Southeast Tourism Society and USA Travel by John Dersham

During our economic downturn of the last four years tourism has continued to prosper. In most cases tourism has remained equal to or slightly growing each year despite our high unemployment and high gas prices. Stress levels have been high among individuals and families all during these tough economic times. This has increased the need to get away from it all and find a way to relax. National travel statistics indicate the average tourist has not spent as many dollars on their trips as they used to and they are not traveling as far. None the less most people are continuing to take vacations and the feeling of that need for traveling on vacation has not diminished.
Last week I attended a spring educational conference hosted by the Southeast Tourism Society. They have a spring and fall conference every year in one of the 12 states that comprise STS. They promote tourism in each of the 12 states but in addition they play a major role in Washington when it comes to developing policy as it relates to tourism in the United States.
This year, for the first time since 1992 the USA has an official policy that deals with and promotes travel to the US from the international market place. For the first time since 1992 we will have TV commercials running in 18 countries in hopes to increase international travel. The Obama administration unveiled this effort recently in a press conference at Disneyworld. He said tourism is the third largest growth industry in the US and has become one of the premiere industries in the United States and is among the top employers as an industry and even more inviting is the fact tourism jobs in the United States cannot be outsourced to any other location. Example-You can’t move a US National Park somewhere else. It will always be where it is and will always need local employees. To coincide with this international effort a new company called Brand USA will create a trademark signature look, an ad plan and trademark USA logo that will be seen on all the advertising. It will be the intent to expand the brand so we here in DeKalb County will be able to brand our attractions with this logo along with the attraction’s own identity.
During this seminar, Bill Hardman, President and CEO of the Southeast Tourism Society, asked me to serve on his Policy Council. Our group will be involved in governmental issues at local, regional and National levels as they relate to tourism. There is an upcoming tourism Powwow in Washington in May that will be for the purpose of working out plans and strategies as they relate to travel in and to the US. This is very exciting stuff and I am honored to play a role in the process.
STS plays a major role in educational services to the tourism industry. Their two seminars each year are packed with the latest trends and procedures for us in the industry to help us stay up with the ever changing times and to provide us the educational tools to enhance our performance at the local level. STS is host to Marketing College that is held for one week each summer in Dahlonega Georgia, at North Georgia College. This will be the 21st year of Marketing College. It is a nationally certified program and each participate gets their diploma after completing the three-year program. Graduates are designated as a TMP, Travel Marketing Professional.

Spring Break in DeKalb County By Kayla Worthey

Did you know that a lot of visitors come to our area for their spring breaks each year? We have so many things for you to enjoy here in DeKalb County.Here are 9 days of fun things to keep you busy:
Day 1 – Take a trip to Tigers for Tomorrow, an exotic animal park and rescue preserve. It is home to over 100 animals, such as tigers, lions, leopards, cougars, wolves, bears, a camel, zebra and more. They also have an animal contact barnyard full of farm animals and small exotic mammals like Goats, Llamas, Sheep, Emus, Peacocks, Deer and others. They are a last stop preserve, and the animals that come to live with them remain there for the rest of their lives.
Day 2 – Find your way to High Falls Park and its 35-feet waterfall. Formed by Town Creek, the falls span some 300 feet across at times. Near the base of the impressive High Falls is a natural bridge. This 25-feet span of rock features a large arch, eroded by the flow of water over hundreds of years. Because of its remote location, High Falls remains unknown even to many Sand Mountain residents.
Day 3 – Tour Sequoyah Caverns where you will be awed by the beauty of the many reflection pools and fascinating passageways of this ancient cavern. As you meander through the alcoves you’ll see how nature has turned the caverns into a wonderland of formations and intricate rock designs.
Day 4 - Discover DeSoto State Park and it’s over 3500 acres that include hiking and biking trails, many waterfalls and its largest tourist attraction, the 104-feet DeSoto Fall. It also features a picnic area with playground, Olympic-size swimming pool, nature center with interpretive programs and live animals. It even has campgrounds if you want to pitch a tent for the night.
Day 5 – Go on an adventure with True Adventure Sports. Choose from an extreme night hike, a wild cave tour, zip line and sky swing adventures, rock climbing, rappelling, treasure hunts, and much more.
Day 6 - Try your hand at Golfing. Visit one of the 4 local public golf courses and find your handicap. Lil’ Mole Run Golf Course is located in Mentone and offers 18 holes and will challenge you with sand pits and ponds. Saddle Rock Golf Course, located in Mentone, DeSoto Golf Course, located in Fort Payne, and Rainsville Golf & Country Club are all on 9 holes from 18 tees with water hazards and sand traps.
Day 7 - Visit the Little River Canyon National Preserve! It is home to the Little River Canyon, scenic drives, a backcountry area and a ‘green’ JSU Canyon Center. Little River itself is unique because it flows for most of its length atop Lookout Mountain. That is very uncommon for rivers and that is part of what makes it a tourist attraction, that and its sheer beauty. You can hike, bike, walk or drive.
Day 8 - Make a trip to Collinsville Trade day. It houses around one thousand vendors, making it one of the largest outdoor markets in the south. Be one of almost 30,000 visitors on a typical Saturday. You will find all kinds of antiques, collectibles, children's toys and clothes, work clothes and boots, fishing gear, fresh fruits and vegetables, furniture, tools, accessories, livestock and a whole lot more! You could just go for the food. You can get homemade ice cream, yummy hand dipped corndogs, authentic Mexican food and of course hamburgers and hotdogs. The best part…real fresh squeezed lemonade.
Day 9 – Rest and Relax. You are going to need it!

