiple markets.
- Comfortable using CRM tools, basic digital platforms, and reporting systems.
- Valid driver's license and ability to travel regionally. A company vehicle may be provided.
- Flexibility to work evenings, weekends, and event-driven schedules as needed.
Pay: $40,000.00 - $50,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
