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Greg Oliver

Pictured is Karli Merritt, who has completed her first week as the Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce’s director of tourism.

CLEMSON — Karli Merritt, the new director of tourism for the Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce, said she feels the position is a perfect fit for her.

A Piedmont native and 2001 Wren High School graduate, Merritt earned a degree in communications from the University of South Carolina Upstate last year and came to the Chamber after serving as promotions director for WCCP Radio in Clemson for more than a year.

“After the interview here, I knew this was what I wanted to do,” Merritt said. “It’s an interesting job, and you meet so many people.”

Working with people is something Merritt said she enjoys and feels her background in that area will benefit her in the tourism profession. One thing she especially desires is to receive ideas from others and “put mine with them.”

“I like listening to other people’s ideas and feeding off those,” she said. “It’s going to be extremely exciting to see what we’re going to accomplish together. The Sports Council is made up of more than one person, and I think two ideas are better than one and three are better than two.”

Currently, Merritt is working with the Sports Council on the upcoming South Carolina High School League state football championships. For the first time ever, Clemson Memorial Stadium, also known as Death Valley, will be home to one 4-A state title game Dec. 5 and another 4-A title game on Dec. 6.

Merritt, who is assisting the Sports Council with ticket sales, also said she hopes the event can make the area more visible from a tourism standpoint.

“Clemson is a great place for everyone to visit — young adults, teenagers, families — and the city, as well as surrounding towns, has so much history to observe,” Merritt said. “All of the people from the Upstate know about Clemson, but some might not know of its history and those of its neighbors.”

When away from her tourism duties, Merritt said she enjoys socializing with family and friends and attending Clemson football and basketball games.

“Piedmont is where I live, but Clemson is home to me,” she said.