Happy New Year & Thanks! by John Dersham

2012 was another good year for Tourism in DeKalb County. In a time of somewhat high unemployment and an overall economy that has been sluggish people are still taking time to enjoy travel. Since 2008 according the National Travel Association the average traveler is going less distance on vacation than they used to. This is in part due to higher fuel costs but also a reflection of the overall economy. We are fortunate here because we have 11 million people living within a 200 mile radius. This makes us easy and fast to reach and once here we are a low cost destination. We have continued to grow all during this recession. In 2011 tourists spent just shy of $70 million dollars in our county. To show our growth over the last ten years that same number was $38 million in 2002. We have nearly doubled in the dollars spent by tourists in our area in just ten years.

DeKalb Tourism would like to send out a special thanks to our communities and our people of DeKalb County. Your support over our 59 years of operation has helped our county grow from a small unknown piece of paradise to a favorite travel destination for many vacationers all throughout or state and our region. We are especially good at bringing visitors from Birmingham and southern Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. It is our goal to broaden our appeal and be more successful at bringing in tourists from Tennessee, Georgia and parts of the Midwest.

 We are a Destination Marketing Organization. This means we advertise outside of our area to get people from outside our county to come here on vacation.

Here is how we do that:

 *Tourist Information Center- travel guides, rack cards and verbal conversations with customers.

* Distribution of travel guides at statewide welcome centers and through private companies that deliver to motels, mini-markets and other venue hosted travel racks.

*Distribution and promotion of our County through Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association whom promotes all of North Alabama.

*Distribution and promotion via the Alabama State Department of Tourism.

*Travel shows throughout the Southeast and Midwest.

*Magazine and newspaper ads

*Hosting travel writers coming to write about DeKalb County.

*Advertising on our high traffic digital marquee.

* Radio, Television, YouTube and Facebook advertising.

* Our website. We receive approximately 25,000- 35,000 views on our website monthly.

*Digital ads on various tourism related websites and search engines.

For more information about DeKalb Tourism contact us at

256-845-3957. You can visit www.tourdekalb.com or come in and visit us at our Tourist Information Center located at 1503 Glenn Blvd SW in Fort Payne.