'Our future is brighter than ever': Memphis Tourism CEO Kevin Kane talks future of tourism

Memphis tourism is thriving, and it's only getting better from here. That's the message President and CEO of Memphis Tourism Kevin Kane wants Memphians to receive.

In a speech Wednesday hosted by civic awareness group Positively Memphis, Kane, a life-long Memphian and University of Memphis graduate, spoke about positive developments happening in the city, from the newly renovated Leftwich Tennis Center to Ford's planned BlueOval City. Delivering his speech not from a podium, but by walking around the room, Kane's enthusiasm about Memphis could not have been more clear.

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"Folks, this is a great city. A great city," Kane said. "And we're going to be a megaphone for what's going on great in this city."

Kane said more than 12 million people visited Memphis in 2023, and that high number ties in closely with an overlooked airline statistic. He said that while daily airline departures have decreased from 254 to 88 since Northwest Airlines left Memphis in the dehubbing XX, 4.2 million people in 2023 will fly to Memphis as their final destination. Tha's more than the last year under Northwest Airlines and the most in Memphis history.

It's underreported stats and developments like this that Kane wants people to be aware of, and not lose sight of the big picture.

"So from a tourism standpoint, our future's bright... We're not going to lose his city. We are not going to lose ourselves," he said in the speech at the Holiday Inn-University of Memphis.\

Other less-talked-about developments were touched on as well. Kane said besides Renasant Convention Center being named best convention center in the nation for two straight year by Smart Meetings Magazine, the downtown building hosted 325 days of events, having just 40 days the entire year with nothing happening.

Besides projects that benefited tourism, Kane said the Mayor Jim Strickland administration's $100 million investment in community centers has quietly made an impact on communities across the city.

"You know, as a lifelong Memphian, I grew up spending a lot of time (at) our community centers... they were very important [especially to] disadvantaged neighborhoods," he said. "It almost became a safe place, a home away from home, a place where you can spend time and participate in whatever you wanted to do from a sports standpoint. Somewhere about 25 years ago we got away from that. Do yourself a favor and stop in on... community centers that are completely in some cases rebuilt and transformed... what they built out there is just incredible."

Speaking to The Commerical Appeal after his speech, Kane said the most important project crucial to Memphis's future has to be Ford's BlueOval.

"The spinoff businesses that could have a chance to grow off of that... it's an immediate opportunity that could really manifest itself over the next three to six years," he said. "That's one of those transformational situations that could have a tremendous impact on this community.

"In addition to that... the investment that has been made in hotels, the airport, the convention center − a lot of that was done during COVID or just out of COVID, so it really hasn't fully impacted yet as far as new business opportunities. So when I look around, I'm saying, 'Man, our future looks really bright.'"

Despite multiple positive developments, crime in Memphis remains a major problem, the impact of which was not lost on Kane. But Kane said looking beyond crime, seeing and talking about the good things happening in Memphis is what it will take to turn the city's reputation around.

"Crime is serious, and it's got everyone heavy hearted in our community, and I'm not sweeping that under the rug," he said. But if we have a defeatist attitude, the world will pick up on that. If we all say to other cities, 'Oh you don't want to come here,' all the stuff, people feed off that. You have to give people a reason to believe, visitors or Memphians, that there's something here that's so strong and so interesting that they want to come here and visit."

Jacob Wilt is a news reporter for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at jacob.wilt@commercialappeal.com

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Tourism CEO Kevin Kane talks future