EXHIBIT 99.1

[GAYLORD ENTERTAINMENT LOGO]                    [RESORTQUEST INTERNATIONAL LOGO]


INFORMATION FOR RELEASE


                        GAYLORD ENTERTAINMENT TO ACQUIRE
                            RESORTQUEST INTERNATIONAL

        ACCRETIVE ACQUISITION SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDS HOSPITALITY OFFERINGS

NASHVILLE, TENN. - (Aug. 5, 2003) - Gaylord Entertainment Company (NYSE: GET)
today announced that it has agreed to acquire ResortQuest International (NYSE:
RZT), the nation's largest vacation rental property management company. The
purchase, which will be a stock-for-stock transaction using a fixed exchange
ratio of 0.275 Gaylord Entertainment shares for each ResortQuest share, is
expected to be tax free to ResortQuest shareholders. Based on Gaylord
Entertainment's closing stock price on Aug. 4, 2003, the acquisition is
estimated at approximately $177 million, including approximately $68 million of
ResortQuest net debt ($71 million in senior debt and $3 million in unrestricted
cash).

ResortQuest International holds the leading market position in the vacation
rental property management industry, with an approximate 4% market share of an
estimated $10 billion market in the United States. ResortQuest manages the only
nationwide branded network of properties representing approximately 20,000
vacation rental homes and condominiums, primarily at beach, mountain, and desert
resorts. ResortQuest also offers real estate brokerage services to both
management customers and other vacation home and condominium owners.

"This acquisition will transform Gaylord Entertainment into a multi-product
hospitality company that can offer a range of accommodations to convention,
business and leisure travelers," said Colin Reed, president and chief executive
officer of Gaylord Entertainment. "Throughout the last year, we have been
building a strategic plan to accelerate our growth in non-capital intensive ways
by extending offerings to customers with whom we have a captive relationship
through our hospitality and leisure businesses, while exploiting the skill set
of our senior management team. Our extensive research has indicated that we have
a substantial existing and target customer base that chooses to vacation at
either beach or mountain rental accommodations. ResortQuest's high-quality




vacation properties will be a valuable complement to both our meetings-focused
Gaylord Hotels brand, and our "country lifestyle" Grand Ole Opry brand."

The transaction represents a significant opportunity to develop the ResortQuest
brand more fully by leveraging the Gaylord management team's track record of
building and growing brands. Gaylord will also deliver additional demand into
the ResortQuest network by cross-marketing ResortQuest's vacation properties to
Gaylord's millions of Gaylord Hotels convention-goers and millions of country
lifestyle consumers who frequent the Grand Ole Opry, watch it on television or
listen to its radio programs. This will build additional awareness for the
ResortQuest brand, and generate additional occupancy and revenue for both the
combined company and the individual unit owners. Additionally, Gaylord will
reach new ResortQuest consumers to whom it will introduce its current array of
hospitality and country lifestyle offerings.

"This is an attractive deal for all of ResortQuest's stakeholders - our rental
customers, property owners and shareholders," said ResortQuest chief executive
officer Jim Olin. "We believe that there are significant revenue opportunities
with Gaylord, given its consumer reach. Our 1.6 million guest database will be
combined with Gaylord's eight-plus million consumer reach, which should bode
well for the rental income to our homeowners and provide us an additional
significant competitive advantage in our resort markets. We are confident that
the experienced management team at Gaylord will help ResortQuest solidify and
build on our current brand. In addition, we can leverage the scale of Gaylord's
financial platform to operate and grow more efficiently. With its customer base,
commitment to technology and marketing and well-known hospitality reputation,
Gaylord will significantly enhance the ResortQuest franchise."

Under certain circumstances Gaylord Entertainment will provide $10 million of
working capital for general corporate use to be accessed by ResortQuest between
signing and closing. Gaylord intends to refinance all of ResortQuest's
outstanding debt.

At the completion of the transaction, ResortQuest will continue to operate as a
separate brand and will continue to be led by Jim Olin and other members of the
existing senior management team. Gaylord plans to have ResortQuest continue to
operate in Destin, FL, which is home to ResortQuest's fastest growing and most
profitable region.

