Wyoming’s Diane Shober Named Best Tourism Director In The Nation

The recognition just keeps coming for Wyoming’s Diane Shober, bubbly personality and all.

Shober has been selected the 2025 State Tourism Director of the Year by a national group of industry peers. That makes her the top tourism director in all of America, a high note to hit before she retires at the end of 2025.

While Wyoming’s spotlight might come as a surprise nationally, it’s not too surprising in the Cowboy State, where Shober has been praised by past and present governors, business owners and even one of Wyoming’s best-selling authors for helping marshal the state’s many attractive qualities and attractions together into a marketing movement that has helped make tourism one of the state’s top industries. 

She helped lead an effort to pass a lodging tax to perpetually fund tourism and launched marketing sponsorships and partnerships with national companies and advertisers.

Former Gov. David Freudenthal told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that he’d just run into Shober a few days before the award, and the thing that he noticed right away?

“She’s still got that bubbly personality,” he said.

Now, however, Freudenthal sees it for what it really is — exactly the attitude a top tourism director needs. But it was also what Wyoming’s tourism director needed at that particular time. 

“When she took travel-tourism over, it was being treated kind of like a redheaded stepchild,” he said. “And thanks, in part, to support from the Legislature and a new tourism board, but particularly Diane. 

“I mean, she deserves that recognition, because she built a remarkable tourism effort. I would say, from a little acorn, a rather large tree has grown, and she gets a lot of the credit for making that happen.”

Shober Says Wyoming Makes It Easy

Shober was humble about winning the award and credited her team as well as the many great tourism vendors across the state for giving her so much to work with. 

“It’s an honor and it’s humbling,” she said. “But I really see this as belonging to my team and me. There’s 24 dedicated employees who work at the Wyoming Office of Tourism alongside me.

“And every day they do their very best to elevate Wyoming as a great place to live, work and play.”

Shober said she’s proud of the award, as well as how hard everyone has worked for the state. 

“I feel like Wyoming stacks up pretty well against the competition,” she said. “And we work really hard other than assure that, and so I’m just really proud to represent Wyoming in that way, and to be able to bring this recognition for our team and for all of our partners across Wyoming.”

At the heart of it all, Shober added, is Wyoming itself — a place she finds easy to love.

“The Wyoming experience evolves and changes,” Shober said. “But at the heart of it, over time, are these iconic destinations, these beautiful landscapes, these stunning vistas, the wide-open spaces and the last bastion of the West.”

Shober’s Passion

Tucker Fagan, who was CEO of the Wyoming Business Council at the time of Shober’s hiring, said he feels the Gillette native’s passion for the Cowboy State is her real strength, because it’s the wellspring for her enthusiasm.

“You know, you can get other people, and they are three-year people,” he said. “They’ll come tell you, ‘Hey, I’ll do this, this and this, year one.’ By year two, you start to get the smell of this person. They don’t do very much. And by year three, they’re gone. 

“That’s the normal head of tourism, head of chamber, head of economic development in our state and every other state.”

Shober, on the other hand, had followed a passion for tourism to Chicago, learning the ropes, then decided she wanted to bring that knowledge and expertise back to her home state. 

“You think when she went to bed at night she’d say, ‘Oh boy, I’m going to have a good sleep tonight?’ She probably woke up three times, thinking about, ‘Oh, I gotta do that,’ or ‘What if I get this together?’ These jobs, I’ll tell you, the Wyoming Business Council and tourism (director) are all-consuming, if you have that work ethic and you want everything to come out right,” Fagan said.

It’s a passion that’s never faded, New York Times bestselling author C.J. Box told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday. 

At the time Box met Shober, he had a global tourism company representing the United States overseas for 24 years. That gave him exposure to many tourism directors across the nation.

“She was just really enthusiastic about promoting tourism in the state of Wyoming,” Box said. “She was always working so hard, spending extra hours doing it, always so supportive of her team and staff.”

No Bud Light Moments

Despite that all-consuming work ethic, though, Shober doesn’t forget to have fun, which has given her an enviable track record in what can be a difficult sector.

Her recent Modern Explorers campaign, for example, is a fun campaign that features adventure-packed paths across Wyoming, while also competing in physical Ford Bronco-based challenges. It’s helped spread the word about Wyoming tourism opportunities in a big, big way. 

The campaign ran from March to September of 2024 and reached 775,000 households across the United States. 

Phocuswire, a trade industry journal about travel, reported the campaign resulted in a nine-fold increase in traveler interest for Wyoming. 

The campaign didn’t just pique interest, it also helped to close the deal for many travelers. 

According to the Wyoming Office of Tourism stats released last year, the campaign helped drive a 14% year-over-year increase in visitation growth, as well as a 335% increase in email sign-ups and an 8% increase in guide orders.

Even great marketing firms can’t always boast that kind of success, Fagan said, despite spending billions trying. 

“Like Bud light doing that stupid commercial,” Fagan said. “They screwed themselves, and they are coming back to who their constituency really is. So that’s something you have to understand, and it’s what she understands in Wyoming. That motel owner, that gas station owner, that restaurant up in Cody or in Evanston.”

It Takes A Village 

The Modern Explorers campaign, Shober said, is probably the best example of how everyone across the state is working together to have a bigger effect than any one person or office could do alone. It’s that whole “it takes a village” approach. 

“That highlights the personal stories of Wyoming people, and that resonates well with visitors,” she said. “So, when I say there are people who work hard every day to help us tell our story and elevate Wyoming, I don’t mean that in just the literal sense of those who are creating marketing campaigns and deploying them. It includes the people who tell those stories.”

People like Jasmine Pickner Bell, who is a champion hoop dancer. People from Fossil Butte National Monument. And people from historic, legacy ranches.

“There are so many people who have shared in this storytelling and been a part of these campaigns,” Shober said. “And that’s what resonates with visitors is when they feel like you’re not selling them just a bill of goods, but you’re really talking about the experience and the heart of this destination. And you’re hearing it from those who do it every day.”

A Gift

Shober received her award Tuesday during the U.S. Travel Association’s annual conference, held this year in Phoenix, Arizona.

The award is based on a selection by industry peers representing state tourism organizations in all 50 states and U.S. territories.

Shober is planning to retire at the end of 2025, with a remarkable track record of success, one that has taken tourism spending across Wyoming to nearly $5 billion annually.

The Gillette native is the state’s longest-serving tourism director, and earlier this year also won the Big WYO award, which recognizes people who have made significant and lasting impact on Wyoming’s tourism and hospitality industries. 

Shober serves on multiple boards ranging from state to national levels, including Western States Tourism Policy Council, National Council of State Tourism Directors, U.S. Travel Association’s 2024 Executive Board, the inaugural board for Brand USA, Wyoming State Fair Board and Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Initiative. As part of the latter, she led efforts to establish and fund degree programs to build a skilled, tourism workforce. 

Shober has told Cowboy State Daily in previous interview and radio shows that the job was one those rare opportunities to come back and make a difference for her state.  

“It’s been a gift,” she said during a January podcast with Cowboy State Daily’s Wendy Corr. “It’s been a challenge, but it has been rewarding, really, at every step of the way.”

On Wednesday, her comments seemed to point to a potential loophole in her retirement.

“I have enjoyed having this career in this industry so much, and I’m extremely proud of everything that we, and when I say we, I mean a lot of us, a lot of people, a lot of organizations have accomplished,” she said. “And will continue to accomplish, because it gets in your blood.”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.