Travel agents from Germany will be in Minden Sunday as part of a statewide familiarization tour.
Tourism director Lynn Dorsey says there is a group of 80 travel agents touring the state, and 20 of them will be in Minden at 8 a.m. Sunday in a “fly drive” tour.
“They are coming two to a car, because they are doing what they call in Germany a ‘fly drive,’” she said. “They are actually experiencing what they want to recommend to their customers. They’re flying into Houston, and they’re driving in four groups.”
While at Grace Estate, where the agents will be fed, gospel singers from St. Rest Baptist Church will sing gospel music.
“We also have a couple of people from the Germantown Colony coming in costume to talk about the history of Germantown,” she said.
Other entertainment will be provided as well, along with members of the Krewe de Ambassadeurs to talk about Mardi Gras season and Fasching.
The travel agents will tour Minden, but they want to see “small town America,” she said.
“They think Minden is the perfect example of small town America, and they remembered Millie Rose,” she said, adding they will tour Second Hand Rose Antiques.
Dorsey says this is the first of six tours booked until the end of the year. The Webster Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau has been booking several tours of travel agents over the last year, offering familiarization tours through Minden and Webster Parish highlighting all that is unique about the communities.
The German entourage will be coming just as the German Fasching season has begun. Fasching began at 11:11 a.m., Nov. 11, to kick off the German version of the Mardi Gras season. It will end at the stroke of midnight on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.
“We’re expecting a lot of group tours during the next year, especially around the Holiday Trail of Lights,” she said. “We’re hoping that we see a lot of these group tours in May and during the holidays. We want them to know that we have things to do year round, not just during the holidays.”