ATLANTA — Selah Havard, the director of sales for the Natchez convention and visitors bureau, was named as one of 40 young professionals from Virginia to California who were chosen for the first class of “Forty for the Future: Travel’s Leading Talent.”

The Southeast Tourism Society, an Atlanta-based professional association in the tourism industry, organized the recognition.

Those chosen, most of whom were nominated by their employers or professional mentors, range from the tourism director in the north Georgia town of Dahlonega and the marketing and communications manager at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky to the president of the visitors bureau in Fort Bragg, Calif., and a partnership marketing specialist for the Virginia Tourism Corp.

All are younger than 40, and they represent businesses and organizations in 14 states.

“All of them have demonstrated leadership in their careers and communities and are beacons for others,” said Bill Hardman, president and CEO of the Southeast Tourism Society.

STS will recognize the Forty for the Future Class of 2012 during a special presentation at the STS Fall Forum in Virginia Beach, Va., Oct. 31-Nov. 2.

“Our objectives with ‘Forty for the Future’ are to recognize leadership, demonstrate how varied tourism jobs are and inspire even younger people to consider tourism as a career,” Hardman said.

“We wish we could have recognized even more, but this group lives up to the program’s name. They truly are ‘Forty for the Future,’ and we expect even bigger accomplishments and leadership from them,” Hardman said.