That’s a Wrap on 2021 Governor’s Conference

Last week, HospitalityTN wrapped a successful 2021 Governor’s Conference on Hospitality & Tourism at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. It was great having everyone together again to discuss the future of tourism across the state. Commissioner Ezell addressed partners on the current state of the industry and thanked everyone for their continuous passion and hard work during a difficult year. TDTD shared ways the industry is coming back bigger and better than ever through many great partnerships, the new Office of Rural Tourism, new markets, updated programs and new branding efforts.

Other highlights included keynote speakers Noah Galloway, Amir Eylon, Jennifer Stoll, Jackie Leatherwood, Andy Marshall, Chris Massie, Crystal Washington and many others. Seminars focused on key topics such as traveler sentiment into recovery, research tools and resources, promoting your destination to remote workers and critical hospitality and tourism employment issues and initiatives. On Thursday night, the Stars of the Industry Gala celebrated the best and the brightest employees and organizations in the hospitality industry. Congratulations to everyone who took home awards including TDTD’s very own, Commissioner Mark Ezell. Your dedication and perseverance, especially over the last year, doesn’t go unnoticed, and we are grateful for everything you do to promote tourism in Tennessee.

On Friday, the conference wrapped with a performance by Rivers Rutherford, a Tennessee-native and the distinct “voice” of many Tennessee tourism commercials. The hit songwriter played some of his most popular number one cuts including “When I Get Where I’m Going” By Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton, “Real Good Man” by Tim McGraw, ‘These Are My People” by Rodney Atkins and “Ain’t Nothing ‘bout You” by Brooks & Dunn.

For those who were not able to make it, we wanted to share the latest TDTD resources provided during the conference including 2020 Economic Impact, Annual Report and our updated staff directory:

Thank you to HospitalityTN, Rutherford County CVB and all of our hospitality and tourism partners for a great week.