Tyron Spearman, second from the left, executive director of the Tifton-Tift County Tourism Association, was honored with the Tom Kilgore Lifetime Achievement Award recently at the 2018 Georgia Governor’s Tourism Conference in Atlanta.

ATLANTA — Tyron Spearman, executive director of the Tifton-Tift County Tourism Association, was honored with the Tom Kilgore Lifetime Achievement Award recently at the 2018 Georgia Governor’s Tourism Conference in Atlanta. The award is the highest recognition given at the annual conference.

Spearman attended the conference but was surprised when the announcement was made.

“I’m very humbled and it is really an honor for our entire community,” Spearman said. “We have a great team here and I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of it.”

Spearman was instrumental in organizing Tift County’s tourism efforts when he began as the director of the Tourism Association in 1988 but has been promoting the area for much longer than that.  He served as the first public relations director for Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and his efforts led to the creation of the Georgia Agrirama (now known as the Georgia Museum of Agriculture) in 1976.

While at ABAC, Spearman led a team that created the Farm Equipment Show which evolved into the Sunbelt Agricultural Expo, which is now based in Moultrie and is the largest farm equipment show in North America. The event brings tens of thousands of visitors to South Georgia each year and Spearman continues to serve as the media coordinator for the event.

He also initiated the popular “Think Tifton” billboard campaign, a public-private partnership that markets the community along Interstate 75.

“Tourism has become big business for Tift County and a lot of professionals in the industry have told us that we are ahead of the curve when it comes to our events and our organization,” Spearman said. “I love being able to tell people that I’m from Tifton when I’m at events around the state because we have such a strong team and so many great things happening.”

Spearman also owns the Spearman Agency public relations company and has been the long-time director of the National Peanut Buying Points Association.  Last year, he was inducted into the National Peanut Hall of Fame by the American Peanut Council.

 He is also a former chairman of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce and received that organization’s Stafford Award for excellence in economic development in 2013 and has been active with the Exchange Club of Tifton, where he has twice served as president and has also served as the state president as well.

“Tyron’s impact on Tift County will be felt forever,” said Tifton Mayor Julie Smith. “I cannot imagine anyone more deserving of this award or anyone who represents this community better than him. He has a true passion for what he does and we have all benefitted from his work. This is a tremendous honor that he richly deserves.”

According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, tourism in Georgia generated a record $63.1 billion in economic impact last year and employed more than 460,000 Georgians.

“Communities all across Georgia feel the positive impact that the tourism industry has in our state,” said Kevin Langston, GDEcD deputy Ccmmissioner for tourism. “As we work to expand our reach in attracting visitors from across the globe, our efforts would not be possible without the contributions of Georgia’s Tourism team as well as our tourism industry partners.”