The Washington Tourism Development Authority’s mission is to promote Washington as a tourist destination. It’s finding new ways to do just that.

One of those ways begins next week when the WTDA launches the website for the East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival, a signature event in the Inner Banks and for Washington. The announcement of the website’s launching came during the WTDA’s meeting Wednesday.

The East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival, now managed by the WTDA after initially being managed by the East Carolina Wildfowl Guild for most of the festival’s existence, enters its 20^th year the weekend of Feb. 6-8, 2015. The festival is paired with the North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships, with most events in the downtown Washington area.

WTDA officials will not make the website’s address public until the website is ready to launch next week, saying they don’t want the public to view an incomplete website. The festival has been publicized in the past through the websites of the East Carolina Wildfowl Guild and Washington’s tourism website.

“I’m really pleased that we should be launching the Wildlife Arts Festival website next week,” Lynn Wingate, Washington tourism-development director, told WTDA directors during their meeting Wednesday. “I’m writing copy and adding all of the elements to it so we can share more information about the show and have all the appropriate links to all the different competitions and things like that.”

Wingate also distributed copies of the new Washington Wedding Guide to the directors. During his mayoral campaign, Mayor Mac Hodges, how in his first term said he wanted Washington to become a destination for weddings.

“Our new wedding guide — we just got that … the Friday before the bridal show at Rock Springs (in Pitt County). Doing the bridal show was a good experience for a number of reasons, but the biggest one is there is definitely a recognition of Washington as a wedding destination,” Wingate said. “People are recognizing Washington as a good destination for a wedding.”

Photographers who routinely shoot weddings in eastern North Carolina took every photograph in the wedding guide.

The Washington Civic Center’s website is being updated. The WTDA markets the Civic Center has a venue for conferences, receptions, business meetings and reunions.

“That is coming along nicely. … That’s going to be really nice. Again, the look is going to be much nicer than we had before. It’s always good to have a fresh outlook and fresh perspective on things,” Wingate said.