Arkansas Tourism Partners

Special Announcements

35th Annual Governor's Conference Tourism

The Conference will be held at the Fort Smith Convention Center. Mark your calendars now!

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Arkansas Tourism Henry Award Finalists Announced

Governor Mike Beebe has been invited to address the tourism industry. Miss Arkansas Ashlen Batson will present awards to the recipients and Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism Executive Director Richard W. Davies will preside at the ceremony.

The awards and respective finalists are:

THE MEDIA SUPPORT AWARD . . . presented annually to a distinguished individual or organization for extraordinary attention to and/or support of Arkansas’s tourism industry through the use of media.

Arkansas Broadcasters Association
Leeanna Walker, Northwest Arkansas Morning News
Natural Resource Management Section, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

THE BOOTSTRAP AWARD . . . presented annually to an individual, organization, or community that has achieved significant success “on a shoestring,” having limited means to work with, either in resources or finances.

Collins Theater, Paragould
“LOViT” Trail Dogs, Lake Ouachita Vista Trail
Sparks in the Park, Texarkana
Town of Calico Rock

THE ARKANSAS HERITAGE AWARD . . . presented annually to an individual, organization, or community that has made a significant contribution toward the preservation of some aspect of Arkansas’s natural, cultural, or aesthetic legacy.

Main Street Arkansas
Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Little Rock
Quapaw Bathhouse, Hot Springs National Park
The 1929 Hotel Seville, Harrison

THE GRAND OLD CLASSIC SPECIAL EVENT AWARD . . . presented annually to a festival, fair, or other special celebration which has “stood the test of time” and become an established example for the more than 1,200 special events held in Arkansas each year.

Arkansas/Oklahoma State Fair
CMA (Christian Motorcycle Association) Motorcycle Rally, Hatfield
Dermott Annual Crawfish Festival,
Dermott

THE OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD . . . presented annually to a community, individual, or organization that, through outstanding volunteer spirit, has made a substantial contribution to Arkansas’s tourism industry.

Bert Turner, North Little Rock
Coleman Dairy Team, Little Rock
“FoOT” (Friends of the Ouachita Trail), Hot Springs

THE COMMUNITY TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AWARD . . . presented annually to an individual or organization which has achieved substantial success in the enhancement of its local resources through imaginative and innovative development efforts.

Christmas Carriage Tours, West Memphis
Eureka Springs Mayor’s Tourism Task Force, Eureka Springs
Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour, Mountain View

THE NATURAL STATE AWARD . . . presented annually to a community, organization, special event, or attraction which “stands out in the crowd” because of its unique appeal, media coverage, creative approach, and/or enhancement of community pride, thus benefiting the state’s quality of life.

Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center, Barling
Syllamo & Womble Bike Trails
Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, Morrilton

THE TOURISM SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD . . .presented annually to an individual or organization that has contributed to the tourism industry through leadership “above and beyond” the normal requirements of their jobs.

Cathy & Ernest Cunningham, Helena-West Helena
Fort Smith Classic, Fort Smith
Rural Heritage Development Initiative & Beth Wiedower

During the Henry Awards ceremonies the 2009 inductees into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame and the 2008 Tourism Person of the Year will also be announced. The Hall of Fame honor is presented annually to individuals who have been actively involved in tourism for many years and who have made substantial contributions to the betterment of the industry as a whole. Selected by former honorees, the Tourism Person of the Year Award is presented annually to an individual who has been actively involved in tourism and who has made a substantial contribution, within the past year, to the betterment of this industry as a whole.

For more information on the 35th Annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism, contact the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism at (501) 682-6999. For information on the Henry Awards, contact Donna Perrin or Kristine Puckett at (501) 682-5240.