Sallisaw was chosen as one of six sites throughout the state to hold an annual Tourism Buzz, which was a two-hour meeting April 8 at the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce. Several in the area who are involved in the tourism industry attended, including representatives from Tenkiller State Park, the Overstreet-Kerr Historical Farm, the Interstate 40 Sallisaw Welcome Center, Brushy State Park and others.
Judy Martens, chamber executive vice president, pointed out that tourism in Oklahoma is a multi-million dollar industry with many of those dollars being spent in the region.
In an effort to stimulate the dollar in Sallisaw and Sequoyah County, Martens said the chamber has made a commitment in 2008 to increase tourism in the area.
Seven representatives from the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department were on hand to provide resources and information relating to tourism.
The group held an open discussion, with an emphasis on what the state department can offer.
Lindsay Vidrine, department director of public relations, introduced the six other staff members who were also in attendance sharing information. Those members included Austin Tackett, public relations coordinator; Charlie Wallar, consumer travel coordinator; Jeff Weeks, eastern Oklahoma agritourism coordinator through the Department of Agriculture; Dacia Abel, publications coordinator; Kerry Barrick, travel development coordinator; and Barbie Elder, destination development manager.
The group explained how each division of the tourism department and its programs can increase awareness of the importance of the state's travel and tourism industry.
Tackett explained that the department offers a service in which the staff will distribute prepared press releases to the department's media database. The press releases are also posted to a special page on TravelOk.com where they are available to the media and public.
Wallar explained that the department also focuses on consumer travel development through the attendance of special boat, sport and travel shows. She said communities and chambers can send brochures with them to shows or even state fairs.
Weeks explained that his focus is on agritourism, all through a partnership with the tourism department and the Department of Agriculture. Agritourism encompasses a wide range of businesses and activities, including pumpkin patches, farmer's markets, wineries and others. He noted that agritourism is a "hot trend and we're trying to capitalize on that."
Weeks said the state has diverse agritourism attractions, such as a business that raises gourds and decorates them and sells them as art. The department has published an agritourism map that spotlights 311 businesses in the state. In Sequoyah County a tree farm is one of the businesses listed.
Abel also discussed other publications that the department offers, including an events guide that lists events across the state by month and region. Vidrine discussed specialty publications that are in the works, including a new Route 66 guide and an African American heritage brochure, as well as a new state map. Vidrine also pointed out that the department's Web site is being overhauled and will include a new press room site that will offer blogs, travel packages and other features.
Barrick spoke about travel trade and industry shows that the department attends. She indicated that they are working to promote the state internationally and they do marketing with Kansas to German-speaking Europe.
"We're seeing an influx of international travelers," she said.
Barrick said they have a brochure in German that they market to people in the United Kingdom and Germany, who distribute the travel guides.
Martens pointed out that the Sallisaw chamber recently received a call from a man in Germany for information about the area.
Destination development was also a topic at the meeting, with Elder explaining that the department provides resources, including a destination development manual to cities and chambers on how to develop a destination development reaction team and community branding. She said they are currently building an artisans database, which has 2,500 artisans listed. She noted these are not oil painters, but gourd artists, pot throwers, and glass blowers.
Elder said the department has also identified grant opportunities for tourism development and a database is available.
