About Us

Support, Training, and Recognition for the Memphis Hospitality and Tourism Industry.

Our mission: to support, train, and recognize the Memphis Hospitality and Tourism industry.

Our vision: Welcome to Memphis strives to be a living and working resource that listens and adapts to the needs of the hospitality and tourism industry. Through partnership and hands-on leadership, we will develop an industry that evokes confidence and excitement into all those that visit Memphis.

Because of these hard-working professionals, the Memphis area is a place where visitors feel welcomed by everyone they meet, where visitors learn more than they expected to learn about our destination and all that it has to offer, where visitors enjoy themselves - and make plans to come back soon.

What we do.

We support service professionals across the spectrum of our Memphis & Shelby County tourism and hospitality industry.

  • Working directly with employers, supervisors and guest contact staff, we deliver hospitality service training that reflects our local culture of Authentic Memphis Hospitality.

  • We focus on learning about our history, amenities and entertainment, and our Memphis stories. Our goal is to increase destination knowledge among industry professionals.

  • Raise awareness to the scope of career-building jobs the hospitality industry offers by developing desirable candidates for current and future career opportunities.

  • We recognize professional excellence with our Pick Award program. Memphis Insiders are nominated by visitors, as well as by their peers and their employers. Winners receive trophies and cash at our annual celebration. We also celebrate great service by highlighting professionals through social media.

Who We Are

Staff

  • Marcus Cox

    Executive Director at Welcome to Memphis

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Staff

  • Jillian Melton

    Training Manager at Welcome to Mamphis

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Board of Directors

  • Eric Vernon

    Owner at The Bar-B-Q Shop

  • Linda Sawyer

    CAOCFO at Memphis Tourism

  • Deni Reilly

    Owner, Proprietor at Majestic Grille

  • Glen Thomas

    Director of Strategic Marketing & Communications/PIO at Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority

  • Shirley Davis Conner

    Executive Director at Metro Memphis Attractions Association

  • Danny Sumrall

    Owner at Half Shell Restaurant

  • Sherryl Tucker

    Director of Operations at National Civil Rights Museum

  • Clark Schifani

    Vice President of Sales at Old Dominick Distillery

  • Michelle Lewis-Flowers

    Vice President, Human Resources at Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. | Graceland

  • Alexandria Eddlemon, WSET II, CSS

    On-Premise Market Manager at Athens Distributing Company of Tennessee

  • Cynthia Johnson Webster

    Assistant General Manager at Canopy by Hilton

Our History

 Welcome to Memphis is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit subsidiary of Memphis Tourism. It was previously known as the Memphis Tourism Education Foundation.

Founded in 2002, the Memphis Tourism Education Foundation (MTEF) focused its efforts primarily on educational efforts related to workforce development and destination knowledge. Its historical initiatives and programs include the award-winning documentary I Am A Man, which followed the story of a sanitation worker who participated in the 1968 strike that brought Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Memphis.

In early 2015, an industry-wide strategic planning process called Tourism 20/20 encouraged Memphis Tourism to renew its nonprofit subsidiary’s commitment to more traditional workforce and economic development efforts. In July 2015, MTEF recruited a new board of directors, changed its name to “Welcome to Memphis” and adopted a new mission and vision for the organization. In March 2016, its new strategic plan was adopted, which led to its current training and recognition programs.

In 2020, with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and industry-wide layoffs, Welcome to Memphis was tapped to distribute financial assistance available through the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, the City of Memphis, and generous individual donors. More than $1.1 million in individual grants were given. The program ended after the first quarter of 2021, and Welcome to Memphis resumed work on its primary mission.  The organization’s new mission is dedicated to supporting this workforce and highlighting the tremendous work they do to represent our city by showing our guests Authentic Memphis Hospitality.

Memphis Tourism is a 501(c)(6) membership organization that works to bring visitors to Memphis. Its 501(c)(3) affiliate, Welcome to Memphis, works to make sure the tourism and hospitality professionals who greet those visitors are equipped with customer service skills and destination knowledge to create a lasting positive impression.