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Shining a Bright LightAuburn University to Honor Alabama Tourism DirectorLee Sentell for Excellence in Promoting Alabama HospitalityBY CHARLOTTE TUGGLECommunications Editor, Auburn University College of Human SciencesThis spring, Auburn University’s College ofHuman Sciences will honor Alabama TourismDirector Lee Sentell at the annual HospitalityGala. Sentell, humbly, does not see how hehas warranted an award for excellence, butthe rest of the world easily recognizes how hisleadership has elevated Alabama tourism tointernational acclaim.Sentell has faced many challenges throughouthis career and has met each with perseveranceand strategic focus. From the DeepwaterHorizon oil spill to the COVID-19 pandemic,Sentell and his staff at the Tourism Departmenthave successfully communicated Alabama as atravel destination to a global audience.“Any time you have adversity, use it to learnhow to take advantage of that challenge,”Sentell said. “Don’t be angry at that adversity,learn from it. Because if you don’t face challenges,then how are you going to grow?”Financial recovery from the COVID-19pandemic, according to Sentell, is tied to thestate’s beaches. While revenue from meetingsand conventions in the state’s major citieshas yet to be renewed, Sentell said Alabamalost less than the industry average followingGov. Kay Ivey’s decision to reopen the beaches.And when people began to look for outdooradventures during the pandemic, Alabamahad much to offer.Sentell said the hospitality industry haslearned important lessons from the pandemic,including the importance of cleanlinessand safety. Those measures, combinedwith the personal touch of local businessowners, have made the Alabama shores atrusted destination for families.“Our beaches don’t look at the people comingin the door as tourists, they look at themas guests,” Sentell said. “All but a fraction ofthe businesses in our two beach cities, threecounting Dauphin Island, are locally owned.One of the major appeals of our beach destinationsis that every year, when you go back tothe same restaurant, you’re likely to be waitedon by the owner, just like the year before. Thatcreates a bond between the destination andthe visitors.”After graduating from Auburn in 1967with a journalism degree, Sentell workedas a reporter for the Shades Valley Sun inHomewood and the Decatur Daily before movinginto the tourism and hospitality industry.He was drawn to tourism because of his interestin community culture and historic preservation.As chairman of the tourism committeeat the Decatur Chamber of Commerce,Sentell started the Hot Air Balloon Festival,which continues to be held every MemorialDay weekend.His next position was with the U.S. Spaceand Rocket Center, where he assisted inlaunching the Space Camp program. One ofhis secondary responsibilities was as a liaisonto a movie crew producing a film aboutthe space camp, called SpaceCamp, starringKate Capshaw, Kelly Preston, Lea Thompson,and a young Joaquin Phoenix. In 1986, aroundthe same time that the first version of thefilm was edited and Space Camp was on theLee Sentell, left, and Space Center founder EdBuckbee stand with actors in SpaceCamp beforean interview on “Good Morning America.”cover of Boys’ Life magazine, the Space ShuttleChallenger exploded. After that heartbreakingtragedy, Sentell said people turned to SpaceCamp to see something positive about thespace program. He and Ed Buckbee, founderof the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, providedthat for the public. Sentell said this was a trueturning point in his career, and everything he’sbeen able to do in tourism promotion sincehas been a result of Buckbee’s mentorship.Sentell served for more than a decade asthe city tourism director of Huntsville andvice president of marketing at the SpaceCenter. The only viable promotion from thatposition, according to Sentell, was becomingthe state tourism director, and in 2003, Gov.Bob Riley appointed him to the office. Sentellis only the second person in the role’s historyto have a background in tourism. He said hisfirst goal was to do “such a good job, that inyears ahead, the industry would insist on aprofessional being in this position.”Since taking the position, Sentell’s officehas elevated Alabama tourism on an internationalscale, enjoyed very little staff turnover,and grown their budget by more than $10 millionwithout raising taxes. The Robert TrentJones Golf Trail has become a word-of-mouthhit to golfers and non-golfers alike. Becauseof Sentell’s promotion of the Alabama CivilRights Trail, the Alabama Tourism Departmentwas honored as the first American state to bea finalist—and later win—the Best RegionalDestination Campaign Award from theInternational Travel and Tourism Awards inNovember 2019. Sentell worked personallyon the historic marker for Dr. Martin LutherKing, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” thebrochure detailing sites across the state connectedto the Civil Rights movement, and afterencouragement from Bernice King, publisheda book in 2021 about the official U.S. CivilRights Trail. Sentell is proud that the Alabamatourism industry has grown from $6 billion ayear when he became director to $16 billion aEAST ALABAMA LIVING21