Ohians Love Alabama! by John Dersham

I just got back from the AAA Great Vacations Expo in Columbus, Ohio. This expo is held every year in January at the War Memorial Exposition Hall in Columbus. This show is dedicated to travel and tourism. Each year hundreds of Destination Marketing Organizations, like ours, and Convention and Visitor Bureaus and other companies that promote travel for a living set up their individual booths at this show. There are many of these shows throughout the country. We attend 4-6 of these shows each year dependent on our demographic pull from each location. Most of the large travel expo’s are in the winter when people are looking for a place to go for something to do but also to plan their vacations for the spring, summer and fall. We had a crowded booth all the time during the three day weekend event. People from Ohio love Alabama. The reason is because we have mountains and we have a beach, both of which Ohio does not have. In addition we are a fairly short drive with good interstates that get visitors here in about 7-8 hours from Columbus. It always amazes me how many people at these shows are already familiar with our area and have visited us before and many have come multiple times.  We heard a whole lot of “Roll Tide” all weekend and lots of people stopped to get information about their next Alabama vacation but also to tell us about their previous trips to Alabama, where they went and what they did. Everyone had something good to say about us. They love our scenery, our camping, hiking and fishing. They love our low cost destinations. They like our Bar-B-Que and they love our Robert Trent Jones golf courses. We had at least two dozen people stop to say they had played these fantastic golf courses or were going to be there soon. The Robert Trent Jones golf trail is advertised on network TV affiliates throughout the country and is very well known. We also heard about our beautiful beaches at Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. Many people drive down I-65 from Ohio which is a straight shot for them to our beaches. In addition we hear about our area. They love the mountains and waterfalls and canyon that they do not get to see in Ohio. It is fun for us to participate in this expo. We know we are getting business by attending the winter travel shows but it is rewarding especially to hear from people who love our area and had a good experience here and want to come back again.