"We believe ResortQuest has enormous untapped value, and with new marketing and
branding initiatives along with Gaylord's strong and experienced leadership, we
fully expect this acquisition to contribute significantly to the long-term
financial prospects of our company," said David Kloeppel, Gaylord Entertainment
chief financial officer. "While there will be cost synergies as part of this
acquisition, the majority of improved profitability is expected from increased
revenues. Combined, we expect the transaction





to be accretive to 2004 results excluding the impact of increased revenues and
expense reductions, which we expect to add EBITDA(1) of approximately $2 million
in 2004 and approximately $5 million in 2005."

Both companies remain comfortable with their prior guidance.

The transaction, which is subject to government, regulatory and shareholder
approvals, is expected to close in early 2004. ResortQuest has agreed to pay a
break-up fee of $6 million if the proposed deal is not consummated under certain
circumstances. Certain holders of Gaylord and ResortQuest common stock have
agreed to vote in favor of the transaction. The transaction was approved
unanimously by the boards of directors of both companies.

Deutsche Bank acted as financial advisor to Gaylord Entertainment, and Citigroup
advised ResortQuest International.

CONFERENCE CALL TODAY

Gaylord Entertainment will hold a joint conference call with ResortQuest
International to discuss this announcement today at 11 a.m. EST. To participate
on the call, please dial (973) 582-2706 and request the Gaylord/ResortQuest call
(confirmation #4083269). A recording of the call will be available for seven
days by dialing (973) 341-3080 and entering access code 4083269.

Investors can listen to the conference call over the Internet at
www.resortquest.com, or at www.gaylordentertainment.com under the Investor
Relations \ Other Information tab. To listen to the live call, please go to the
Investor Relations section of the Web site at least 15 minutes early to
register, download and install any necessary audio software. For those who
cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be made available shortly
after the call and will run for 30 days.

ABOUT GAYLORD ENTERTAINMENT

Gaylord Entertainment, a leading hospitality and entertainment company based in
Nashville, Tenn., owns and operates Gaylord Hotels branded properties, including
the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville and the Gaylord
Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Fla., and the Radisson Opryland
Hotel in Nashville. The company's entertainment brands include the Grand Ole
Opry, the Ryman Auditorium, the General Jackson Showboat, the Springhouse Golf
Club, the Wildhorse Saloon and WSM-AM. Gaylord Entertainment's stock is traded
on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GET. For more information about
the company, visit www.gaylordentertainment.com.





ABOUT RESORTQUEST INTERNATIONAL

ResortQuest International, the first brand name "real-time" online booking
service (www.resortquest.com) in vacation condominium and home rentals and
sales, provides a one-stop resource in over 50 premier resort destinations in
the U.S. and Canada. ResortQuest is the nation's leading vacation rental
property management company, based on a portfolio of approximately 20,000
vacation rental properties with a combined real estate value estimated in excess
of $7.0 billion.

(1) EBITDA (defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation,
amortization, pre-opening expense, non-cash lease and naming rights agreement
expenses, as well as other non-recurring or non-cash items) is in the discussion
of operating results because the Company believes it allows for a more complete
analysis of operating performance by presenting an analysis of operations
separate from the earnings impact of capital transactions. The Company also
believes EBITDA provides an additional measure of our ability to service debt,
fund capital expenditures and grow our business. Pre-opening expense,
non-recurring and non-cash items, such as asset write-downs and impairment
losses, are excluded from EBITDA as these items do not impact operating results
on a recurring basis. EBITDA can be computed by adding depreciation,
amortization, pre-opening expense, non-recurring and non-cash items to operating
income from continuing operations. This information should not be considered as
an alternative to any measure of performance as promulgated under accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States (such as operating income,
net income or cash from operations), nor should it be considered as an indicator
of our overall financial performance. EBITDA does not fully consider the impact
of investing or financing transactions, as it specifically excludes depreciation
and interest charges, which should also be considered in the overall evaluation
of our results of operations. Our method of calculating EBITDA may be different
from the method used by other companies and therefore comparability may be
limited.

