DawsonTimes.com

Southern Living’s Taylor Bruce will be a highlight of Winter Chautauqua, an annual tourism educational conference. Winter Chautauqua is hosted by the Northwest Georgia Historic High Country Travel Association and the Northeast Georgia Mountains Travel Association. Each year this conference transfers between the two regions, with Dalton as the host city for 2009.

The conference will begin in full swing on Sunday, March 1, 2009 by shuttling registrants out to Paradise Arabians, the world’s second largest Arabian horse farm. While at Paradise Arabians, registrants will sample wine from Cohutta Winery and the Georgia Winery, enjoy a fabulous BBQ dinner from Oakwood Café, tour the farm, feed the Arabian horses, and learn the ins and outs of a fast-growing tourism trend, Agritourism. Former owner of Cagle Dairies, Scott Cagle, now with www.agri-toursolutions.com, is guest speaker and will explain how to promote local agriculture to attract visitors to local communities. Afterwards, all are invited to join in on networking opportunities at the Hospitality Suite at the La Quinta Inn and Suites.

Monday’s educational components will begin bright and early at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center. As the general session speaker, Taylor Bruce will explain how the changing economy is affecting his very well-known magazine and what the tourism industry can do to keep up with the changes.

Along with Bruce, fourteen other speakers will be on-hand discussing everything from Agritourism to Grant Writing. Deputy Commissioner of Tourism and Marketing for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Charlie Gatlin, will provide a current overview of statewide tourism efforts during lunch. For a full list and description of the classes, go to www.WinterChautauqua.com.

Membership in the travel associations is not required to attend Winter Chautauqua. If you would like more information or would like to attend the event, please visit the website at www.WinterChautauqua.com.