The Washington Parish Tourism Commission is looking for interested individuals who can help promote everything Washington Parish has to offer visitors. When you think about it, we are all ambassadors for our Parish, telling people about it when we travel, why we are proud to live here, and inviting them to come and see us. Time and again, visitors remark about the welcome they have received here and the hospitality of the residents. Entertainers have been so impressed, they want to return and do a free show. Folks from the city stop in and report they just like to ride our scenic byways and see all the greenery, the trees, the blooming azaleas, and just breathe and relax. Would you like to be more involved?

The mission of the Washington Parish Tourism Commission is to promote Washington Parish attractions and events in order to encourage visitors to our area; to increase knowledge of the resources available throughout our community, region, and state; to create an awareness of the impact of tourism on the local, regional, and state economy. The WP Tourism Commission meets on the third Thursday of each month at 5 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.

Tourism Commissioners are appointed by the Washington Parish Council for three-year terms. Tourism Commission Funding is subject to annual appropriation by the Legislature, commonly referred to as Visitor Enterprise Funds. As a State-level commission, Commissioners are required to complete Ethics training annually and complete/submit financial disclosure forms to the Louisiana Board of Ethics. The Commission is also subject to annual audit requirements of the State Legislative Auditor.

Commissioners have opportunities to attend the Lt. Governor’s Annual Tourism Summit, held in different parts of the state each year. The State Office of Tourism falls under the Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, managed by the Lt. Governor’s office. In recent years, the Annual Rural Tourism conference has been renewed, as has work on the Scenic Byways program. These programs provide continuing education experience for members of the tourism commission, to learn about trends in the industry, best practices, and networking opportunities to meet with others in the travel and tourism field and bring back ideas to the local area.

Current/Former commissioners have had hotel/motel or campground interests, experience in operating a Bed & Breakfast, Fair/ festival/event promotion experience, have been part of the Washington Parish Fair/Mile Branch Associations, or Park Manager of Bogue Chitto State Park. River recreation facilities operators and restaurants have been approached. Some members have employment skills such as accounting, public relations and advertising, planning and administrative positions that lend themselves to the work of the tourism commission. Your life experiences may be just as helpful to the tourism commission.

If you would like to be a part of the Washington Parish Tourism Commission, please submit a resume. Resumes may be mailed to 1950 Washington St Franklinton, LA 70438. Save paper and email your resume to wptour@bellsouth.net. The tourism commission will maintain a list of eligible candidates from which to draw when a vacancy occurs. There is one vacancy at the current time. Others may occur in the future, so we will keep resumes on file and check back with interested candidates at that time. The purpose is to have an available list of potential candidates from which to draw as the needs arise.