Accidental Tourism by John Dersham

Most people think of tourists as people who have planned their travels and are taking their vacations to a particular planned destination. They have booked their lodging, figured out what they are going to see and do. Many even plan where they will eat or shop. It is true that much of tourism is done this way, especially if the tourist is going a long distance and especially if they are flying.
There is however all kinds of tourists and all kinds of tourism that generate income to whatever destination, of which, they arrive. By definition a tourist is anyone traveling and spending money more than fifty miles from the area of which they live. This means business travelers are also tourists. This is why a big part of the tourism industry focuses on attracting conventions and special events like trade shows to their town or city. Sports events are a major tourism draw, as are festivals and concerts. Many larger cities focus much of their tourism attention on attracting the major events and conventions. In order to solicit this business your location must be able to accommodate large groups for lodging and for meetings.
Another form of tourism is the “Accidential Tourist”. These are tourists who venture out on a day trip, or a weekend trip without a plan. They hit the road with a basic direction and a possible final destination but their trip is comprised of finding things to do and see along the way. This is very popular tourism to DeKalb County. We get many people year around that come in our information center whom have more or less just stumbled into our area, they like what they see and what to do more. They see our road signs for different attractions, they see our mountains and they find us inviting. They may have heard a little about us already and decided to come this way and see for themselves. They travel without reservations. They shop, eat and see attractions on any visual whim they get. Motorcycle tourists are especially prone to this type of tourism. Tourists are also people who stop and get off the interstate because what they see at our exit(s) attracted them. We may have been just the right spot at the right time of day to find lodging for the night. They same is true for people stopping to eat at any time of the day, or to fill up with gas and buy snacks. All of these people are spending money in our communities and bringing in badly needed tax revenue.
DeKalb County is historically a leisure tourism county. People come for our relaxing scenic environment. They come for our state parks and national preserve, they come to rent a cabin or camp or stay in a B&B. They come to mill around Mentone or Fort Payne. They come for our yard sales and antique shops. They come to relax. The opening of our N.E. Agri Business Center in Rainsville has added event tourism to our list of attractions. Event based tourism attracts people to an area specifically because of an event like our upcoming rodeo at the Agri Center or the upcoming John Michael Montgomery concert. A fishing tournament at DeKalb County Fishing Lake is event based tourism too.
Tourism is a critical part of our revenue stream in DeKalb County. We are very fortunate to have so many wonderful things to do and see here in DeKalb County.