Josh Rivers Named Director of Sports Tourism in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Josh Rivers was promoted to director of sports tourism at Visit Tuscaloosa, one of a series of staff moves the organization announced earlier this week.

Rivers will oversee the recruitment of regional and national sporting events to Tuscaloosa County, home of the University of Alabama, as well as sports tourism sales and business development. Since 2022, he had been the director of community partnerships and group tour experiences, and had previously spent more than 10 years at the University of Alabama’s Bryant Conference Center.

Other moves included:

• Alicia Richards has been promoted to director of events and community engagement. Richards, who joined Visit Tuscaloosa in 2024, had been the event and partnership services manager. She had previously been the community engagement manager and special events assistant operations manager for the City of Tuscaloosa.

• Lindsey Lane has been hired as director of marketing and communications, effective Aug. 24. A Tuscaloosa native, she will oversee the organization’s marketing and communications strategy, including brand management, integrated marketing campaigns, digital marketing, email marketing, website strategy, analytics, marketing collateral and social media strategy. Most recently, Lane was a tourism sales account executive at Carvertise, where she worked with destination marketing organizations and tourism brands across the Southeast.

• Director of Tourism Jasmine Rainey adds group tour sales to her current responsibilities. She will oversee group and motorcoach sales previously managed by Rivers.

“We have a truly special staff, and these promotions are a testament to the talent and leadership we have within our organization,” said Visit Tuscaloosa President and CEO Kelsey Rush. “As we continue to grow, I’m excited to see our team step into new opportunities and build on the work we are doing to increase visitation, support our tourism partners and create meaningful economic impact across Tuscaloosa.”