Fecht eager to get busy as new chamber marketing manager

Jennifer Fecht, the new tourism marketing manager with the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau, may be a weekend warrior when it comes to being a Holmes County citizen, but her heart is firmly entrenched in the county.

Fecht and her family have owned a weekend home at Lake Buckhorn for the past 14 years, and despite living in Columbus during the week, her heart is attached to Holmes County.

“We’ve been in love with Holmes County and Lake Buckhorn for the past 14 years,” Fecht said. “My husband Eric wants to retire here sooner than later. Once our youngest graduates high school — he’s a sophomore — Holmes County will become our primary residence, and we couldn’t be more excited because we fell in love with Amish Country. It’s this simple way of life, but there is incredible beauty in that simplicity. I feel like ever since we found Holmes County, I’ve been telling the story of Holmes County for 14 years.”

Fecht has worked in media sales in Columbus for 30 years, working for Channel 4 as an account executive for a decade. That was followed by a lengthy tenure with the Dispatch Group with homestyle magazines, and she also did ad agency work with New Vision Media, producing commercials where she would sign up a company and then produce the commercial for them.

“Everything I’ve done up until this point has prepared me for this role,” she said. “When I worked for New Vision, I landed the Tourism Ohio account, which at the time was the ‘Ohio: Find It Here’ campaign series that went all over Ohio. It was then that I realized that I love the tourism destination marketing industry. I think it’s the idea of capturing that sense of adventure and helping to tell the story to guests.”

Another key experience was doing video production work for all of Ohio’s state park lodging facilities and in the process getting to know a lot of Ohio’s convention and visitors bureau directors.

All that work helped prepare her for this new role in serving Holmes County.

“When Shannon left, I started to chat with Tiffany to see if there might be a hybrid remote role available,” Fecht said. “We ended up partnering together, and it’s grown from there.”

Fecht said the job is made simpler because Holmes County and Amish Country’s reputation is so solid it sells itself.

Her goal is to simply serve as a conduit to get that information out to all corners of Ohio and the nation, inviting them to come and experience everything this area has to offer.

Although she has just started in her new role, she said she has already connected with visitors from Spain, Germany, Sweden, France and many guests from coast to coast in the U.S.

“Amish Country’s reputation is so strong it transcends borders,” Fecht said.

She said while tourists continue to flock to Amish Country to experience the serenity and beauty it presents, the Amish lifestyle, and the woodworking, antiques and more, her goal also is to create excitement about new opportunities.

“There are untapped markets including wedding venues. Amish Country is a viable, unique venue for weddings, and we’re seeing more young people reach outside of the traditional church weddings for a venue,” Fecht said. “We’re seeing more of a demand, and we want to get that message out to potential suitors, and we’re in a great market sandwiched between Cleveland and Columbus.”

Another area she wants to pour herself into is corporate retreats, bringing in larger companies for stay-over retreats, where companies combine a work day with a day of golfing or touring Amish Country.

She said there is so much growth and potential in Holmes County as it continues to find new ways to prosper and develop its tourism drawing capabilities.

“I call it agritainment for families,” Fecht said. “Holmes County continues to evolve and offer so much more. There’s a lot for everybody. We just have to tell that story. There’s so much to see and do here. It’s really difficult to experience it all in just one day.”

Fecht also praised her fellow chamber teammates who have helped her move seamlessly into her new role.

Gerber said Fecht’s energy and excitement for Amish Country is infectious, and she has already proven to be an incredible fit in the chamber family.