Cathy Drew and Mike Mills
Cathy Drew, executive director of the Ozark Gateway Tourist Council, and Mike Mills, owner of Buffalo Outdoor Center, were inducted into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame on Monday at the 44th Annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
The conference was held at Southland Park Gaming & Racing in West Memphis.
Drew is a lifelong resident of the region she promotes, the “Ozark Gateway.” She was born in Batesville and worked for Media Market Inc., an ad agency that previously handled the Ozark Gateway Tourist Council account.
In that role, Drew helped design the region’s tabloid publication. She later worked at WRD Entertainment in marketing and graphic design and, in 2000, began her career with Ozark Gateway.
Drew has represented Arkansas at several AARP tradeshows, opened a 24/7 welcome center for the region, created a new regional motorcycling pocket map and guide and improved the region’s website. She also created a regional golf tournament, established a social media presence for the region and travels the state and southern Missouri to deliver Ozark Gateway publications to visitor information sites.
Drew is a member of the Arkansas Travel Council, the Ozark Foothills FilmFest board of directors and the Batesville Rotary Club. She serves as an Independence County election commissioner.
Mills grew up on a farm west of Lowell and later graduated from Rogers High School, Hendrix College and the University of Arkansas Graduate School. Then he served in the Marine Corps.
Mills founded Buffalo Outdoor Center in 1976 and expanded it into Arkansas’ first log cabin resort in 1985. With 44 years in the business, he has clocked in more than 150,000 hours for the tourism industry and has served more than 3 million guests.
Mills has also served for 36 years on the Arkansas Travel Council and the Arkansas Tourism Development Foundation, for 22 years on the Ozark Mountain Region board of directors and for 18 years on the Arkansas State Parks, Recreation & Travel Commission. He was the director of Arkansas tourism from 1982 to 1986.
Mills has been a board member of America Outdoors for 24 years. He served four years on the board of Travel South USA, two years with the Travel Industry Association of America and four years with the Council of Ozark Governors.
Mills was a charter member of Arkansas Scenic Highway 7, a founding member of Arkansas Resorts, a commissioner for Arkansas Scenic Rivers, was awarded the Jim DeVito Award by the Ozark Mountain Region and named the Tourism Person of the Year by the Harrison Chamber of Commerce.
He has served as president of the Ozark Mountain Region, the Arkansas Travel Council, the Arkansas Hospitality Association, Travel South USA, Council of Ozark Governors, the Professional Paddlesports Association and the Buffalo River Foundation.
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