www.t-g.com/story/1284459.html -
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Published on: 10/15/2007
Last Visited: 6/2/2008
"The idea is to be all inclusive," said Phyllis Qualls-Brooks, a spokeswoman for the department."We have multiple cultures -- the census tells us that -- and we know (Hispanic) culture is part of our potential market."
Tennessee's $13.4 billion tourism industry is growing, Qualls-Brooks said.The industry has seen a $1 billion increase for each of the past two years, according to the Travel Industry Association of America, but the state does not measure how much Hispanics, or any other specific group, are contributing to that.
The department is advertising in four Spanish-language newspapers that have a combined circulation of about 85,500 in Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville.
But the ads, which feature a Hispanic family on an outing to an aquarium, will also run in rotation with other ads in national magazines that are not part of the ethnic press, Qualls-Brooks said.
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Qualls-Brooks disagreed, saying it was "not an issue."