RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
'We ain't seen nothin' yet,' tourism director says
Part of the growth in tourism has stemmed from the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors voting in 2005 to move the Chamber to a new home on The Square, and from hiring Barnett as a full-time Tourism Director in August 2006. Those actions led to the Washington Wilkes Chamber of Commerce/ Welcome Center becoming an official Regional Welcome Center designated by the State of Georgia. "That designation was vital. It got us featured in the Georgia Travel Guide and the Georgia tourism web site. It also made us eligible to be awarded a state tourism grant," Barnett said. The $18,575 grant is being used to pay for a new web site, a billboard in Atlanta, television commercials in Atlanta, and an ad in Southern Living magazine. The new money and visibility has spread the word about Washington all over the airwaves, she said. "Our commercial ran on Atlanta and Oconee cable TV for four weeks on TLC, HGTV, Fox News, CNN, and Travel channels. I was a guest on NBC Augusta News Morning Show twice, and now six different W-W commercials are running in Augusta on NBC Augusta during the TODAY Show, Regis & Kelly, and the Augusta Morning News. And Georgia Public Broadcasting has done a "Georgia Traveler" episode on our Confederate gold and the Fitzpatrick Hotel," Barnett said. The surge in tourism has also been boosted by individuals and businesses reaching out to a growing audience, she said. "Look at all the advertising that folks like Henry and Shay Harris at Petal Pushers, and Bradley and Katherine Barber at the Farmer's Market, have done. They've all been instrumental in this growth we've seen, and we're committed to working with all the merchants and business people to keep getting the word out." That advertising has paid off. In just one year, from March 2006 to March 2007, the number of visitors staying in Wilkes County hotels, motels, and bed-and-breakfast inns increased by more than one-third. "Hotel-motel tax revenue increased by 35 percent from last March to this March," said Barnett. "And this year's final totals are going to show that visitors are up by even more than that for the year." All revenues from the five-percent hotel-motel tax are put directly back into tourism, to advertise and reach out and bring more visitors to the area. "Every visitor - and it doesn't matter whether they're hunters, shoppers, history buffs, dirt-bike riders, or business travelers - every visitor spends money here on lodging, gas, shopping, and eating. And that money goes directly into Wilkes County paychecks, and those checks are spent here. That's why the experts say that tourism is economic development - money comes in from outside the county and gets spent here over and over." Plus, visitors also pay the onepercent retail sales tax, the SPLOST, thereby helping to pay for the new Washington-Wilkes high school and middle school complex. New Chamber board president Blake Thompson said that he's seen far more visitors in Washington and Wilkes County in 2007 than in years past. "I've never seen this many people coming to Washington, and I think Ashley has done an excellent job in reaching out and bringing tourists and their money here." And if 2007 was a success, what will 2008 bring? "This year has been a big success," Thompson said, "and I believe 2008 will be huge. The Tour de Georgia is going to put the spotlight on us here, and thousands more are going to discover Washington and Wilkes County."
"I'm so excited about this coming year," Barnett said. "I don't think we realize yet the economic impact that tourism has, but it's going to be more and more visible in 2008, especially with the Tour de Georgia. We ain't seen nothin' yet."
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