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, costs associated with developing new hotel facilities, costs
associated with changes to the Company's historical financial statements,
business levels at the company's hotels, the ability to complete potential
divestitures successfully and the ability to consummate 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 Gaylord
Entertainment with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


Gaylord Entertainment 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.

Factors that could cause ResortQuest's actual results to differ materially from
the statements made include the risks associated with obtaining the necessary
consents and approvals and meeting the other conditions necessary to consummate
the merger with Gaylord Entertainment Company and obtain the associated credit
line, continued acceptance of ResortQuest's First Resort software, the
anticipated slowdown in reservation deposits, poor weather reducing the number
of stays at ResortQuest's managed facilities, ResortQuest's ability to meet its
cash needs with available sources of cash, successful integration of additional
acquired companies, factors affecting internal growth and management of growth,
ResortQuest's acquisition strategy and the availability of financing, the tour
and travel industry, seasonality, quarterly fluctuations and general economic
conditions, dependence on technology and travel providers, and other factors
discussed from time to time in ResortQuest's Securities and Exchange Commission
reports, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2002.




This communication is not a solicitation of a proxy from any security holder of
Gaylord Entertainment Company or ResortQuest International, Inc. Gaylord and
ResortQuest intend to file a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC in
connection with the merger. The Form S-4 will contain a




prospectus, a proxy statement and other documents for the stockholders' meetings
of Gaylord and ResortQuest at which time the proposed transaction will be
considered. Gaylord and ResortQuest plan to mail the proxy statement and
prospectus contained in the Form S-4 to their respective stockholders. The Form
S-4, proxy statement and prospectus will contain important information about
Gaylord, ResortQuest, the merger and related matters. Investors and stockholders
should read the Form S-4, the proxy statement and prospectus and the other
documents filed with the SEC in connection with the merger carefully before they
make any decision with respect to the merger. The Form S-4, proxy statement and
prospectus, and all other documents filed with the SEC in connection with the
merger will be available when filed free of charge at the SEC's web site,
www.sec.gov. In addition, all documents filed with the SEC by Gaylord in
connection with the merger will be made available to investors free of charge by
writing to: Gaylord Entertainment Company, One Gaylord Drive, Nashville,
Tennessee 37214, Attn: Investor Relations. All documents filed with the SEC by
ResortQuest in connection with the merger will be made available to investors
free of charge by writing to: ResortQuest International, Inc., Suite 203, 8955
Highway 98 West, Destin, Florida 32550, Attn: Investor Relations.


Gaylord, ResortQuest, their respective directors and executive officers may be
deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from Gaylord's stockholders
and ResortQuest's stockholders. Information concerning Gaylord's directors and
certain executive officers and their direct and indirect interests in Gaylord is
contained in its proxy statement for its 2003 annual meeting of stockholders.
Information concerning ResortQuest's directors and certain executive officers
and their direct and indirect interests in ResortQuest is contained in its proxy
statement for its 2003 annual meeting of stockholders. Additional information
regarding the interests of these participants in the merger will be available in
the proxy statement regarding the merger. Investors can obtain free copies of
these documents from the SEC's website, Gaylord and ResortQuest using the
contact information above.




                                        
INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS:               MEDIA CONTACTS:
David Kloeppel, CFO                        Jim Brown
Gaylord Entertainment                      Gaylord Entertainment
(615) 316-6101                             (615) 316-6302
dkloeppel@gaylordentertainment.com         jbrown@gaylordentertainment.com
                         ~OR~                                      ~OR~
Key Foster, VP Corporate Finance &         Dan O'Connor
Investor Relations                         Sloane & Company
Gaylord Entertainment                      (212) 446-1865
(615) 316-6132                             doconnor@sloanepr.com
kfoster@gaylordentertainment.com

                         ~OR~
Jenny Lee
Sloane & Company
(212) 446-1892
jlee@sloanepr.com