Brookhaven and Lincoln County seem to be drawing some highly favorable attention these days.

     Long a household name in past years for its beautifully printed yellow magazines filled with color pictures of scenes throughout the world, National Geographic Society is being asked to include local historical, cultural and natural landmarks on one of its maps.

     The Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce’s Kay Burton and Quinn Jordan from the chamber’s Creative Economy Committee were out and about last week, photographing and putting together video of area sites.  The visuals will be submitted in a proposal to include area landmarks on an upcoming National Geographic Geotourism Mapguide, which will span the four Gulf States – Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida.

     Also last week, representatives from a tea marketing company based in Hawaii were in town to talk with local farmer Jason McDonald, who is turning his property in southeastern Lincoln County into Mississippi’s first-ever tea farm.

     The interest from the Hawaiian group underscores the work McDonald is doing to get his new Southern crop up and growing and into the world marketplace.

     While tea farming and geotourism may seem unrelated, they actually go hand-in-hand. McDonald’s plans for his farm also include agri-tourism, and tours of the state’s only tea farm are bound to bring in scores of visitors to Brookhaven on a regular basis.

     To make things even brighter around town, it appears we’re doing a good job in getting ready for the visitors as well. Our historic and beautiful downtown already features a unique inn that has been providing Southern hospitality second to none for some time now. Besides that another new hotel recently opened right off the interstate, supplementing other lodging already available in the city.

     Adding even more spice to the flavor of the city’s center are a new restaurant and a couple of projects to create event venues.

     With things to see and do and great places to stay, Brookhaven and Lincoln County seem to be well on our way to becoming a tourist destination. We urge our city and county leaders to continue to work to get our community ready to reap the benefits that tourism will surely bring.