New Director Named To Georgia Tourism Foundation

ATLANTA, December 23, 2009 — The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) named Fred Huff the director of the Georgia Tourism Foundation, a public-private entity and non-profit organization that leverages investments and forges partnerships to strengthen the state's tourism marketing. The foundation works to bring corporate citizens to the table with tourism industry members, aligning their goals to promote tourism across the state of Georgia.
"As we have worked over the past couple of months to reinvigorate the Foundation with a new vision and work plan centered on public-private cooperative marketing programs, it became clear that Fred's creativity, experience leading marketing initiatives and contacts within the tourism industry would be the perfect fit for this critical role,' said Kevin Langston, GDEcD Deputy Commissioner for Tourism.  'We welcome Fred to the tourism division and look forward to working with him in his new role.'

Mr. Huff served as Director of Marketing for the department since June 2005. Mr. Huff has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, advertising and interactive. Prior to joining GDEcD, he held positions at TR Digital, Studio Archetype and Sapient Corporation. Mr. Huff grew up in Stone Mountain and holds a Bachelor in Agriculture degree from the University of Georgia.

The previous director of the Foundation, Gilda Watters, retired in August after 30 years of government service.

The Foundation has been instrumental in several proactive tourism initiatives including the Creative Economies, Georgia Applause and Techno-Tourism. The Creative Economies Initiative was created to galvanize arts-centric businesses and promote Georgia Made Georgia Grown Products.  In support of this effort, www.GaMadeGaGrownProducts.org was launched, a detailed creative industries database that is the first-ever statewide economic development strategy of its kind. Georgia Applause, an outgrowth of the Creative Economies Initiative, brings together managers and directors of more than 100 theaters around the state of Georgia to work together and share resources. The Techno-Tourism Initiative offered an annual conference to educate partners about new and advanced tourism technologies, social media and technology grants.

About GDEcD

The Georgia Department of Economic Development is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. For more information, visit www.Georgia.org.