National Tourism Week Luncheon Wrapup
Posted on May 16th, 2008 by Kris Keprios
Categories: General
Well, we asked you to celebrate National Tourism Week with us, and we hope you did, but just in case you didn’t we celebrated for you. Yesterday marked Polk County’s annual celebration of Tourism with the National Tourism Week Luncheon at The Lakeland Center. A room filled with airplanes, air boats, mini hot air balloons and even a scaled down version of Bok Tower can only mean one thing: fun. In case you missed it, here is a recap of the award winners and some photos of the event. Check out all the photos here.
Restaurant Hospitality Award: Deborah Deknes, Chalet Suzanne
Restaurant Hospitality Award: Eve Jaques, Lang’s Sun Country Groves “Taste of Florida Cafe”
Hospitality Service Award: Charlotte Kosek, Lake Wales Area Chamber of Commerce
Hospitality Service Award: Kimberly Cardona, Sunsplash Vacation Homes
Hospitality Servcie Award: Marie Lee, Holiday Inn Lakeland South
Hospitality Service Award: Hector Willems, Chalet Suzanne
Innovative Marketing Award: Nancy Guran, Westgate River Ranch Resort
Community Partner Award: Michael Eckersley, Sunsplash Vacation Homes
I wasn’t kidding when I said there was a mini hot air balloon and a small Bok Tower. I bet you are sorry you missed it now. There is always next year. Start planning for National Tourism Week 2009. It will be in May as always.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:03 am
The students in attendance were adorable. I love the idea of having them send postcards to potential visitors to Polk County – what a great idea! It was so nice to see them receive their awards at the lunch, and I’m sure the teachers are so proud.
Great lunch!
Debi
May 19th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
As always, the Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing staff pulled off a great event. I have attended a few of these over the years and it never ceases to amaze me when the Hospitality Award winners are announced. Each and every recipient is truly surprised that they have won this honor. Seeing their faces and hearing their exclamations of excitement only serves to prove that they are indeed the most deserving. Couple that with the description of what got them nominated to begin with and it’s easy to see that Polk County has some of the best hospitality workers any area could ask for.