The Tennessee Commissioner of Tourist Development is the head of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

's Department of Tourist Development, which is concerned with attracting

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

to the state. The Commissioner is appointed by the

governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...

and is a member of the governor's Cabinet, which meets at least once per month, or more often to the governor's liking. The Commissioner, in accordance with the rules of the state publications committee, acts through the tourism division of the Department to collect, compile, and distribute literature relating to the facilities, the advantages and attractions of the state, the historic, recreational, and scenic points and places of interest within the state, and the

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

and

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

facilities of the state. The Commissioner is also authorized to form contracts with agencies of any type that will further objectives of advertising to Tennessee nonresidents, to compile information from state government branches for advertising purposes, and to accept unconditional gifts of money for the Department of Tourist Development's purposes. The position of Commissioner was created in 1976, along with the Department it heads. The current Commissioner under the

Phil Bredesen Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (; born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in ...

administration, , is Susan Whitaker. The previous Commissioner under the

Don Sundquist Donald Kenneth Sundquist (March 15, 1936 – August 27, 2023) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 47th governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. Prior to his governorship, he represented Tennessee's 7th congressional dis ...

administration was John Wade.

External links

The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development websiteLexisNexis's archive of Tennessee Code, Title 4The Department of Tourist Development website in 2002
Tourist Development

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

{{Tennessee-stub