Tourism Legislative Prayer Breakfast by John Dersham

Last Tuesday North Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association sponsored its second annual Legislative Prayer Breakfast. This year it was held in the Magnolia Room in Decatur. The prayer breakfast titled “Turn Your Radio On”, was a celebration of support through prayer of our elected officials in advance of their upcoming legislative session. Members of Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association were invited along with all north Alabama elected officials.

This year 38 elected officials were present at our prayer breakfast, including 31 legislators, 5 mayors, Governor Bentley and Secretary of State Beth Chapman.
Dana Lee Jennings, CEO of Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, Thereasa Hulgan, Executive Director of the Chamber/Tourism in Cherokee County and I spoke about tourism in North Alabama. We spoke about Alabama Mountain Lakes contributions to the sixteen North Alabama counties of which it covers. Governor Bentley spoke about tourism’s important role in our beautiful state’s economy. He seemed proud and enthusiastic that we had so many wonderful reasons for people to visit Alabama from our northern mountains and lakes to the beautiful white sand beaches of the Alabama gulf coast. There were three area ministers who gave prayers and our guest speaker was Reverend Phil Waldrep. Phil’s ministry is out of Decatur. He travels nationwide giving his motivational, funny, interesting, and up lifting message of hope and thankfulness.

We are very fortunate in North Alabama to have a well organized tourism department in each county but also to have the best regional tourism organization in the state, in Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association. North Alabama tourism is big business. In most of the northern 16 counties tourism brings in the largest amount of tax revenue to the cities, counties and state from any single entity. Tourism is also the largest non agricultural employer in North Alabama. Tourism is clean money made. It has very little crime attached to it, it has no infrastructure cost to it like schools, trash collection, phone systems, etc. Visitors come to our areas; they spend money on attractions, hotels, food, entertainment and sight seeing. All of these things bring money to our local businesses and they bring in tax revenue.