NATCHEZ — Within 24 hours of moving to Natchez, Kevin Kirby knew he was part of something special.

Natchez’s newest Convention and Visitors Bureau director took the baton from interim director Creda Stewart eight days ago and has started running.

He has been meeting with and listening to the mayor, aldermen, tourism officials and many other area community leaders.

The one thing Kirby says he is most impressed with is the passion most people have for the city.

“The love of the city and the desire to see it continue to be a destination is something everyone I meet wants,” Kirby said. “There is a wonderful spirit of volunteerism that is a rare quality indicative of the passion and respect (residents) have for the city.”

That passion was what Kirby and his wife recognized on their first day in the new city.

“My wife and I felt within 24 hours like we were already a part of the fabric and desire to make Natchez everything it can be.”

A Virginia native, Kirby graduated with a journalism degree from Washington and Lee University in the early 1980s.

After graduation, Kirby began his professional career in Washington, D.C., working for United Press International.

From UPI, Kirby stepped into the world of advertising where he began his work in tourism.

Kirby worked with the Maryland Office of Tourism and Virginia Tourism.

“We focused on defining their brand, looking for that clear, concise message,” Kirby said.

The state of Virginia already had one of the country’s most identifiable brands with the “Virginia is for Lovers” campaign. The client charged Kirby’s office with moving the brand forward.

In those years, Kirby and his family moved to Petersburg, Va., a town Kirby said is very much like Natchez.

“It has a treasure trove of history you can embrace,” Kirby said.

Soon after moving to the town of 32,000 people just south of Richmond, Va., town officials asked Kirby to join a variety of boards.

“As a resident, the more I became involved, the more I wanted to contribute,” Kirby said. “It became a driving passion.”

In 2004, Kirby became the Petersburg Cultural Affairs Manager and Director of Tourism. For more than 10 years, he directed tourism to help revitalize economic development for the town.

Kirby said, many of the projects he spearheaded parallel some of the projects currently under way in Natchez. Kirby developed promotions for the town’s 400th anniversary, developed a monthly arts program, developed programs to energize the city’s downtown and communicated with Steven Spielberg and film executives during the filming of the Oscar-winning movie “Lincoln.”

“I took a city that needed focus and delivered,” Kirby said.

Kirby’s objective is to do the same in Natchez.

“My goal is to carry the mission of Natchez to as broad an audience as possible,” Kirby said.

Accomplishing that mission is made easier by all that Natchez has to offer, Kirby said.

“Natchez has as many attractions as the river is wide,” Kirby said.

“I am excited to be working with the great group of dynamic individuals in our office, the aldermen, mayor and promotions committee. That’s the type of team anybody would want to be on.”