Working Together to Promote DeKalb County by John Dersham

It always seems the best way to achieve the best results is to include as many people as possible working toward the same goal. Even the best ideas by one person are minute when others get involved to help make an idea reality. In promoting tourism in DeKalb County it requires a lot of networking. Networking is reaching out to grasp the talents of many people to help you achieve your own goals. Here is how we use this in DeKalb Tourism. We are involved intimately at multiple levels of tourism development, marketing and promotion. We are active with The Southeast Tourism Society whom promotes tourism in the 12 southeastern states. We draw from their strength and resources to aid us educationally on what is happening in tourism on the national and regional levels. They provide in depth research into travel trends that greatly aid us in our budgeting process and our marketing. This research provides the data we need to decide when and how to best spend our adverting dollars. Our next level of networking is with the State of Alabama Tourism Department. They show us how they will promote the state and how DeKalb County fits into their advertising plan. We attend their quarterly meetings and through this we better understand how to manage DeKalb Tourism. Our next partner is Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association. This is a dynamic organization that promotes tourism in the northern 16 counties of Alabama. We here in DeKalb County are greatly enhanced by their work. We very specifically maximize their advertising plan to aid us. We, with a smaller budget than they, fill in the advertising gaps with DeKalb specific ads. The last level of tourism networking is in our own county and the many levels of businesses that make all or part of their income from tourism. These individuals through both advertising and verbal links help promote tourism to DeKalb County. Word of mouth advertising is very important to us and very successful in our area. We have an extremely high return rate among visitors. This means once people have come here they will return. The reason they return is due to the good experience they had when here. This means we treated them well and they like what they saw and did. People are friendly and helpful in our area which provides the best word of mouth advertising possible. Groups like the Fort Payne and Rainsville Chamber of Commerce’s greatly help promote DeKalb through their network of members. The Mentone Area Preservation Association and Mentone Area Arts Council play a big role as does the Big Wills Arts Council in Fort Payne. The Lookout Mountain Parkway Association and cities of Fort Payne and Rainsville promote tourism to our area as does the very active tourism oriented business owners in Mentone. A great example of this is with Doreen Crow Waters of Crow’s Nest Antiques, she started a Mentone Area Tourist Information Facebook page. She captures information from the community. Locals can make entrees about what is going on in Mentone. This helps us at DeKalb Tourism too because if we find something on her page that we did not know then we can add it to our ongoing Calendar of Events. Our success here at DeKalb Tourism is only as good as the great people resources we have all around us. Thanks to everyone for your help.

