
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994                   TAG: 9403130058
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

ALLEN NAMES WIFE TO CHAIR NEW TASK FORCE

Gov. George Allen has named his wife, Susan, the honorary chairwoman of a newly announced task force on tourism.

Allen said tourism advisers suggested the first lady because she has worked in the convention business at Charlottesville hotels and at Ash Lawn, President James Monroe's home.

The task force's co-chairmen are Secretary of Commerce and Trade Robert Skunda and Thomas Morr, vice president of West Group, a Northern Virginia real estate development company.

Since the early 1970s, Virginia has slipped from first to ninth in the U.S. Travel Data Center's ranking of the top tourism states, the governor said.

"It is time for Virginia to return to a position of prominence as a tourism leader," Allen said at a news conference. "The task force will consider how to best capitalize on our assets to again make Virginia a world leader in tourism."

by CNB