The Tourism Award is presented each year to an individual or organization that helps the Convention and Visitors Bureau promote tourism in Starkville. The individual or organization does this by their volunteer efforts in helping coordinate a festival or event that brings visitors to the area, by facilitating tours or contributing time and money to tourism development. The award given each year is a crystal pineapple. The pineapple is a symbol of hospitality which is a characteristic of all successful tourism destinations.

2006 CRYSTAL PINEAPPLE TOURISM AWARD
BANQUET HORSE PARK




Congratulations to the Mississippi Horse Park for being selected to receive the 2006 Crystal Pineapple Tourism Award. Horse Park Manager Bricklee Miller (left) accepted the award from VP of Tourism Arma Salazar. The Horse Park had an economic impact of more than $1.9 million in Starkville during 2006. More than two-thirds of the events last year were multi-day events, positively impacting local hotels and restaurants. The Horse Park, built by two bonds totaling $6 million, opened in 1999. Bricklee was hired as the manager in 2000. The RV Park and Covered Arena were added in 2001 and 2002 with additional monies.

PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS

2001 Larry Templeton
2002 Dr. Donald Zacharias
2003 Joe & Leota Cardwell
2004 Starkville Police Department
2005 Sturgis South Motorcycle Rally

STARKVILLE SELECTED AS CVB OF THE YEAR

The Mississippi Tourism Association (MTA) presented their annual awards for tourism achievement for the year 2006 during activities at the Governorís Conference on Tourism held at the MSU Riley Center in Meridian, Mississippi on February 25-27, 2007.

The Starkville CVB was selected as Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) of the Year ($200,000 to $500,000 budget category). The Starkville CVB has helped the city promote itself as a tourism destination by attracting new conventions and meetings, attending numerous trade shows and sponsoring area events such as the Sturgis South Motorcycle Rally and the Cotton District Arts Festival. Arma Salazar, Vice President for Tourism and Retirement Development, accepted the award during the conference.

The awards program recognizes outstanding contributions to the advancement of tourism by members of the private sector organization as well as honoring travel media, community volunteers and governmental friends of the industry. Awards were presented in 10 categories, each focusing on a different aspect of the hospitality industry or individual achievement.