It appears the same group that's been marketing Knoxville for years will continue to do so, but with new leadership and a new name.
The City of Knoxville and Knox County announced Tuesday that an evaluation committee has selected Visit Knoxville from seven groups that answered a request for proposals (RFP).
"This process gave us the opportunity to address some missed opportunities of the past, come together with new partners and really start to move forward in a bigger, better way," said Visit Knoxville President Kim Bumpas.
"I think any time you're dealing with that kind of public money and trust issue, and the enormous salaries that we are being paid, it showed that the city and county administrations were paying attention," said Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett.
"At the end of the day, Visit Knoxville came out on top. I wouldn't start to second guess that decision because I feel like we have a lot ....in their abilities. So we're excited to move forward with the DMO now and really promote tourism for the City of Knoxville," said Eddie Mannis, City of Knoxville Chief Operating Officer.
Visit Knoxville was formerly known as the Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corporation. After a 10News investigation into the group's spending on salaries earlier this year, President and CEO Gloria Ray retired. Later, the board voted to change their name to Visit Knoxville.
After the shakeup, the city and county wanted to re-evaluate their options going forward.
Based on the work of the evaluation committee, the City and County will now begin contract negotiations with Visit Knoxville.
After the negotiations, separate contracts will be presented to both City Council and County Commission for approval.
Visit Knoxville's current contract with the City and County to provide destination marketing services expire October 31, 2012.