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<P DIR=LTR ALIGN=CENTER><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Arial">Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department</FONT></B></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR ALIGN=CENTER><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Arial">News Release</FONT></B></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR ALIGN=CENTER><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I><FONT FACE="Arial">November 3, 2009</FONT></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><U><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</FONT></U></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Contact: Jessica Blackstock</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Phone: 405-230-8415</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Email: Jessica@TravelOK.com</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR ALIGN=CENTER><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B></B></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><B><FONT SIZE=5 FACE="Arial">Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation to Offer Free Sustainable Travel Workshop in Ada</FONT></B></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR ALIGN=CENTER><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I></I></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><I><FONT FACE="Arial">– ECO 411: The Buzz on Oklahoma’s Sustainable Travel Program –</FONT></I></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">Oklahoma’s sustainable travel program, ECO – Encouraging Conservation in Oklahoma – will be hosting a series of free workshops across the state. ECO’s mission is to promote, educate and encourage sustainable travel in Oklahoma. The workshops will focus on certification, education and marketing options available to the tourism industry through ECO.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">Jessica Blackstock from the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department (OTRD) and Dianne Wilkins from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will lead the workshops, which also include expertise from other agency and community leaders. ECO is a partnership program between OTRD and DEQ. </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial"> </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">“Now more than ever, travelers are looking for green options and the ECO program meets that need,” said Hardy Watkins, executive director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. “These workshops will allow our tourism industry to learn how to engage in the ECO program through certification, marketing opportunities and educational components.”</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">The workshop, ECO 411: The Buzz on Oklahoma’s Sustainable Travel Program, will provide information on the certification ECO offers for the tourism industry. Participants will also gain insight into the marketing components offered through the ECO program, plus additional education about sustainable travel and the efforts going on in the participants’ community. The timing of this program is relevant as recent studies showed that 51 percent of travelers will continue to make green travel choices even during an economic downturn.</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">The Ada workshop will take place on November 5, 2009 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Pontotoc County Technology Center. The Ada workshop is hosted by the Ada Chamber of Commerce. There is no fee for the workshop, however all interested parties must register for planning purposes.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">For more information about the workshops or to register, contact Jessica</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Arial">Blackstock at</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="mailto:Jessica@TravelOK.com"><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial">Jessica@TravelOK.com</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Arial">or call 405-230-8415. For more information on</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Arial">ECO please see</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> </SPAN><A HREF="http://www.TravelOK.com/eco"><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial">www.TravelOK.com/eco</FONT></U></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial">.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR ALIGN=CENTER><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">###</FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#943634" SIZE=4 FACE="Apple Chancery">Susie Shields</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#943634" SIZE=2 FACE="Verdana">Land Protection Division Sustainability Educator </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#943634" SIZE=2 FACE="Verdana">Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#943634" SIZE=2 FACE="Verdana">P.O. Box 1677</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#943634" SIZE=2 FACE="Verdana">OKC, OK 73101-1677</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#943634" SIZE=2 FACE="Verdana">(405) 702-5166</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT COLOR="#943634" SIZE=2 FACE="Verdana">susie.shields@deq.ok.go</FONT><FONT COLOR="#943634" SIZE=2 FACE="Verdana">v</FONT></SPAN></P>
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