Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitors Bureau
Virginia native Justin Kerns earned a Bachelor of Science with Honors and Master of Science with Distinction in Recreation and Tourism Management with a focus on sustainable tourism development from California State University, Northridge, where he also co-founded the student-run Recreation Management Association.
After graduation he formed Sustainable Tourism Management, a research-based tourism development consulting company which helped a number of Southern California cities develop their initial tourism strategy and infrastructure. He has also worked for AmericanTours International (ATI) and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, as part of their international product development team.
Justin found his true calling in the DMO/CVB world upon returning to Virginia, where he first worked as Tourism Director for Mecklenburg County, Virginia and now as Executive Director of the Winchester-Frederick County CVB. His regional efforts include co-creation of the Southern Virginia Wild Blueway, co-creation of the Distinctly Southern Virginia collaborative, former chair of the Virginia’s Retreat regional DMO and former member of the Board of Directors for the Southeast Tourism Society. He was recently elected to the role of President of the Virginia Association of DMOs and is the Virginia State Chair for the Southeast Tourism Society Congressional Summit.
In his spare time, he loves volunteer coaching for the Top of Virginia Hockey Alliance, managing a bluebird nesting box trail, playing goalie for a few ice hockey teams, and most of all he enjoys perpetually driving his two young children around to their many activities and watching them grow into some pretty cool young adults.
