ETTA releases new vacation guides

East Texas Tourism Association (ETTA), the nation's oldest self-supporting tourism organization, has released the 44th annual edition of the East Texas Vacation Guide with vacationing and relocation information for national distribution.

The more than 200 sponsoring cities, attractions and businesses are featured in the 100-page edition, which lists hundreds of trip ideas from the Dallas area to western Louisiana, and from the Red River to the Gulf Coast. They will be displayed on ETTA's website, www.easttexasguide.com.

The Guide is available free at sponsors, and at Texas Travel Information Centers, AAA Clubs in Texas and nine contiguous states, through folder display racks throughout the region, at airports, and at 16 travel and sports shows.

Howard W. Rosser, ETTA's Executive Director, said the Guide is designed to assist visitors on their vacations and mini-trips, and to open up the region to those seeking relocation and retirement opportunities.

"Luring retirees to the area will be a key to the region's economic growth, and our members say it is the hot item," Rosser says.

Several hundred recreational, scenic, cultural, and historical attractions are open along the region's hallmark East Texas Heritage Trail, founded in 1967, the nation's second oldest after New England. They display the region's rich flavor and heritage.

The guidebook lists more than 1,200 special event dates, locations and telephone numbers.

The guide also features the region's byways, including a six-page section on Historic Highway 80. It has its own 200-mile Hi-Way Sale the third weekend in October. "The mother roads of America are not only the Lincoln Highway and Route 66, but the great transcontinental routes such as US 80 and US 90, which parallel US 20 and US 10", Rosser added. "They were originally called the Dixie-Overland and the Old Spanish Trail highways."

The Guide features pictures, maps, dates, phone numbers, web sites and email addresses.