The Garden Club of Lookout Mountain presents the city and former council member Daniel Pettway with a Civic Improvement Commendation plaque from the Garden Club of America. From left are garden club president Cindy Whitaker, Susan Pettway Colmore, Daniel Pettway, Lynn Pettway and garden club awards chairperson Jody Clark.NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gov. Bill Haslam says his tourism commissioner, Susan Whitaker, is leaving his administration after serving in that position for 12 years.
Whitaker was first named tourism commissioner by then-Gov. Phil Bredesen in 2003, and was kept on in that role by Haslam after he took office in 2011. She previously worked as vice president of marketing for Dollywood, Tennessee’s most visited man-made attraction.
The state estimates that tourism accounted for $16.7 billion in direct economic impact last year, and that state and local tax collections related to tourism reached a record $1.3 billion.
Haslam said Whitaker has agreed to remain commissioner until a successor is named for the agency responsible for the state’s marketing, public relations and promotions campaigns.