Tourism bureau receives award


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Tourism bureau receives award

From left are LaKisha Mitchell-Buffington (Holly Springs tourism office and group sales manager), Rochelle Hicks (Mississippi Tourism Association director), Stephanie McKinney (Holly Springs tourism executive director), Brent Christensen (Mississippi Development Authority director), Martha Thomas (Holly Springs Tourism Board secretary), and Kappi Allen (Mississippi Tourism Association president). Not pictured but in attendance is Annie Moffitt-Lucas (tourism board vice president).

Last week, the Mississippi Development Authority and Mississippi Tourism Association presented a host of awards to tourism entities around the state during the 2012 Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

Held at Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica September 23-25, the awards ceremony showcased the best and brightest tourism organizations, staff members, volunteers and projects from across Mississippi.

Among those honored was the Holly Springs Tourism and Recreation Bureau, which was presented with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau of the Year award for an organization with a budget less than $250,000 for the second year in a row, the third time in the bureau’s history.

“We are very excited and honored to receive this award” said Stephanie McKinney, executive director of the Holly Springs Tourism Bureau. “The honor is a tribute to the hard work and support of our board of directors, community leaders, city council and everyday citizens who make the town of Holly Springs such a wonderful place to visit.”

The awards program recognizes outstanding contributions to the advancement of tourism by members of the over 450-member private sector organization as well as honoring travel media, community volunteers and governmental friends of the industry. Awards were presented in ten categories, each focusing on a different aspect of the hospitality industry or individual achievement.

“We feel it is important to give special recognition to Convention and Visitors Bureaus with smaller budgets for their outstanding accomplishments, and Holly Springs has proven to be a valuable asset to the tourism industry,” said Kappi Allen, director of the Clarksdale Convention and Visitors Bureau and president of the Mississippi Tourism Association.

The Holly Springs Tourism and Recreation Bureau was established in 1999 and is funded by a 2 percent hotel/motel tax and a 2 percent prepared food and beverage tax – of which the bureau receives half. Through those tax dollars, the bureau is working to establish Holly Springs as a vacation destination bringing additional tax dollars to the city and county.

“Our primary goal is to bring visitors into our hotels, stores, restaurants and our attractions, and encourage them to spend money in our community,” said McKinney. “We primarily target potential visitors outside of a 100-mile radius – those who will need a place to stay and will hopefully eat at two or three of our restaurants, as opposed to day-trip visitors who will spend less time and money in the community. It is becoming increasingly difficult to reach that market on limited funds so we have looked into more creative ways, often free ways, to get a little extra attention. We have received great feedback from our new website and just recently launched a new audio tour which is now available on our website.

“We have also established a well followed Facebook page and are working on a self-guided tour of Hill Crest Cemetery. We’ve got lots of exciting things happening and much more to come.”

For more information on the Holly Springs Tourism and Recreation Bureau and things to do in Holly Springs, please visit www.visithollysprings.com or call at 888-687-4735.

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