Board Unanimously Concludes TRT Holdings Proposals Not in the Best Interest of All Company Shareholders

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2008--Gaylord Entertainment Company ("Gaylord" or the "Company") announced today that, after careful deliberation, the Company's Board of Directors has rejected a set of proposals made by TRT Holdings, Inc. ("TRT"), owner of Omni Hotels, to increase through open market purchases TRT's ownership stake in Gaylord to up to 30 percent of the outstanding common stock and replace three current members of the Company's Board of Directors with TRT's designees.

TRT's proposals included the following elements:

    --  TRT proposed that the Company's Board of Directors amend its
        shareholders rights plan to increase the triggering percentage from 15
        percent to 30 percent;
    --  TRT proposed that the Company's Board of Directors approve its increase
        in ownership percentage above 15 percent to eliminate the protections
        provided by Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; and
    --  TRT proposed that the Company would replace three members of its Board
        of Directors with three designees of TRT, while maintaining the same
        size Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors unanimously determined that the proposals made by TRT contain no discernible economic or strategic advantage to the Company and are not in the best interests of all Gaylord's shareholders for the following reasons:

    --  The Board believes that accepting the TRT proposals would give TRT
        effective control over the Company's long-term corporate strategy
        without a full and fair price being paid to all Gaylord shareholders;
        and
    --  The Board determined that the TRT proposal raises serious conflict of
        interest issues because TRT owns the Omni Hotels chain, which competes
        nationwide with the Company for meeting business and directly with the
        Company's hotels in three of its four principal markets - Dallas/Fort
        Worth, Orlando and Washington, D.C., - making TRT designees ill-suited
        to meet the fiduciary duty of directors to act in the best interest of
        all Gaylord shareholders and exposing the Company to the serious risk of
        competitive harm.

Commenting on the Board's action, Colin V. Reed, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "When the Board of Directors adopted the shareholder rights plan in August, its principal goal was to protect the interest of all shareholders. In this regard, the rights plan has had the intended effect." Reed continued, "Gaylord Entertainment Company has a very compelling strategy focused on fulfilling the needs of meeting planners, and we are committed to growing long-term value for all of our shareholders. We are also committed to maintaining a constructive dialogue with all our shareholders about this strategy."

The Company and its Board of Directors restated the Company's commitment to executing its long-term business plan, maintaining its industry leading position in the convention hotels segment while outperforming its peer hospitality group.

About Gaylord Entertainment

Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE: GET), a leading hospitality and entertainment company based in Nashville, Tenn., owns and operates Gaylord Hotels (www.gaylordhotels.com), its network of upscale, meetings-focused resorts, and the Grand Ole Opry (www.opry.com), the weekly showcase of country music's finest performers for more than 80 consecutive years. The Company's entertainment brands and properties include the Radisson Hotel Opryland, Ryman Auditorium, General Jackson Showboat, Gaylord Springs Golf Links, Wildhorse Saloon, and WSM-AM. For more information about the Company, visit www.GaylordEntertainment.com.

This press release contains statements as to the Company's beliefs and expectations of the outcome of future events that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These include the risks and uncertainties associated with economic conditions affecting the hospitality business generally, the timing of the opening of new hotel facilities, increased costs and other risks associated with building and developing new hotel facilities, the geographic concentration of our hotel properties, business levels at the Company's hotels, our ability to successfully operate our hotels and our ability to obtain financing for new developments. Other factors that could cause operating and financial results to differ are described in the filings made from time to time by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include the risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements made by it to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

CONTACT: Investor Relations:
Gaylord Entertainment
David Kloeppel, 615-316-6101
President and CFO
dkloeppel@gaylordentertainment.com
or
Mark Fioravanti, 615-316-6588
Senior Vice President and Treasurer
mfioravanti@gaylordentertainment.com
or
Rob Tanner, 615-316-6572
Director Investor Relations
rtanner@gaylordentertainment.com
or
Media:
Sloane & Company
Elliot Sloane, 212-446-1860
esloane@sloanepr.com
or
Josh Hochberg, 212-446-1892
jhochberg@sloanepr.com
or
Gaylord Entertainment
Brian Abrahamson, 615-316-6302
babrahamson@gaylordentertainment.com

Source: Gaylord Entertainment Company