Courtney Cranor Completes STS Marketing College

Courtney Cranor Completes STS Marketing College, Earns ‘Travel Marketing Professional’ Certification

WAYNESBORO, VA (March 28, 2019) – Courtney Cranor, Assistant Director of Economic Development and Tourism at the City of Waynesboro has completed the three-year program of the Southeast Tourism Society Marketing College and earned certification as a Travel Marketing Professional (TMP).

Courtney Cranor is responsible for Tourism Marketing and Small Business Development for the City of Waynesboro. Her primary duties lie in Public Relations, Destination Marketing, Brand Strategy, and Place-making through Small Business Development.

Courtney was among 62 STS Marketing College graduates in the Class of 2018. The graduates were announced at the STS Connections conference in Daytona Beach, Fla., earlier this month. The Class of 2018 had members from all 12 states in Southeast Tourism Society. The program began in 1992 and has produced 1,154 TMPs.

STS Marketing College uses facilities at the University of North Georgia at Dahlonega for three one-week sessions each spring. Tourism industry professionals from a variety of tourism sectors volunteer their time to teach all classes. They include convention and visitors bureau executives, public relations practitioners, sales and marketing consultants and research experts.

“STS absolutely is enhancing the professional skills of people throughout the Southeast and elevates the tourism industry,” said Monica Smith, president and CEO of STS. “Earning TMP certification is a challenging combination of classroom work and special projects in the students’ workplaces. Becoming a TMP takes dedication.”

Study topics include tourism advertising, vacation research, crisis management, special events marketing, media relations, heritage tourism, tourism sales and community/rural tourism. In addition to classroom work, students must complete projects that relate to their employment.

“Learning from top professionals in the field coupled with networking opportunities with other destination management organizations has been a valuable way to share best practices,” said Courtney Cranor. “Tourism is an important pillar of Economic Development and becoming a TMP has informed and strengthened my position in that role for the City of Waynesboro.

About Southeast Tourism Society (STS)
Headquartered in Roswell, Georgia, STS is an association that works to unite all segments of the travel and tourism industry through its four pillars of education, advocacy, recognition, and networking. Established in 1983, STS is an engaged network of 1000+ members from twelve states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.  For more information, visit SoutheastTourism.org

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Contact:
Wendy Thomas
Southeast Tourism Society
770-542-1523
wendy@southeasttourism.org