Atlanta,
GA – July 2014 / Newsmaker Alert / Travel
South USA is pleased to announce the 2014 Executive Board Officers.
Duane
Parrish, Director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation
& Tourism, was named 2014 chairman of the board and assumes leadership
of the Southern Travel Directors Council, Inc; Mike Mangeot, Commissioner
of the Kentucky Department of Tourism & Travel was elected to serve
as vice chairman; Kyle Edmiston, Assistant Secretary, Louisiana
Office of Tourism will serve as secretary; and Wit Tuttell, Executive
Director, North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development
will serve as treasurer. The new officers assume their duties immediately.
“It
is an honor to serve as chairman of the Travel South Board of Directors,
especially as the organization prepares to commemorate its 50th anniversary,”
said Parrish. “For nearly half of a century, Travel South USA has provided
cost-effective, cooperative marketing and public relations opportunities
for its member states in both domestic and international markets, fostering
collaborative partnerships between the southeastern states while also allowing
each state to extend the reach of its own marketing program.”
He
added, “I look forward to working with the Board of Directors as we celebrate
the accomplishments we have achieved collectively through Travel South
USA and plot the course for the new directions this organization will take
over the coming years.”
Duane
Parrish was appointed to his current cabinet position by Governor Nikki
R. Haley in January 2011. Prior to his appointment as Director of SCPRT,
Parrish served as President of the Premier Hospitality Group and was responsible
for all daily operations with oversight of various other divisions including
development, human resources, accounting, and real estate sales. Parrish
has also held several senior management positions within the hotel industry
at distinguished organizations including Promus Hotels (now Hilton Hotels),
Holiday Inns, and Ramada Inns. His hospitality experience also includes
management of the Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.
A graduate
of the University of South Carolina in Business Administration, Parrish
has served as an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston and Trident
Technical College teaching hotel management and hospitality courses. He
has also been an active member of the South Carolina Hospitality Association.
Parrish has also served on a number of other boards for the Chamber of
Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, various hotel associations,
and two college advisory boards.
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,
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 $135.7 billion in spending by visitors, generating
1.33 million direct jobs, $32.3 billion in worker paychecks, and more than
$19 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
Marketing
& Communication Coordinator
Travel
South USA
404-231-1790
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Travel
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