DeKalb Tourism by John Dersham

In 1953 the DeKalb County Tourist Association was formed by a group of local attractions. They joined together to form an association that would help promote their attractions to potential tourists that lived outside of DeKalb County.
Over the last 58 years tourism to DeKalb County has dramatically grown and has gained many facets not present at the beginning, such as Agri-Tourism, Eco Tourism, Festival Tourism, History and Genealogy Tourism, food and music tourism, antique and flea market tourism and artists and craftsmen related shows, businesses and events. During all of these years you had to become a member of the DeKalb County Tourist Association in order to be included in our advertising plans.
As the gamut of things visitors like to do when they travel has grown and the dollars they spend in our county has grown it became apparent to us that a more inclusive business model would help bring more business to our county and a chance to grow tourism to the next level here in DeKalb. Since we are funded by dollars collected in taxes at lodging facilities and on Alcohol sales it became important that we deliver a message about tourism that covers all the topics that a potential visitor would find appealing here in DeKalb County. As tourism grew the portion of dollars from memberships became a smaller part of our income and the larger part became the dollars coming from public spending.
Last year our board voted unanimously to become a non-member organization that would promote all entities in the county that would be a draw to the potential visitor. Beginning January 1, 2012 we will no longer have members. The conversion process began January 1 of this year when we began our transition year from a member to non member organization. Since memberships were paid on anniversary dates it required a year for all memberships to expire. Beginning next year we will add in other venues that appeal to the traveler but would typically have not drawn membership. Examples of this would be things that appeal to our tourists like food and entertainment, Agricultural events and farmers markets, sports events, flea markets and antique shopping. DeKalb Tourism promotes on TV, radio, in magazines and brochures all throughout the Southeast and Midwest. We promote beginning 50 miles away and go up to 500 miles. We are a drive to market so we do not spend ad dollars to promote longer distances. By definition, a tourist is someone visiting and spending their money 50 miles or more from where they live. DeKalb Tourism’s ad campaign is to entice people to make us their travel destination by talking about the big picture, our beautiful scenery, parks, cabins, campgrounds, B&B’s, Hotels, artists and shows, restaurants, hiking, waterfalls, relaxation, good food and music. Once the consumer is interested in us then our website and brochures help direct them to where they want to, stay, play, eat, shop, etc.