Bennish Brown has served as President/CEO of Destination Augusta since July of 2018. 

He has led the organization through a destination rebrand, partnered with his Board of Directors on adopting a formal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion position for the organization, guided his Board through updating the organization’s Vision and Mission statement to reflect its evolving role, and championed the Destination NEXT (DNEXT) platform to develop Destination Augusta’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan.

He serves on the Board of Directors for Destinations International, and previously served on the Board for the Southeast Tourism Society, and on the Advocacy Committee for the Georgia Association of CVBs (GACVB). 

Bennish is extremely active locally. He is on the Boards of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance for Fort Eisenhower, the Augusta Sports Council, the Greater Augusta Arts Council, and recently appointed as a member of the Augusta University newly-created Community Engagement Leadership Committee (CELC).

Prior to Augusta, Bennish served for six years as the President/CEO of the Tacoma + Pierce County Convention & Visitors Bureau in Tacoma, WA, and before that at the Rock Hill, SC Convention & Visitors Bureau for 12 years. 

Before working in the tourism industry for more than 20 years, Bennish also spent nearly two decades in communications. He has worked in the radio industry, including time as an on-air radio personality and as station manager. He has been a newspaper reporter, and worked in many aspects of public relations and public information for local and state government, and in the corporate world. 

Bennish holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and a master’s degree in public relations from the University of South Carolina. An avid traveler, Bennish and his family have visited every continent but one, Antarctica.