Nation's Cities - May 7, 2012

6 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
May 7, 2012

Jackson Invites Residents and Visitors to Celebrate Tourism

Jackson, Miss., the City with Soul, is a fresh family destination with warm people, fabulous food, affordable lodging and a wealth of soulful activities.

In honor of National Travel
& Tourism Week, Travel Rally
Day at City Hall on May 8
always draws a crowd from
downtown Jackson to celebrate
the importance of tourism to
the city’s culture and econo-
my. Music, food, newsworthy
announcements and Mayor
Harvey Johnson’s annual proc-
lamation dominate the day
when everybody wears red.
What a great photo op!

There are well over 20 other fas-
cinating attractions to explore,
so visitors need to stay a while
to see it all!
Located at the convergence
of Interstates 55 and 20 and the
scenic Natchez Trace Parkway,
Jackson is in the middle of green
and lovely Mississippi and right
where amazing new adventures
abound in the City with Soul!

Tourism…An Economic Engine for
Lynchburg, Va.
ered a business, tourism would
be Lynchburg’s fifth-largest
employer.

Seven years ago Lynchburg took a close look at its tourism program, and a Tourism Task Force unanimously agreed that Lynchburg should commit to significant increases in funding in order to successfully compete with other destinations. The City Council responded with a five-year contract. Over the first 4 years the contract took the program from $603,000 to $670,000, to $780,000, to $1.0 million, and to $1.2 million in 2012. In its final year, the contract ensures designated funding for the future of Lynchburg’s tourism program by converting to a straight 73% of total annual lodging taxes paid by visitors.

That wisdom is paying off in
spades. Visitor spending is up
$7 million over last year. Group
sales were up 77 percent in
2010, and another 25 percent
in 2011. Attraction visitation,

The tourism industry in Lynchburg, Va., contributes to an improved quality of life for the residents, and since the city’s official destination marketing organization, discover-Lynchburg, is funded with taxes paid by visitors on hotel rooms, it doesn’t cost them a penny.

Lynchburg welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors annually for leisure travel, business, meetings, sporting events and more. Those visitors spent $143 million last year in local city businesses … that’s new money pumped into Lynchburg’s economy each year.

That spending generated $5.8 million in local taxes and a significant portion of the $11.3 million in meals tax...revenue for the city that is, again, paid by visitors.

Additionally, tourism
employs more than 1,500 peo-
ple in Lynchburg, with a payroll
of over $28 million. If consid-
visitor inquiries, website hits,
brochure distribution, earned
media, and on and on — it is
all up, up, up — and it is in
direct correlation with increased
funding allowing for increased
marketing.