GULF SHORES, Ala. — More than 250 people involved in the travel, tourism and convention business gathered at the Erie H. Meyer Civic Center in Gulf Shores on Tuesday for the 2009 Tourism Summit.

Now in its 15th year, the Tourism Summit is sponsored by the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau to help provide information on the latest trends in travel to business owners and interested individuals along the Gulf Coast.

Marketing was the theme of this year’s event and featured speakers included Jim Jager of New South Research who spoke with attendees about who their target audience might be; Heather Dougherty of Hitwise, an Internet traffic monitoring company; and Herb Malone, president and CEO of the CVB. Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department was the keynote speaker.

Kimberly Shumack, public relations manager for the CVB said that some attendees came from as far away as Mobile.

“Our Summit is open to the general business community. We show them where we are now and how we can move forward from here,” Shumack said.

“This is a great opportunity to bring all of our tourism industry together, to bring in timely speakers to talk about subjects our attendees are interested in,” Malone said. “We have had some great speakers today, sharing some of the latest trends, research and techniques for marketing.”

In addition to the speakers, Malone said they also bring together many of their local and regional advertising partners.

“We don’t endorse any of these advertisers, but they work with a lot of our local businesses and it gives them a chance to talk with them face to face and to show what new products and services they have to offer,” he said.

The CVB is governed by a board of directors that is appointed by local legislators, made up of business owners in the hospitality and tourism business who give feedback on what the needs are among business owners.

“We keep a pretty good pulse on what is happening and what is needed and on what questions are being asked. This lets us know what people to bring in to speak,” Malone said.

Attendees enjoyed a continental breakfast as well as lunch.

Malone said the Summit was one of the highlights of the year for the CVB.