Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Hosts Second Meeting on Sustainable Tourism

GATLINBURG, Tenn. – The department of Tourist Development will host the next Sustainable Tourism meeting for the gateway communities of Great Smoky Mountains National Park from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., EST Sept. 24, at the W.L. Mills Conference Center, Tennessee ballroom A.

The purpose of the meeting is to share the results of the Sustainable Tourism Summit, begin the process of discussing the next steps in sustainable tourism planning and share available resources to assist the gateway communities toward implementation of sustainable tourism practices.

Tourism Commissioner Susan Whitaker, Dr. Van West, director of MTSU's Center for Historic Preservation and the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, and Beth Phillips, economic development specialist for the Institute for Public Service at The University of Tennessee, and Dr. Tim Ezell, director of the UT Institute for a Secure & Sustainable Environment, will speak at the event.

The inaugural Sustainable Tourism summit took place in April in Knoxville, Tenn. The focus of the Summit was to educate tourism partners on sustaining the environment, culture and heritage of a region, while at the same time sustaining the economic growth of that region through tourism. For additional research, trends and best practices in sustainable tourism, visit the Sustainable Tourism industry resource Web site at http://www.tnsustainabletourism.com.

For more information, contact Lee Curtis at (615) 741-9045, lee.curtis@state.tn.us, or Patricia Gray at (615) 741-9004, patricia.gray@state.tn.us.