PULASKI TOURISM GROUP WANTS TO REPRESENT VALLEY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 9, 1992                   TAG: 9201090441
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: DUBLIN                                LENGTH: Medium
PULASKI TOURISM GROUP WANTS TO REPRESENT VALLEY
Pulaski County HOSTS, which operates a visitors center at the Dublin Comfort Inn off Interstate 81, is looking at the idea of expanding to cover the entire New River Valley.
"We're already promoting the area anyway," said HOSTS President Bob Thomas. "Why reinvent the wheel?"
The expansion idea has gotten more of a push with the announcement of a state tourism accreditation program, in which accepted communities would get special promotion benefits from the state. The Comfort Inn was host for a workshop on the program Wednesday.
A New River Valley Tourism Steering Committee, with representatives from the chambers of commerce and other organizations from the region's localities, met recently at Mountain Lake to discuss the idea. After taking the proposal back to their organizations, its members will meet again Feb. 13 to see how the idea was received.
The HOSTS group is associated with the Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce, but is a separate organization. The Pulaski chamber's executive committee recently endorsed the expansion concept.
HOSTS formed about a year ago to promote Pulaski County. It opened the visitors center and lined up volunteers for it.
That center meets one of the standards for the state accreditation program. An annual brochure - produced twice so far by area chambers - on valley attractions takes care of another requirement. If HOSTS expanded its organization to cover the New River Valley, that would take cover a third.
Still, Thomas said, there is some sentiment for not applying for program accreditation in the first round when applications are taken in early April. Only 12 communities will be chosen this time.
If the group does expand, Thomas said, it might want to wait until it is operating smoothly and then apply for accreditation in the second round.
Or, he said, "it can be a whole new group. We don't care. . . . A lot of us are finally saying, `Look, it's time to do more things together.' . . . This tourism thing has just got to happen. It really has."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB