In place of its annual meeting, the Chattanooga Convention & Visitors Bureau will host the first Chattanooga Tourism Summit from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.. on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
Billed as the region's largest celebration of tourism, the Summit includes lunch, live music by local musician Rick Rushing, and the brand new EXPO featuring a variety of travel and tourism-related businesses.
Barry White"We are thrilled to be hosting this type of event for the tourism industry and our community partners," said Barry White, president and chief executive for the Convention and Visitors Bureau who plans to outline the bureau's strategic plans for the the next five years during the luncheon. "Tourism is a major economic driver in our region and we're proud to work with so many incredible people that collectively create authentic Chattanooga experiences."
The keynote speaker at the Tourism Summit will be Bill Geist, chief instigator at DMOproz, a firm specializing in strategic planning, marketing, governance, and legislative issues for convention and visitor bureaus, tourism-focused chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, and communities.
Geist's vast experience includes working with more than 200 destination marketing organizations and communities; creating and hosting an innovative distance learning series DMOU.com (Destination Marketing Organization University); holding various management and programming roles with broadcast media in the Chicago area; leading several convention and visitors bureaus; and writing Destination Leadership, a deeper and updated version of his first book, Destination Leadership for Boards.
Registration for the Chattanooga Tourism Summit is available online at www.eventbrite.com/e/the-first-chattanooga-tourism-summit-tickets-49479960895.