The Last Day of My Internship At the Alabama Tourism Department

Posted by Alabama Tourism Department intern Brooke Franco

On the last day of my internship at the Alabama Tourism Department it is hard for me to really pin- point all of the things that I have learned, and my favorite things that I have done while I have been here. The biggest things that come to mind is how working in this industry is always about keeping and staying in contact with people, and how you must always have an open ear about what new things are happening and what is going on. I have also learned that promoting an entire state is not an easy job, and it requires an entire dedicated team which everyone working in this office has shown me this. From promoting events and cities, to creating brochures and advertisements, to coordinating tours in the state, to helping people with travel questions, managing the welcome centers to a whole lot more, I have seen how complex working in Tourism really is.
Working in Public Relations in this office is not just about doing press releases, is about doing anything and everything you can thing of to get Alabama’s name out there. It’s about finding out every new thing in the state and promoting every detail of it. It’s about offering the public a chance to see anything that Alabama has to offer and why they would want to see/be apart of it. I have also realized how staying on top of social networking groups like Twitter or Facebook are a critical part of Public Relations. As these networks have become less for entertainment use to for business use, it is a normal thing that groups like the Alabama Tourism Department use them for promoting themselves. In the work that I have done I realize how detailed you must get when writing a press release or an article for the public. Anyone out there can be convinced to attend or visit something because of the tiniest detail that they read in something that you write, therefore it’s best to leave nothing out.
This is just a sample of the things that I have learned while I have interned with this office. I have taken a lot from this internship and I will use it as I work on my plans for the future. I thank everyone in the Alabama Tourism Department for the help and the opportunities that they have given me this summer!