The Webster Parish Convention and Visitor Commission’s mission statement is: To provide leadership in marketing Webster Parish as a highly desirable visitor and meeting destination and engage in visitor promotions, which result in overnight stays and activities within Webster Parish.

Currently, our hotel-motel sales tax collections, that provided revenue for Webster Parish Tourism, are high due to pipeline construction in our immediate area. We realize  this is only temporary.

Our goal for 2010 is to maintain or increase our current rate of hotel-motel sales tax collections and the related local tax collections made possible by visitor spending with businesses in our parish.

Our strategy for accomplishing our goal is continuing to support our local events and continuing to reinvest a portion of our hotel-motel tax collections in a national and regional advertising campaign that will provide our parish the opportunity to reach out and attract new visitors from surrounding states and other parts of Louisiana.

With the assistance of a matching grant from the Louisiana Office of Tourism Cooperative Advertising Program, our bureau began national advertising for the first time this year in major publications including Southern Living, AAA Southern Traveler, and AAA Texas Journey. The program also allowed us to participate in the Louisiana Newspaper Program placing six ads in 69 Louisiana newspapers statewide promoting our local events.

For the first time, more than three million people outside our immediate vicinity have been exposed to the wonderful things that Webster Parish has to offer to our visitors.

Great news! I recently received confirmation that Webster Parish Tourism has been awarded another matching grant for the 2011 Louisiana Office of Tourism Cooperative Advertising Program. With this assistance, Webster Parish Tourism will have the opportunity to continue this new advertising campaign through 2011 in national and regional publications at a significantly reduced cost.

In May, I was the guest speaker for more than 200 members of the XYZ Group at First Baptist Church in Minden.

This was a great opportunity to share with a large group of local residents the exciting efforts being made by Webster Parish Tourism to promote local events and attract out of town visitors to our parish.

I explained how our commission is funded and outlined the different marketing programs we have put in place this year, including the addition of new billboards, featuring Trace Adkins, designed by The Farley Group along the  I- 20 and I- 220 corridors and at the Arkansas state line.

I talked to them about the grant programs Webster Parish Tourism offers to our local events, our participation this year in the cooperative advertising program with the state, and future projects under way, such as the Bayou Dorcheat Restoration Project and the new 1,500 square foot information center to be constructed at the Germantown Colony this year.

They specifically requested information about the movie industry and the 17 films made in our parish since 2005.

Also in May, I hosted a familiarization tour for 35 travel counselors employed at various state-owned visitor centers around the state, such as the Greenwood visitor center.  In April, I hosted a media tour for outdoor travel writers in conjunction with the Louisiana Office of Tourism.

Our spokesman, BASS Pro Homer Humphreys, took the group on a boat trip to Lake Bistineau. All were well entertained and several plan to return to do feature articles this fall.

On June 25, while I was attending an out-of-town LTPA meeting, Johnnye Kennon, from our office, hosted another media tour for travel writers in conjunction with the Louisiana Office of Tourism. These familiarization and media tours offer travel counselors and travel writers the opportunity to experience “in person” the wonderful things we have in Webster Parish.

 Please contact our office if you would like me to speak to your group about what is happening in Webster Parish Tourism, coordinate a tour, or mail you a list of movies filmed in Webster Parish.

Lynn Dorsey is Executive Director of the Webster Parish Convention and Visitor Commission.

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