SLS 19RS-2355 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 231
BY SENATOR JOHNS
COMMENDAT IONS. Commends Shelley Johnson upon her retirement as executive
director of the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend Shelley Johnson upon her retirement as executive director of the Lake
3 Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau.
4 WHEREAS, on April 30, 2019, Shelley Johnson retired after thirty-one years as
5 leader of the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau, where she
6 has served since 1988; and
7 WHEREAS, Shelley was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and educated at McNeese
8 State University and the San Francisco Hotel/Restaurant School; and
9 WHEREAS, she has grown the Lake Charles/Southwest Convention and Visitors
10 Bureau from a small bureau with a staff of four to a staff exceeding twenty-five full- and
11 part-time employees; and
12 WHEREAS, during her tenure, the bureau has been well-recognized with accolades
13 such as the Convention and Visitors Bureau of the Year in 1997, 2000, and 2015, by the
14 Southeast Tourism Society; and
15 WHEREAS, the bureau has also received the Louisiana Office of Tourism's
16 Convention and Visitors Bureau of the Year in 2008 and 2012, and Tourism Campaign of
17 the Year Award in 2012, and the Convention South's Annual Readers' Choice Award in 2016
18 and 2017; and
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1 WHEREAS, she is the founding chairman of the National Scenic Byway Foundation
2 and a past presidential appointee to the White House Conference on Tourism; and
3 WHEREAS, in 2018, Shelley received the Lifetime Achievement Award by the
4 Louisiana Travel Association and The Beacon Award by the Southeast Tourism Society; and
5 WHEREAS, Shelley was also the recipient of the 2008 Southeast Tourism Society
6 Dorothy Hardman Award, the 1994 Louisiana Travel Industry Person of the Year, the Will
7 Mangham Tourism Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2019 Destinations International
8 Hall of Fame, and Destination Organization Leadership Award; and
9 WHEREAS, Shelley has served on numerous boards and commissions in various
10 roles including as chairman and president of the Louisiana Travel Promotion Association,
11 president of the Louisiana Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, chairman of the
12 Southeast Tourism Society, chairman of the National Scenic Byway Foundation, chairman
13 of the National Hurricane Museum and Science Center, and as a member of the Louisiana
14 Tourism Development Commission, the Louisiana Tourism Coastal Coalition Board, the
15 Creole Nature Trail National All American Road District Board of Commissioners, the
16 Imperial Calcasieu Museum Board of Directors, the Burton Coliseum Advisory Council, the
17 Liaison Lake Charles Civic Center Development Corporation, the Liaison West Calcasieu
18 Community Center Authority, and the National Marketing Committee of the National Scenic
19 Byways program; and
20 WHEREAS, perhaps one of Shelley's greatest achievements has centered on the great
21 outdoors with the promotion of the Creole Nature Trail that was officially designated in
22 1975; and
23 WHEREAS, the Creole Nature Trail roadway was named as a state scenic byway in
24 1993, a federal byway in 1996, and as an All-American Road in 2002; and
25 WHEREAS, Shelley has also overseen the Creole Nature Trail Adventure Point since
26 2015; and
27 WHEREAS, the Creole Nature Trail is known worldwide and is the number one
28 tourism attraction for international visitors to Southwest Louisiana; and
29 WHEREAS, Shelley Johnson has dedicated her life to the tourism industry and is
30 revered by all for her superlative achievements, for the enthusiasm she brings to every
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1 project and initiative, and the positive and enduring impact she has had on Southwest
2 Louisiana and the entire state of Louisiana.
3 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
4 does hereby commend and congratulate Shelley Johnson upon her retirement as executive
5 director of the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau; does
6 hereby recognize and record for posterity her thirty-one years of distinguished service to the
7 tourism industry in Louisiana; and does hereby extend best wishes to Shelley Johnson for
8 continued success and happiness in all of her future endeavors.
9 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
10 Shelley Johnson.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Curry Lann.
DIGEST
SR 231 Original 2019 Regular Session Johns
Commends Shelley Johnson upon her retirement as executive director of the Lake
Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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