As president and chief executive officer of Southeast Tourism Society, Mr. Hardman directs the organization’s promotion of travel to the 12 Southeastern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. STS promotes the Southeast through cooperative marketing efforts, provides continuing education programs for its members and represents the legislative interests of the tourism industry.
Mr. Hardman began his tourism career in 1969 as assistant manager of public relations at Six Flags Over Georgia. He has worked as director of promotion for Atlanta’s Cumberland Mall; director of promotions and public relations for the Omni International Complex (now the CNN center in Atlanta); director of membership for the Georgia Hospitality & Travel Association; and, director of advertising and membership for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. Prior to being appointed president and CEO of Southeast Tourism Society, Mr. Hardman served as president and CEO of Atlanta’s DeKalb Convention & Visitors Bureau from 1987 to 1997.
Mr. Hardman is on the industry advisory board of directors for the Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality at Georgia State University. He was a member of the Destination Marketing Association International (formerly the International Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus) board of directors where he served as the first chairman of the IACVB Foundation. He has served on the board of directors for United States Travel Association (formally TIA). He also served as chairman of the nationally acclaimed USTA(TIA) tourism industry event, the Marketing Outlook Forum in 2003. During the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, he was chair of the Georgia Olympic Marketing Task Force. He was also appointed by Sen. Sam Nunn as a delegate to the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism.
In November 2007, Mr. Hardman was appointed by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to serve a two-year term of the National Park System Advisory Board. The National Park System Advisory Board advises the secretary of the Interior and the director of the National Park Service on matters relating to the National Park Service, the National Park System and programs administered by the National Park Service.
Mr. Hardman has twice been named as Georgia’s Travel Industry Leader of the Year.
Mr. Hardman is available to speak on: