Southeast Tourism Society Celebrates New Travel Marketing Professionals at Connections Conference in Lake Charles, Louisiana

1,587 Travel Marketing Professions Now Certified Through Three-year Program

Roswell, GA (September 22, 2025) – Southeast Tourism Society has certified 99 new Travel Marketing Professionals (TMP), including 26 Festival & Events Professionals (FEP) at the organization’s annual Connections conference in Lake Charles, Louisiana bringing the total of TMPs to 1,587.

Southeast Tourism Society has provided professional-level travel and tourism education through its Marketing College® program since 1992.

STS uses facilities at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Industry professionals from a variety of tourism sectors volunteer their time to teach the classes. They include convention and visitor’s bureau executives, public relations practitioners, sales and marketing consultants and research experts.

Registration for the next season will open in early 2026. STS membership is not required, but STS members receive a tuition reduction.

“One of the strengths of STS Marketing College is that students meet their peers from throughout the Southeast and bond with them and the top tourism professionals who are their instructors. No other regional organization has a program of this nature, and it is an illustration of how STS benefits the region,” said Monica Smith, President & CEO.

Sample class topics include destination branding, social media content planning, strategic partnerships, tourism product development and crisis communication.

“Our curriculum is practical. After each year, the knowledge students gain can be put to immediate use in their workplaces,” Smith said.

Download a pdf copy of this press release…