Melissa Alley Woody, vice president for tourism development for the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce, will speak at the 2016’s second quarter “Food for Thought” membership luncheon on Friday, June 24, at noon in the Chamber’s conference center.
The Chamber’s Small Business Committee offers the “Food for Thought” luncheons to provide a menu of diverse topics of interest to the community. The latest figures reported for Bradley County in the state of Tennessee’s annual study, Economic Impact of Tourism on Tennessee Counties, indicates healthy tourism growth. The study showed a 4.6 percent increase in 2014 over 2013’s numbers.
“This steady, healthy growth rate is on the heels of having the highest growth percentage in the state with the 2012 numbers (9.43 percent) and the second highest in 2011 (13.1 percent),” Ms. Woody reported. “The current annual tourism revenue is $132.7 million, the highest ever reported for Bradley County, Cleveland and Charleston. These revenues, and the just over $10.6 million generated in local and state taxes, are important to our local economy and are a strong reminder that we must continue to promote our community to visitors.”
Ms. Woody has worked in local public relations and marketing since 1992. For the past 16 years, she has served as vice president for tourism development. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from UTC and a master’s degree in the same field from UTK, and is an adjunct faculty member at Lee University in the School of Communication and the Arts.
Ms. Woody is past president of the Tennessee Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus and a current board member of Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism Association. An event planner over her entire career, she had a hand in creating the International Cowpea Festival and Cook-off and co-chairs the event.
She and her family are members of First Baptist Church where she is active in choir and drama ministries.
The “Food for Thought” Dutch-treat luncheon will take place at the Chamber of Commerce, with reservations required to facilitate room setup and food. Please call the Chamber at 472-6587 to make a reservation or visit the events calendar on the Chamber’s website, www.clevelandchamber.com, by Wednesday, June 22.