Huntsville/Madison County laps Indianapolis, moves on to Final Four

Jessica Carlton (left) and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle demonstrate ways to vote for Huntsville/Madison County using social media. (RECORD PHOTO/ALDO AMATO)

By Aldo Amato

Staff Reporter

MADISON — Huntsville/Madison County moved on to the Final Four of the Social Media Tourism Symposium on March 21 easily defeating Indianapolis with a final count of 4863 to 988.

Results from the March 21 voting. (CONTRIBUTED)

Both the city and county are two wins away from hosing the symposium, which was founded two years ago by Dave Serino. According to the symposium’s mission statement, the event is aimed to help tourism agencies, like the Huntsville/Madison County Tourism & Business Bureau, promote tourism to cities like Huntsville and Madison through the ever-changing world of social media.

“The symposium is a combination of destination marketing organizations, hotels, resorts, attractions and any other tourism related entities sharing ideas and learning more about how social media is affecting promotion within the travel industry.” it read. “What makes this conference unique is the involvement of attendees throughout the entire process. Attendees will have a voice in everything from the location to the session topics and presenters.”

It is estimated that the event would bring nearly $180,000 to the county and would greatly benefit cities like Huntsville and Madison as the tourism industry continues to grow in both areas.

Full results and an updated bracket will be available on March 22 at www.facebook.com/SoMeTourism.