Harmony Heard is the Cullman County Tourism Bureau’s newest Director of Tourism.

The tourism bureau was legislatively created through a bill sponsored by Alabama State Senator Garlan Gudger in 2021 to create a “laser focus” on promoting festivals, events and tournaments in the city of Cullman and Cullman County.

Heard will replace former director Hugh Stump who resigned early this year. Chairman of the bureau Jeff Tolbert said he anticipates Heard’s arrival will create a “new look” for local tourism based on her previous successes as the director of sales for Visit South Padre Island in Texas and as the director of sales and marketing for the Westin/Element in Huntsville, Heard’s hometown.

“We’re really excited to have somebody who is going to bring a wealth of tourism experience to us. She has certainly demonstrated her ability to promote tourism. The tourism board in South Padre would set goals for her and she exceeded them every time they gave her one,” Tolbert said in a press release.

While Tolbert said the bureau has had tremendous success with attracting collegiate and professional fishing tournaments to Smith Lake — he estimated each tournament injects roughly $500,000 into the local economy — he was excited for the new perspective he believed Heard would bring to the table.

“The reason we tried to look outside the local area for a new director is to bring somebody who had the vision and could see what other major tourist destinations were doing to draw from,” Tolbert said in the release.

Heard has also served as President of the Huntsville/Madison County Hospitality Association, The emissary of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, the Chair-Elect of the Board of Directors for the Better Business Bureau and the Chairwoman of the Board for the Cornerstone Initiative.