Southeast Tourism Society (southeasttourism.org) hosted its 21st annual marketing college July 29th – August 3rd on the campus of North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega, GA. Jeff Crowe, TOUR Southern and Eastern Kentucky (TOUR SEKY) President/CEO served as a professor during the week long educational conference.

Marketing College is a three year professional development program that leads to certification as a Travel Marketing Professional (TMP). Crowe presented “Branding and Its Unique Application to Communities” to first year students and assisted with the “Marketing vs. Advertising” presentation to second year students. “Marketing College is a wonderful platform for networking with professionals in the tourism and hospitality industries,” said Crowe. “Serving as a professor allowed us to share our successes here in southern and eastern Kentucky with hundreds of students representing 12 states in the southeast.”

Tourism ranks as the first-, second- or third-largest industry in each STS member state. Students come from convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, attractions, hotels and other segments of the tourism industry.

The curriculum covers topics such as social media, sports marketing, media relations and creative advertising. Heritage tourism and community/rural tourism are courses that have attracted special interest in recent years.

There is no other professional development program like STS Marketing College, and it is recognized nationally for its training of tourism leaders. More than 600 professionals have earned TMP certification.

STS, created in 1983, is headquartered in Atlanta and has approximately 800 members who represent travel industry businesses, state tourism departments, chambers of commerce, convention and visitors bureaus and travel media. Its activities include cooperative marketing programs, continuing education, professional development and travel industry policy advocacy. The 12 STS states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.