Tennessee Aquarium: Strengthening a Culture of Hospitality Through Organization-Wide Empowerment
The Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga is widely recognized as a leader in hospitality. Organizations from across the country regularly visit to study its culture, curious about what sets its guest experience apart. Yet internally, the Aquarium’s leadership recognized that remaining number one would require more than maintaining the status quo.
To stay ahead and to push the boundaries of what hospitality could look like in an aquarium setting, they wanted to bring structure, language, and momentum to a culture that was already strong. That decision sparked a collaborative effort to empower every team member to create VIP-level moments consistently and with confidence.
The Challenge
Although the Aquarium was already known for exceptional hospitality, many of its most memorable moments relied on individual initiative and occurred primarily within certain departments. Guest occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, or milestone visits were often acknowledged, but not always elevated into the kind of multi-department experiences that left a lasting impact.
Leadership also noted that previous external training had felt rigid or difficult for frontline teams to apply, underscoring the need for a new approach that was practical, relatable, and aligned with the Aquarium’s values.
The goal wasn’t to fix a broken culture. It was to evolve a strong culture into an extraordinary one.
The Solution
After a recommendation from Aquarium of the Pacific and strong resonance with The Hospitality Mentality, the Tennessee Aquarium partnered with Liebman Leisure Group to develop a more intentional, organization-wide approach to guest experience. Through ongoing strategy meetings, impactful workshops, and practical tools, the program focused on shifting the mindset from simply receiving guest information to actively using it.
Staff began adopting a new framework for asking: “What does this information allow us to do?”
Birthdays, anniversaries, and special circumstances became opportunities for creative, coordinated action rather than isolated interactions. Behind-the-scenes access, which was once limited primarily to managers, was expanded to Guest Services, Admissions, and Member Services team members, giving frontline employees real tools to elevate moments in meaningful ways.
Most importantly, the program created shared language and expectations across departments, allowing the entire organization to operate with greater alignment and purpose.
The Results
The impact was immediate. The day after an initial training session, an Admissions team member was already coordinating a birthday moment for a guest, referencing examples from the workshop. Moments like this became more frequent, more collaborative, and more powerful.
One story exemplifies the transformation. When the aquarium received a message about a child who had recently received a terminal diagnosis, the request mobilized five departments within an hour. The team created two behind-the-scenes experiences, a curated gift bag, and a complimentary photograph, providing a moment of brightness during an unimaginably difficult time.
Alongside these stories came measurable changes. In September 2025 alone, 97% of survey respondents reported high and exceptional levels of staff and volunteer friendliness (4 or 5 out of 5), their highest levels on record, a pattern that was consistent across multiple months. Even when overall experience scores were temporarily affected by construction, hospitality-specific measures continued to climb. The team also strengthened its approach to service recovery, proactively reaching out to guests whose experiences fell short and inviting them back to see the difference.
Perhaps most notably, employees expressed feeling empowered, energized, and excited. Admissions team members, who once saw their guest interactionsas primarily transactional, now had the ability and the encouragement to create memorable moments for guests every day.
Client Perspective
“Working with Liebman Leisure Group has helped to empower our staff to make a difference in our guests’ visits every day,” says Michael Floyd, Vice President and Chief Guest Experience Officer. “Team members are more inquisitive. They’re trying to figure out whether there is anything exceptional we can do for this person when they visit. It’s changed us from feeling a bit impersonal at times to being truly hospitable. We’re going the extra mile so guests feel how special it is to be here, because we feel that every day when we come to work.”
Looking Ahead
Even after a year of progress, the aquarium views this work as just the beginning. With ongoing touchpoints and continued emphasis on empowerment, the organization is building a future where every team member can create extraordinary guest experiences, ensuring that Tennessee Aquarium remains a leader in hospitality for years to come.