• Merci Monsieur Kim Cusimano for sending us photos of the Hampton Inn and Suites.

• Merci Madame Kalyn Landry for bringing us pictures of Iberia Parish Parks and Recreation.

• There will be no News from IPCVB next week. See you on July 8!

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will present the 2012 "Spirit of Enterprise" Award to Congressman Charles Boustany, Jr. at a luncheon hosted by the Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce on July 15 at the Ramada Inn. Details here.

• Construction has begun last week on the Jeanerette Museum annex.

• July is National Parks and Recreation Month. We will feature a different Iberia park each week in Iberia's Sweet Picks. 

• The Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival Association will host a 5K Run/Walk, Saturday, September 21, 2013. More details to follow on hisugar.org and on Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival's Facebook page. Coordinated by Renée Voorhies, Ryan Breaux and Nannette Nickens.

• New Iberia Artist Chestee Harrington will exhibit her work at the LSU Rural Life  Museum from June 22 - August 2, 2013. See the press release here.

• The inaugural Farm to Table (F2T) Symposium will be held in New Orleans August 2 - 4, 2013. It will feature the brightest thought leaders and leading practitioners in the burgeoning farm-to-table movement. F2T explores the cultivation, distribution, and consumption of food and drink sourced locally to globally. Topics include farming and aquaculture, fisheries, sustainability, social and digital interactive media, food security and safety, food law and policy, food science and GMO, artisanal and slow food and drink, and fair trade. The symposium takes place in tandem with the Louisiana Restaurant Association's Annual Foodservice & Hospitality EXPO, an event featuring related exhibits and attracting food and beverage professionals from throughout the country. Click here for more.

• National Geographic's geotourism initiative

We announced in the last newsletters the launch of this new initiative featuring online, locally-built travel guides. We would like to share the following comments by Doug Bourgeois with Louisiana Byways at the Louisiana Office of Tourism:

"This is a partnership with the National Geographic Society we funded through FHWA and BP grants. It was developed to showcase -under the National Geographic Society umbrella-authentic experiences along the Gulf Coast----Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. It's not for casinos, chain type restaurants or big box stores. It one of a kind places to stay, eat, shop, visit, etc ---just like what we showcase along our byways. Please nominate sites in your area and pass this along to anyone who think would qualify. Its free! And we want Louisiana to have lots of points on the map."

Deadline: July 15

Need more details about geotourism? Click here.

For a submission example, click here.

• Check out our ad (p. 4) and editorial (p.54) in the summer issue of Travelhost. TABASCO® and New Iberia are also mentionned as part of the Bayou Bounty Culinary Trail (p. 14). Get your free copy today at our visitor center! The Louisiana Culinary Trail is an initiative by the Louisiana Office of Tourism featuring culinary road trips around the state.

• Two of Antique Rose Ville's recipes were featured in Louisiana Cookin's July/Aug. issue (p. 71-72). Come pick up your free copy!

• Shadows-on-the-Teche's History Workshop made it to the front page of the Daily Iberian (Thursday, June 20 isssue).

• Missed a newsletter? No problem. Log on to our Iberian Ambassadors page and consult our archive. Password: IberianAmbassador1.

• Consult the Envision daBerry's mobile app for events in our area. 

• New Iberia is number 14 out of 52 popular Louisiana destinations on TripAdvisor. 

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