Love for state blossoms in West Virginia tourism industry

10/7/2021

Beckley native Lisa Strader was 20 years old when she began her career in tourism in West Virginia.

Her first position was the New River Travel Council, now called Visit Southern West Virginia.

Though that organization would later make a huge impact on her life, she said it was simply a position she “fell into” at the time.

“It was just supposed to be a temporary position while one of the staff members was on maternity leave,” she said.

That was nearly 30 years ago and now Strader is the executive director.

WV.gov