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The Gist: Triumph for Tourism

Accepting the award – (pictured from left to right) From the City of Salem, City Manager Kevin Boggess and Mayor Randy Foley, Roanoke County Vice-Chair Charlotte Moore, Roanoke City Mayor David Bowers and Landon Howard, President of the Roanoke Valley CVB.
Accepting the award – (pictured from left to right) From the City of Salem, City Manager Kevin Boggess and Mayor Randy Foley, Roanoke County Vice-Chair Charlotte Moore, Roanoke City Mayor David Bowers and Landon Howard, President of the Roanoke Valley CVB.

The Southeast Tourism Society recently awarded Roanoke City Mayor David Bowers, City of Salem Mayor Randy Foley and Roanoke County’s Vice-Chair Charlotte Moore the 2013 Governmental Tourism Leadership Shining Example Award, an award given through the STS since 1985. Honoring elected officials who have helped enhance the tourism industry, the award went to a joint jurisdiction for the first time this year.

Bowers, Foley, and Moore banded across city and county lines through the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau to greatly increase the Blue Ridge’s tourism industry, creating more jobs and local revenue. Through the RVCVB agreement, the region produced $730 million in revenue, $52 million in state and local taxes, as well as helping over 7,200 jobs. –Molly Meador

Editor’s Note: You can read the full press release from the RVCVB here to learn more about this award as well as a list of previous recipients.

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