Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau head Nanci Liles announces retirement

Nanci Liles, executive director of the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau for "36-plus years," is retiring at the end of the year.

"I think it's time," Liles said Friday morning. 

"And I turned 65 this year," she said, adding that a job she thought might be a "stepping stone " turned out to be "the best decision I ever made."

Liles started her marketing career in 1982 at the Midland Chamber of Commerce, then came to Abilene in 1985 to serve as ACVB director.

Doug Peters, president and CEO of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce, said his organization will work closely with the ACVB's board to "ensure a search is conducted that provides the highest level of leadership and experience as we position Abilene for continued opportunities.”

The ACVB is a division of the chamber.

“Nanci’s tenure with the chamber will leave an indelible impression on tourism statewide, but most certainly here in our great city," Peters said.

Reflecting on success

Liles said the biggest transition through the years has been technological, such tools vastly different from when she started here in 1985.

But at the core, "what hasn't changed is our relationship with clients."

"Technology will never take the place of that," she said. "Over the many years, the tourism industry has just grown, and that is very gratifying."

She will leave her post knowing that a key goal she wanted to see happen will — a downtown convention center hotel, she said, a core component of generating new business. 

"I really wanted that to be a done deal before I departed," Liles said. "Now, it's going to happen, and I will be one of the first ones to make a reservation."

The Dodge Jones Youth Sports Center is another key player in the city's future, she said, and a longtime goal.

It, too, has already proven its worth.

"They've booked over a million dollars worth of new business from the time that facility opened, and that was during the height of COVID," she said. 

New business and heightened interest in the Taylor County Expo Center, which recently completed a substantial revamp after a $55 million bond election, is another significant win, she said.

"So our future is so very bright," she said. "I feel like I'm stepping down at just the right time."

She said she plans to remain involved with the state's travel industry, travel on her own and spend time with her new granddaughter, Magdalina Chere.

Liles also plans to become a "stronger advocate" for issues related to Alzheimer's disease. Her husband, Kenneth Warren Liles Jr., died of the illness in 2019.

She said hers has been a "dream job."

"I love to create things, and it's allowed me to use my creativity in many, many different ways," Liles said. "We love to host visitors and conventions, so that I've enjoyed every aspect of my job. With the exception of maybe a few city councilmen over the years, it's all been great."

Asset to industry

Liles has been actively involved in the Texas tourism industry throughout her career, according to information from the chamber.

She has served on the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association’s Legal Defense Committee, as director and chair of the Texas Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (TACVB) and as chairwoman of the Texas Travel Alliance (TTA).

In 2008, Liles received the TTA’s “Tall in Texas” award. In 2016, she was presented with the alliance’s Lifetime Achievement Award. 

More:Business notebook: Texas tourism board honors Nanci Liles, head of Abilene visitors bureau

The Texas Department of Transportation Tourism Division gave her the Gene Phillips Hospitality Award in 2017.

She was one of the first tourism professionals to be certified as a Texas Destination Marketer through the TACVB.

She was named as one of the Top 20 over 50 in Abilene and was honored as an Outstanding Woman by the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

More:On first-name basis with women of distinction

Liles also has served on various local boards and committees including the United Way of Abilene project committee, Abilene Regional Airport, Meals on Wheels, Expo Center, Convention Center, Junior League of Abilene, the Texas Forts Trail and Frontier Texas!

Plenty of praise

Marshall Morris, chairman of the chamber's board, said in a statement Liles has been a "champion for our city for just about as long as anyone can remember."

Her experience and "widely-recognized leadership across the state of Texas and her work to bring the impact of tourism to our community combine to create a notable legacy," Morris said. 

Betty Hukill, former ACVB board chairwoman and past director of the Paramount Theatre, said Liles has been a "major contributor in making Abilene the vibrant city it has become, thanks to her tireless energy and innate ability to attract visitors."

"Through the good times of municipal growth, expansion of Dyess and the revitalization of downtown, to the hard times of the oil bust, changing demographics and a pandemic, Nanci has been a steadfast leader for her staff members, non-profit boards, and the community," she said, while also being an "enormous force in the state’s tourism industry."

Abilene City Council member Donna Albus, also a former ACVB board chairwoman, said in conversations with leaders throughout the state, all say "how extraordinarily lucky Abilene is to have" Liles.

"Nanci is the lighthouse that has drawn thousands to our shores," Albus said, constantly finding new ways to promote Abilene.

Further afield, even Bob Phillips, known for his stint as the "Texas Country Reporter," offered praise.

“I can’t tell you how long I have known and worked with Nanci Liles," Phillips said. "Decades, for sure. But I do know this: There is no one in the travel profession in Texas who has done more for our state’s tourism or who is more respected. ... She is a giant in the Texas Tourism business and is known and loved by just about everyone in the industry.”

Mark W. Thompson, chairman of the Texas Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus and executive director of Visit Plano, said he had known Liles for 30 years,.

Liles is not a leader because of her titles or "overwhelming accolades and awards," Thompson said.

"She’s a leader because over the past 36-plus years, she has chosen to be a teacher of what she knows and one who has taught countless future and current leaders about the Texas tourism industry, including myself," he said.

Liles is the "true definition of Texas hospitality," Thompson said.

"Her retirement will leave a big hole in the canvas that makes up our industry," he said.  

Brian Bethel covers city and county government and general news for the Abilene Reporter-News.  If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.