By: Stephanie Reynolds
Hello, my fabulous Limestonians! It was my one year anniversary at Tourism on the 27th of Sept. ONE WHOLE YEAR! WOOHOO!!
-One year of learning the tourism industry.
-12 months of planning how to bring economic benefits to you.
-52 weeks of being reminded how amazing YOU are and how blessed I (and anyone else who lives here) am to be part of this amazing area.
-365 days of being thoroughly immersed and invested in the well-being of all of Limestone County
What have I learned this past year? Well, I learned that tourism is a part of economic development. Did you know that tourism brings in $55 MILLION to Limestone County each year? Yep, you read that right, $55 million, and that’s at our current level. We can go so much higher.
I learned that, even if I do my job well, it’s hard for others to see what tourism does because our office doesn’t have a cash register (well, we do but it’s in the closet). Tourists don’t give me money if I do my job well. They spend their money on the hotel room, the fuel-up, the meals at our restaurants, the shopping at local stores. If I (and you!) do my job well, they come back again and again. And again. And that money is what I call “weightless revenue”–money spent here by people who don’t need to utilize our schools or other long-term services. They help pay for schools they won’t need to use and roads they don’t live on (just as we do in other places when we’re the tourists–community members helping other communities!).
I learned that if I do my job well, more hotel staff, restaurant staff, grocery clerks, shopkeepers, etc. have jobs and get their paychecks, and they buy houses and rent apartments and buy groceries and bank locally and get their medical/car/vet care here–I learned that, if I do my job well, I make more jobs available.
I learned that if I do my job well, our taxes are lower. More tourism means lighter taxes. Oh, I know it doesn’t feel that way. Taxes seem out of control sometimes. But it would be worse without tourism. In Alabama, tourism offsets over $700 a year in taxes for each household. What that means is we would pay $700 more in taxes to get the same amount of services we have now. So if I do my job well, we have better roads, better schools, better everything with less burden on you, my amazing neighbors and friends.
I learned that it’s hard for people to see what we bring to the table. And I can’t blame them! I didn’t know either until I started working here. If you had asked me a year ago what “tourism” does, I would have thought something like, “Oh, tourism greets visitors and throws parties!” Now if you ask, I will firmly say, “We make jobs. We bring money in for the city and county to the tune of $55 million. And we can do more as we get more. The more I can do my job, the more I can do for you, our citizens and government.”
I learned that it is hard for people to see the big picture, the long game. I get that. Forest for trees is a real thing. It’s hard to see that an investment now pays big in the future. But I ALSO learned that, if I do my job well, transparently and obviously, people can be reassured about our tangible, monetary role in the betterment of their lives.
I learned that tourism, though, is so much more than money (though money is important)! If I do my job well, I actively, deliberately preserve our history–our community stories of heroes and heroines, the simple, the plain, the rapscallions, and the honorable.
I help citizens and visitors make memories with their children and grandchildren, friends, and neighbors.
I help people discover new hobbies, new health, new friends. I help our communities keep firmly founded in their fabulous character, even in the middle of the huge boom we have going on. I help new people feel at home and loved and acclimate to us.
I help keep trails active and preserved, stores visited, music playing, the nation celebrated, cottage industry supported, organizational bonds strengthened, and shining lines of cooperation and understanding fostered across businesses and government and citizens and groups.
And, hopefully, at the end of the day, all citizens and visitors will reap lasting benefits delivered by a thriving, diligent, determined Tourism Office.
If I do my job well.
Notes: By the time you read this, tourism will be back under the Chamber of Commerce! For news of our events, you can go to https://alcchamber.org/aboutathens/explore-athens-al/ Don’t forget to follow our NEW Facebook page: www.facebook.com/exploreathensal/
Our new Instagram: @exploreathensal Our Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/athens-limestone-tourism
By: Stephanie Reynolds, Athens-Limestone Tourism Association
November 14, 2024
