All area employees who meet the public at their workplace are invited to the 4th Annual Cave Area Celebration at the Cave City Convention Center on Tuesday, April 12. The celebration is sponsored by Caveland Marketing Association, a partnership of local tourism businesses in the area. The free event is designed to provide information about area tourist attractions so employees can share the information with visitors to the area.

The Convention Center will be filled with booths manned by tourism personnel to provide information about local attractions and what is new for the 2011 tourist season. “We had 35 booths last year,” says Sandra Wilson, Executive Director of the Hart County Tourist Commission. “Over the last three years, we’ve had hundreds of people attend this event to get information and take advantage of the free passes to area attractions.”

The event runs from 10 am until 6 pm, and attendees should plan to spend about an hour browsing the booths and viewing a customer service video. Attendees will be given customer service tips and get a free pass for local attractions. “The Cave Area Passes we give away are very popular,” says Coni Shepperd, Marketing Director for the Munfordville Tourism Commission. “They give people an opportunity to take a guest and experience the attractions for free.”

 “We’re excited about hosting this event once again at the Convention Center,” says Cave City Convention Center & Tourism Commission Executive Director Tim Riddle. “Attendees are always impressed with the variety and quality of attractions we have in South Central Kentucky.”

 “Tourism is such a vital part of the economy of our area,” says Rhonda Clemmons, Executive Director of the Edmonson County Tourist & Convention Commission. “Tourism dollars bring jobs to our communities, and we want that to continue. We want to make sure those living in the cave area go to the attractions so they can share their experience with visitors and make their experiences memorable.”

    “Attractions in the cave area sell more than 2 million tickets each year,” says Ann Stewart, Executive Director of the Glasgow-Barren County Tourist & Convention Commission. When visiting a community, tourists eat in local restaurants, shop at local stores, stay in local motels, swim in local lakes and pools, hike on local trails and enjoy the beauty of the cave area. “Tourism added almost $11 billion dollars to the state’s economy again last year and brought more than $400 million and 5,000 jobs to our region,” says Stewart.   

In addition to the informational booths, there will be a job fair booth where attendees can fill out a job application for tourism-related jobs. CMA is also sponsoring two day trips geared to familiarize participants with the area by providing a quick visit to several attractions: a Barren County tour on April 14 and a Cave City/Hart County tour on May 5. These tours are open to area employees who meet the public at their workplace. Seats for the tours are limited and reservations are required. For more information and FAM tour reservations, call Tonya at the Cave City Convention Center at (270) 773-3131.  For more information about CMA and these events, go to www.mammothcavefun.com.