Jonathan Pettus

Jonathan Pettus is the Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of Visit Jackson, Mississippi’s destination organization.

Now going on 10 years, he manages the organization’s marketing efforts and just recently was promoted to Vice President to develop long-term strategies for Visit Jackson.

Pettus is responsible for identifying market opportunities and enhancing the economic vitality to Jackson’s tourism partners. He leads a team that consists of communication, branding, design, content, and destination development professionals.

Prior to his role at Visit Jackson, Pettus worked as a Senior Account Executive with Maris, West & Baker (MWB) Advertising for ten years. During his time there, Pettus was the lead account executive for all tourism-related clients. He worked directly with Visit Jackson on marketing strategies, advertising campaigns, and media placement. 

Pettus serves on the board for the Mississippi Tourism Association, is a leader for the Mississippi DMO Marketing Association and a past president of the American Advertising Federation of Jackson. 

During his tenure at Visit Jackson, Pettus has led a team whose work has been awarded numerous Advertising Federation awards, a Silver Adrian Award in the PR & Special Events category, and several Mississippi Tourism Association awards, including Best of Show ad campaigns and Destination Marketing Organization of the Year in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. More recently, Visit Jackson was nominated as a US Travel Association Destiny Award finalist in the Destination Website category and won the People’s Choice Award for the website.