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Travel South USA
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Changes in Travel South USA’s Staffing
Bring Value to Tourism Professionals Throughout the South
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Atlanta, GA – April 2015 / Newsmaker Alert / The Travel South USA (TSUSA) Board of Directors announced today it has restructured the 50 year old organization’s staffing to better reflect the work being done by Travel South USA’s veteran team of tourism professionals.

Elizabeth A. Bittner now serves as President & CEO of the nation’s oldest and largest regional tourism organization. Bittner, with over 25 years of experience in the tourism industry, had served as Executive Director since 2004. Under her leadership, Travel South USA experienced exponential growth, quadrupling its budget and creating new marketing initiatives to increase travel to and within the American South. TSUSA has gone from hosting one Domestic Showcase event per year to now adding an annual International Showcase. Additionally, TSUSA created the Ultimate Ad Challenge media program, affording partners the chance to participate in advertising opportunities previously out of budgets’ reach; enhancing research for marketing intelligence among the organization’s partners, and organizing trade missions to Australia, the Benelux countries, Brazil, China, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom, increasing both domestic and international visitation to the South.

In making the announcement, TSUSA Chairman Duane Parrish said, “Travel South USA’s mission is as critical today as it was 50 years ago because it is focused on delivering marketing value and continuing to evolve and adapt to changes in the world, maintaining relevancy for its member states.” Parrish, who serves as Director of South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, also commented on Travel South USA’s leadership as the first regional tourism organization to step forward with Brand USA, a public private partnership with the mission of promoting international travel to the United States. “Travel South has now become the recognized model for other organizations in working with the partnership on a regional basis,” he said.

Rounding out the leadership team, former Director of Partnership Events and Operations Rob Nolen was named Vice President, Strategic Partnerships & Events and former Director of Global Sales and Media Relations David Kemp was named Vice President, Global Sales & Media Relations.

Nolen joined Travel South USA in 2004 as an event manager and, according to Bittner, has grown the quality and quantity of partners as well as attendance at various TSUSA events in the past 10 years, including revitalizing Domestic Showcase. New sponsors, schedule changes and a focus on social media have significantly delivered more value to the destination hosts and the member states.

Kemp joined the organization in 2012. With decades of sales expertise in the hospitality industry, he has increased international group business and media exposure for the South during his tenure. Under his direction, TSUSA’s Domestic Showcase media program has grown from a handful of writers in attendance the first year to 27 travel journalists in 2014, resulting in a total of 267 published articles nationwide about Southern destinations resulting in close to 36 million media impressions in 2014.

About Travel South USA
Travel South USA is America’s oldest and largest regional travel promotion organization, formed in 1965 by resolution presented at the Southern Governor’s Conference. The long-standing regional collaboration of the state tourism offices of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia provides a foundation to positively position tourism as a vital and dynamic element in the region’s economic development. Tourism ranks throughout the region as one of the top three industries, behind manufacturing and agriculture, and is responsible for $133 billion in spending by visitors, generating 1.4 million direct jobs, $30 billion in worker paychecks, and almost $16 billion in state and local taxes. For more information, visit www.TravelSouthUSA.com for consumer information and for travel industry information, www.TravelSouthUSA.org.
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Contact:
Sam Lacy
Digital Marketing Manager
Travel South USA
404-231-1790
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Travel South USA: Facebook / Twitter / YouTube
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Placement Dates: 04/28/15 – 06/28/15
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