Travel Insider
March 8, 2010 - Issue 5
1) Application Being Taken for Kentucky Proud Products
2) Travel South USA in Canada
3) Kentucky State Capitol Time Capsule Deadline
4) Spring Radio & TV Promotion
5) Media Lead - Shakespeare Encore
6) Annual Events
7) Tourism Promotion Bill Passes
8) Horse Sense Classes
9) Southeast Tourism Society Top 20
10) Media Lead - Kentucky Diners
1) Application Being Taken for Kentucky Proud Products: Applications are currently available for Kentucky Proud products to be considered for resale at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea. This is the first step for having products considered for resale at the Kentucky Experience's Kentucky Proud Product Pavilion during the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The pavilion will be located on the Kentucky Horse Park grounds in Lexington during the world's most prestigious equestrian competition Sept. 25-Oct. 10, 2010.
The next deadline is March 31 to be reviewed in April. The final deadline is set for June 30, 2010 to be reviewed in July.
To submit Kentucky Proud product(s) for review, please complete the appropriate application, which can be found at http://agweg.ky.gov, and return it with a biography or company history and sample food products or product images for non-food products to: ATTN: Artisan Product Review, Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, 975 Walnut Meadow Road, Berea, Ky. 40403.
If you have questions concerning the application process, contact Victoria Faoro with the Center at 859-985-5448, ext 222 or victoria.faoro@ky.gov. If you are not a Kentucky Proud member and would like to become one, please visit www.kentuckyproud.com for an application.
2) Travel South USA in Canada: The week of February 22, Commissioner Mike Cooper represented Kentucky at the Travel South USA conference in Toronto, Canada.
The Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) hosted a 'Munch and Mingle' event at Sassafraz restaurant in Toronto. TMAC media and industry colleagues had the opportunity to network with delegates from Travel South USA, a marketing organization that represents 12 southern U.S. states. Six state tourism office representatives - from Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia - were present to meet with journalists and give them the latest news and story ideas. Each state had a chance to highlight the latest news of importance in a quiz-style format, beginning with Mike Cooper.
The evening event hosted 70 individuals which included almost 40 journalists. As a follow up, a newsletter with state images and news items for each state from that event was sent to more than 20,000 media and tour oeprators in Canada.
The following quote was taken from an e-mail received from the David Bell president of Bell Travel consulting the following morning: "I wanted to drop you an e-mail to express my appreciation at attending the TMAC M&M last evening that was hosted by Travel South USA. The event was both informative and enjoyable."
3) Kentucky State Capitol Time Capsule Deadline: To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Kentucky's "newest" state capitol - the fourth statehouse used in the Commonwealth since statehood in 1792 - the Capitol Centennial Commission is compiling a "virtual" time capsule to capture recollections of Kentuckians from all 120 counties.
The committee is seeking personal memories about the Capitol from citizens who have either worked in the Capitol or visited with their friends and families or as school groups.
University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service agents and Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association will be encouraging communities to identify information from each county to highlight the building's importance to Kentuckians throughout history. This information will take the form of photos, audio recollections or videos. The extension office in each county will serve as the collection point for these remembrances.
A Virtual Time Capsule Web site is to be unveiled in conjunction with the Capitol Centennial Celebration June 4-5 in Frankfort. A gala on June 4, 2010 will benefit the Kentucky Executive Mansions Foundation, while activities June 5 will include a public celebration on the Capitol grounds.
All submissions should be in digital format and delivered to the local UK Cooperative Extension office. In some cases, local extension office staff can assist with the scanning of photographs. For more information and to find your extension office, go to http://www.ca.uky.edu/county/. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 2.
4) Spring Radio & TV Promotion: Pat Stipes is beginning his annual spring media promotions and would like to request tickets, T-shirts, koozie can holders, key chains, anything with your logo on it for radio and TV on-air prizes. The radio promotion and some TV will begin March 15. All participants will get an email as to the markets and to which stations the items went.
Please send items to: Pat Stipes, Kentucky Department of Travel & Tourism, 500 Mero St, 22nd FL, Frankfort, KY 40601. Any questions can be directed to Pat at Pat.Stipes@ky.gov.
5) Media Lead - Shakespeare Encore: If you've added a Shakespeare production to your summer/fall/winter 2010 lineup, Kentucky Living magazine would like to add that information to an article called "Shakespeare in Kentucky" that will run in the May or June issue. (Falcon Theatre, Cinti Shakespeare Co., KY Shakes, KY Rep Theatre and Liberty Hall Historic Site are already included.) Please e-mail information to Kathy Witt at wittk@fuse.net as soon as possible.
6) Annual Events: The Kentucky Department of Travel & Tourism is updating a list of annual events. The exact dates are not needed, just the month. If you know what year the event began and if it is always the same weekend of the month, please include. Please send information to Kathy Yount at kathy.yount@ky.gov.
This would also be a good time to review your listing on the Extranet that feeds the Web listing to ensure it is accurate.
7) Travel Promotion Act Signed by President Obama:
The Travel Promotion Act which established a public-private partnership to promote the USA as a travel destination passed the U.S. Senate on February 25 and was signed into law on March 4 by President Obama. According to Oxford Economics, this legislation could attract 1.6 million additional visitors and create more than $4 billion in consumer spending annually.
8) Horse Sense Classes: Alltech is continuing to hold its Horse Sense classes at their headquarters in Lexington to help familiarize people in the state with the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. These 2 1/2-hour sessions review the eight disciplines and provide information on ticket sales, hospitality and promotion of the state to the world.
Below are the dates for March. Space is limited to 25 per session. Sign up by emailing ehaywood@alltech.com. If RSVPing on behalf of a group, please designate the dates each person will attend along with their individual e-mail addresses.
Thursday, March 9
Tuesday, March 16
Monday, March 22
Wednesday, March 31
9) Southeast Tourism Society Top 20: Congratulations to the following events that were chosen as Top 20 for Summer 2010 by Southeast Tourism Society (STS): Lexington Junior League Horse Show, Lexington; The Forecastle Festival, Louisville; Keeneland Concours d'Elegance, Lexington; 41st Annual Street Rod Nationals, Louisville; 14th Annual Duncan Hines Festival, Bowling Green; International Mystery Writers Festival, Owensboro; AFB Art Fair @ Woodland Park, Lexington; Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Bardstown; World Chicken Festival, London; and IdeaFestival, Louisville.
Out of 60 events, Kentucky was represented by 10.
The deadline to apply to be a Fall 2010 event (October, November, December) is April 9, 2010. For an application, visit the STS Top 20 www.southeasttourism.org/top20/.
10) Media Lead - Kentucky Diners: A travel writer is interested in old "50's" style diners in Kentucky. He is looking for the steel/aluminum ones that look like a train car. If you have one in your region that is still in operation, please send information to Marge Bateman at marge.bateman@ky.gov.
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The Kentucky Department of Travel & Tourism is an agency within the Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet,which promotes the Commonwealth as a travel destination. Tourism in Kentucky has an economic impact of $11 billion, employs more than 176,000 people and generates $1 billion in taxes.
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(The Travel Insider is a bi-weekly publication of the Kentucky Department of Travel & Tourism.)
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If you would like to receive the Travel Insider, contact Marge Bateman, marge.bateman@ky.gov.
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Bookmark www.KentuckyTourism.com on your computer.