Georgia Trust Announces Support for Legislation to Boost State's Tourism

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ATLANTA, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation today announced its support for Governor Sonny Perdue's proposed legislation to create a new public-private foundation that would consolidate and maximize the state's tourism marketing efforts.

T. Patrick Brennan, senior director of properties for The Georgia Trust, said passage of Senate Bill 125 is the essential "first step" needed to streamline and a create a unified marketing message supporting Georgia tourism.

"The demands of today's national and international markets require that travel-related organizations form partnerships within the community, region and state in order to compete effectively for the tourism dollar," Brennan said.

"It is essential that Georgia seek ways to leverage its resources to the maximum extent possible as well as work to build programs that will meet the traveling public's needs for enriching, integrated travel-related experiences," he said.

Brennan, a past president of the 12-state Southeastern Museums Conference and who served as marketing chair of a similar statewide tourism program, the Virginia History Initiative, in the mid 1990s, said The Georgia Trust looks forward to working with the new Georgia Tourism Foundation when it is created.

"Our charter commits us to work with collaborations that seek to enhance the cultural legacy of historic places and sites, and recognize the value of increased tourism and the associated dividends that those sites can help generate," Brennan said.

"We are especially pleased with the language in the bill that identifies both branding and placing emphasis on the state's great heritage and culture as important and substantial components of the overall marketing program," Brennan said.

Currently The Georgia Trust has identified more than 100 museums and historic sites that have expressed an interest in developing marketing plans that would assist them in promoting both their individual venues and local communities.

With more than 8,000 members, The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is the nation's largest statewide, nonprofit preservation organization.

Committed to preserving and enhancing Georgia's communities and their diverse historic resources for the education and enjoyment of all, The Georgia Trust generates community revitalization by finding buyers for endangered properties acquired by its Revolving Fund; provides design assistance to 107 Georgia Main Street cities and encourages neighborhood revitalization; trains teachers in 57 Georgia school systems to engage students to discover state and national history through their local historic resources; and advocates for funding, tax incentives and other laws aiding preservation efforts.

The Georgia Trust is a recipient of the Trustees Award for Organizational Excellence from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

For more information on The Georgia Trust go to http://www.georgiatrust.org/ .

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