Paula Woolsey, CSW, President of Verde Valley Wine Consortium, Selected as the 2024 Arizona Governor’s Tourism Award, Hall of Fame Winner

Verde Valley News – On Thursday, August 22, 2024, at the Arizona Governor’s Conference on Tourism, Paula Woolsey, CSW, President of the Verde Valley Wine Consortium and owner of Cellar Door Unhinged, was awarded as the Hall of Fame Winner for the 2024 Arizona Governor’s Tourism Award.

According to information released by The Arizona Governor’s Conference on Tourism, the Tourism Hall of Fame Award is presented to an individual who has “earned a lifetime distinction through many years of active involvement in tourism and unique contributions to the betterment of the industry and the State of Arizona.”

In addition to being the president of the Verde Valley Wine Consortium, which spearheaded the Verde Valley becoming a federally recognized American Viticulture Area, Woolsey also owns a consulting business for the wine industry called Cellar Door Unhinged, and she has continued to aid in the growth of the Arizona wine community through her work as an event organizer for the Verde Valley Wine Festival, Camp Verde Pecan & Wine Festival and the nationally acclaimed Sedona WineFest, which is celebrating its 15^th anniversary on September 28-29, 2024.

“To say that I was both surprised and thrilled to learn I had been selected for such a prestigious award is the understatement of the year,” Woolsey said. “After learning I had been selected for the award, I had the honor or spending a couple of days with a film crew that interviewed a few important colleagues and friends about my impact on the tourism industry, including Michael Pierce, Director of the Southwest Wine Center; Patrick Schweiss, Director of the Sedona International Film Festival and Maynard Keenan, Owner and Winemaker at Caduceus Cellars.”

Woolsey’s 25 years’ experience in the Arizona wine, restaurant, and tourism industries as a wine educator, wine sales director, restauranteur, event planner, tourism liaison and as an instructor at Yavapai College’s Southwest Wine Center, has earned her a well-deserved reputation among her industry peers and statewide tourism officials alike.

For more information on Paula Woolsey and her continued efforts in bolstering the Arizona wine industry, visit www.verdevalleywine.org.