35th annual FAM tour visits Rusk

The 35th East Texas Familiarization (FAM) Tour kicked off Feb. 7 from Dallas for an eight-day swing through the cities and attractions of the region.

Twenty-six cities, supporters of the East Texas group tour manual, have begun rolling out the red carpet and showing off their best as they host 29 group tour planners from 17 companies. They hail from the states of Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Tennessee.

The tour was in Rusk Friday afternoon, Feb. 9.

Purpose of the 1,000-mile tour is to strengthen and increase the region's share of the growing $15 billion motorcoach tour business, said Howard W. Rosser, executive director.

These annual red carpet, expense-paid tours have opened up the region to group tour planners since 1982.

This year's tour was billed as "The East Texas Experience."