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Wlaf1450TOP PHOTO: South Campbell County Rotarians learned about tourism from East Tennessee Regional Manager Dave Jones, who is with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. Campbell County generates $6.9 million in state and local tax revenue.
By Charlotte Underwood
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – South Campbell County Rotarians learned about tourism from East Tennessee Regional Manager Dave Jones, who is with the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.
Jones was introduced by Rotarian and Chamber of Commerce Director Missy Tackett at Tuesday’s Rotary Luncheon which was held at the LaFollette United Methodist Church.
Jones said he enjoyed his work immensely in East Tennessee, and that there were a lot of things that make up the “travel assets of Tennessee.”
“I have 34 counties that I get to travel; even if they didn’t pay me, I would probably still do it,” Jones said.
He spoke about pillars of tourism in the state. These included scenic beauty, adventure tourism, musical heritage, family experiences and more.
He spoke a little about Covid “setting a lot of tourism back, but not Campbell County or East Tennessee and places with outdoor experiences.”
“When 2019 came, we were doing really well but when Covid hit, Tennessee saw a 31.6 percent decrease in tourism spending; but looking at it now, we’ve had a 44 percent increase so we’re back,” Jones said.
Tourism brings in $1.9 billion in state and local tax revenue for Tennessee.
He said East Tennessee had surged in short term property rentals over the last couple years. “Short term property rentals are huge right now. We’re now able to collect revenue from these short term property rentals, from lodging tax, which is great for the county,” Jones said.
He talked about how Tennessee has increased its marketing to reach further out.
“We’re marketing to entire states now, like Kentucky, Missouri, Florida, and up north; we’re doing vacation guides, videos to get the message out,” Jones said.
One of the marketing themes is “The Soundtrack of America, Made in Tennessee.”
He also talked about the Bill Dance Signature Lakes project.
“We got TWRA, TVA, and TDEC together and said what if we somehow brand our lakes to draw attention to them. So they went to Bill and said we want to create this signature program and create a fishing experience that would promote competitive fishing across the state. Bill Dance said ‘ok, but you got to do it my way, it can’t be a marketing ploy.’ We’re looking at different experiences to make sure we have the best fishing in America,” Jones said. This program was launched several weeks ago in Knoxville. Norris Lake will be part of this project. He touched on rural development and strengthening rural tourism and what it can mean for growth and tax revenue in rural counties.
“Campbell County generates $6.9 million in state and local tax revenue. We’re thankful for Campbell County, because they are providing emergency medical services, roads and more; this revenue saves each household $421 in tax savings,” Jones said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 04/19/2023-6AM)
If these people are so good, tell us why Dale Hollow Lake over in Pickett County pulls in six times the revenue with only one tenth the size of the lake. Tell us why Lake Cumberland in Kentucky pulls in twenty times the revenue as Norris Lake. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must be ten times smarter than the TVA folks. I can relate to that.
Other than boating and ATVing, what does Campbell County have to offer? Good shopping, nice restaurants, family activities, theater, a pool, mini golf, roller skating rink, a water park, etc. doesn’t exist here. To have tourism, there needs to be a reason to come. If you want people with boats to come here, there needs other things to bring them here. Coming from other states pulling a boat or hauling an ATV can be a very long drive. There are plenty of lakes closer to home for them to go to.