Contact: Neville Bhada, Southeast Tourism Society
404-364-9847
neville@southeasttourism.org

ATLANTA, Ga. (March 12, 2008)—Two organizations with a common interest in good times for masses of people have begun working together to enhance and promote festivals and special events in the Southeast.

They are the 12-state Southeast Tourism Society (STS), which is headquartered in Atlanta, and the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA), which is headquartered in Boise, Idaho, and has affiliates around the world.

The two associations are sharing promotional benefits, exchanging speakers at professional meetings and developing programs to increase the skills of their members.

IFEA has endorsed the STS Top 20 Events in the Southeast, a program begun in 1984 that recognizes fairs, festivals and special events catering to tourists, and will help with judging. STS highlights 20 regional events every month and publicizes them throughout the Southeast and in states that are feeder markets for the Southeast.

“IFEA and STS share many goals in promoting and enabling festival and event professionals in the Southeast,” said Ira Rosen, IFEA’s North American director.

Information about STS and its Top 20 Events in the Southeast program is online at www.southeasttourism.org, and information about IFEA is at www.ifea.com.

About Southeast Tourism Society (STS)

Founded in 1983, the Southeast Tourism Society (www.southeasttourism.org) is dedicated to the promotion and development of tourism in its member states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Its headquarters are in Atlanta. The membership includes state travel offices, attractions, hotels, motels, resorts, convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, travel media and other travel-related organizations.

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Contact:
Neville Y. Bhada
Southeast Tourism Society
404-364-9847
neville@southeasttourism.org