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NEWSMAKERS: MeetNKY’s Eric Summe who leads team that brings visitors, conventions to our region


Staff report

This is part of a series on the NKyTribune’s NEWSMAKER award winners who will be recognized and celebrated at the Community Celebration annual event on Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m. at RECEPTIONS in Erlanger. The award honors those who have commanded headlines throughout the year and brought positive attention to Northern Kentucky. Tickets are available here.

As president and CEO of MeetNKY, Eric Summe leads (from the heart) the effort to make Northern Kentucky a premier meeting/tourist destination for conventions, visitors and groups from all over the world. And it has an impact – visitors to Northern Kentucky spent about $3.3 billion in 2017.

On a regional and statewide level, Northern Kentucky accounts for 39 percent of the travel spending in the Greater Cincinnati region and 20 percent of all travel spending in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The Fort Mitchell native took charge of MeetNKY in 2011, after 27 years with Delta Airlines and serving on the NKY Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Commissioners.

Eric Summe

Today, he serves on numerous statewide tourism boards, including the KY Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus and the KY Travel Industry Association, where he is the Legislative Committee Chair.

In the community, Eric is a board member of the NKY Convention Center, NKY Chamber of Commerce, and the Covington Business Council. He is a member of the Newport Businessman’s Association.

He was named the Kentucky Travel Industry Association (KTIA) 2016 Member of the Year.

“Eric’s knowledge and grasp of the issues were keys in the development of the association’s comprehensive legislative agenda for the 2016 session of the Kentucky General Assembly,” said KTIA President & CEO Hank Phillips.

“His expertise, insights and strategic thinking were essential ingredients in the successful pursuit of that agenda.”

MeetNKY serves as an aggressive destination sales, marketing, and service organization whose primary responsibility is to positively impact the Northern Kentucky economy through conventions, meetings, and visitor expenditures.

“Among KITA’s efforts is a much more aggressive and effective advocacy effort,” said Phillips. “That effort has been led by Eric Summe. In large measure, it was that leadership that earned him KTIA’s 2016 Member of the Year honor.”

Summe said he was humbled and honored by the recognition and credited his meetNKY team for his success in Frankfort as well as for the overall success and growth of Northern Kentucky’s tourism industry.

True to his nature, Summe is all about the “team.”

“I’m a big sports fan, and the most successful teams are all about teamwork,” Summe said. “I am grateful for the tremendous teams that I am privileged to be a part of at meetNKY and with the KTIA. This award is a true recognition of the success that can be achieved when people come together to work toward a common goal, and that is bringing more visitors, conventions, meetings, and tourists to Northern Kentucky, Greater Cincinnati and the state of Kentucky.”

Summe graduated from Covington Catholic High School and received a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Kentucky in 1974. He enjoys spending time with his wife Bonnie, traveling, visiting his two grown children who both live in the east, playing golf and riding his motorcycle.

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One Comment

  1. Roger Auge II says:

    Eric Summe comes from a good N., Ky. family and is well-deserving of a tourism award. Ditto for Jack Moreland.

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