Guest Author - Marilyn Crain

Like most states, Tennessee has its official state tourism website. It’s called “Tennessee: The Stage is Set for You.” So why, you may ask, would I want to review a state government website? Let’s find out, shall we?

Here’s what this Tennessee travel site has to offer:

--A great front page featuring “Tennessee’s Latest” which asks the visitor to, “Check out the latest and greatest from around the Volunteer State.” This feature is updated weekly and completely changes each season. For example, the fall page offers weekly foliage reports both written and podcast, a calendar of fall events, a contest with a Gatlinburg Girlfriend Getaway as prize, a Halloween themed Mysterious TN, Football Time with all the game dates, and fall multimedia with photos, videos and wallpaper.

--A really good “clickable” map of Tennessee.

--A calendar with current and upcoming events.

--Interactive vacation tools, such as a way to make your own Tennessee itinerary and the option to post and share your own vacation experiences around the state.

--A separate page for each region of the state, featuring a map and calendar and an overview of the area. Then you can choose to explore music and arts, sports and recreation, history and heritage, nature and outdoors, attractions or places to stay in that region.

--Road tools that include downloadable maps of each Tennessee region, links to information about airports, welcome centers, road conditions and even alternation fuel stations.

--Places to stay page which features a really easy system to find hotels, bed and breakfast inns, cabins, campgrounds and vacation rentals.

--A great feature is that from almost every page within the site, there is a map to click and go to any region in Tennessee.

--Preplanned trips option that means just what it says. You can select from almost fifty preplanned trips and get a map and all the stops and attractions to explore.

--Excursions page that offers preplanned shopping trips including small town, antique shopping and outlet shopping.

This sounds like an enormous amount information from one website doesn’t it? But, there’s more. I’ve just shared an overview of what’s available. In addition, the user-friendly format makes it a pleasure to search for that information.

If you are planning to visit Tennessee or you live in the state, I don’t believe you can find a better resource to learn about all of the places, attractions and events across the Volunteer State. If you visit “Tennessee: The Stage is Set for You,” then you’ll understand why I wanted to do this review.