Business owners, chamber officials meet for tourism summit

UNION CITY, Tenn. — Looking for something new and interesting to do this summer, but still close to home? Groups from across West Tennessee are hoping a spring brainstorming session will give you just that.

Business leaders and chamber of commerce officials from across West Tennessee met Tuesday at the 2019 Northwest Tennessee Summit at the Discovery Park of America.

“People here today will be discussing everything like how rural communities use tourism to increase their economy,” said Scott Williams, president and CEO of Discovery Park of America. “We also have some ideas on how to use digital tools.”

“We’ve really been focusing on trying to promote tourism collectively as a community rather than each asset in the community promoting themselves,” said Lindsay Frilling, CEO of the Obion County Joint Economic Council.

Attendees of the tourism summit learned about several things, such as agriculture tourism, how to attract customers and how to use local assets to rebuild their economy.

The University of Tennessee Martin agriculture economics department also had a presentation on how agriculture-related tourism can help communities.

Williams and Frilling held a panel to discuss tips on attracting more people to the area.

“Seeing what your assets are in your community, bringing the entire community together to realize what those assets are, and then being able to figure out how to fund projects or strengthen those assets,” Frilling said.

Tennessee Tourism Commissioner Mark Ezell was also scheduled to speak during Tuesday’s summit.