A Treasure in our Backyard- Lookout Mountain Scenic Parkway by John Dersham

We have one of America’s most scenic drives right here in DeKalb County. The Lookout Mountain Scenic Parkway is a state scenic byway and is in the beginning stages of becoming a National Scenic Byway. Lookout Mountain Parkway runs from Gadsden, Alabama to Chattanooga, Tennessee through the Northwest corner of Georgia. The parkway runs 103 miles from its beginning at Noccalula Falls in Gadsden to its terminus at Ruby Falls in Chattanooga. The mountain itself is 93 miles long but the parkway meanders for added scenic value to its travelers. Over the last several years Lookout Mountain Parkway has been honored by Readers Digest as one of America’s Most Scenic Drives and by National Geographic Traveler Magazine’s Driving Tours of Appalachia. Thirty seven miles of this beautiful drive are in our county giving our county the longest single portion of the drive.
Lookout Mountain Parkway is beautiful year-round with its host of scenic venues along the way including Noccalula Falls Park in Gadsden, Alabama then north through beautiful rural countryside up to Little River Canyon National Preserve. The scenic parkway includes an alternate drive along the rim of the canyon with multiple easily accessible overlooks that provide breath-taking views into the canyon. Little River Canyon National Preserve is host to many, many plant and animal species, some of which are native only to the canyon. Little River Canyon National Preserve has just completed some great new projects that enhance the visitors experience in the park. There is a new boardwalk hike that extends from the parking lot and makes a loop through the woods to wind up at Little River Falls with wonderful views and places to sit. The trail is handicap friendly. In addition, there is a new trail leaving from the Canyon Center and going down to LRC. It goes under the new H35 bridge which was completed in 2010 and allows the visitor great views of the Canyon and falls without having to cross the road. In addition over the last few years LRC has recieved a great new parking lot, picnic tables and they have improved the view accessibility along the Canyon Rim. All of these things greatly enhance your visit to Little River Canyon National Preserve. This is a must stop along your drive of the scenic parkway.
Lookout Mountain Parkway runs through the portion of the eastern USA that is the transition geography between northern and southern plant and animal species and in this particular area many species of both northern and southern plants and animals thrive. After Little River Canyon, you head north toward DeSoto State Park. From DeSoto State Park you will enjoy a seven mile wilderness drive to Mentone. Along the way you will see a short drive off the parkway to go visit the 104 foot DeSoto Falls. In Mentone you will find a host of cabins, B&B’s, restaurants and quaint artsy gift shops. Located in Mentone is the Mentone Springs Hotel built in 1884 which is now a B&B, it is the oldest hotel in Alabama still in operation. From Mentone follow the LMP signs that will lead you into Georgia and north along the eastern brow of Lookout Mountain. You will gradually work your way north toward Cloudland Canyon State Park, which is a short drop off the parkway. Cloudland Canyon is another marvel of Mother Nature that will make your Lookout Mountain Parkway trip well worthwhile. As you head toward Cloudland Canyon you will finish your trip back on the western brow of the mountain until you head down the mountain in Chattanooga. Along the western brow you will find Lookout Mountain Flight Park. It is the largest and most popular Hang Gliding resort and school in the US. Later along the drive you will pass Covenant College, known as the castle in the clouds from its prior days as a resort hotel. It can often be seen covered in fog when viewed from I-59 and I-24. Another thing to see as you head toward Tennessee is the famous Rock City located just before the Tennessee state line. Rock City is known for its view of seven states and for its incredible rock formations. As Lookout Mountain begins its decline down to Moccasin Bend on the Tennessee River you will find the quaint artsy town of Lookout Mountain Tennessee. Just off the parkway are Point Park Civil War Park and the famous incline railroad bringing you up or down from the foot of the mountain below. Finally there is Ruby Falls. This water fall is underground inside Lookout Cave. You ride in an elevator into the cave for this magnificent view of Ruby Falls. Lookout Mountain Parkway is the host to the southern portion of the very popular World’s Longest Yard Sale every August.

Alabama Department of Tourism Reports 2011 was the Best Year Ever by John Dersham

Last week I attended the quarterly statewide tourism meetings in Dothan, Alabama.
These meeting are comprised of the Alabama Department of Tourism and three other independent organizations that promote tourism in Alabama. The meeting is in a different location each quarter as to help promote tourism all around the state. This year I am honored to represent DeKalb County as the Co-Chair of the Alabama Association of Conventions and Visitors Bureaus. In these all day meetings we spend time discussing upcoming marketing and operating plans, we review results of former plans and we discuss our long term goals.
Lee Sentell presented a new updated version of The Year of Alabama Food and an all new program called Alabama Road Trip. He showed commercials that will air on the nearly 50 Raycom network TV stations all around the USA. These commercials are beautifully done and very inviting to our potential visitors who will see these commercials all across the continental US and even in Hawaii. The Alabama Road Trip commercials begin with a man in a 1953 Cadillac Convertible heading out on one of these trips. This will be an ongoing program and will include various road trips that will ultimately cover the whole state.
Lee Sentell also reported that 2011 was the best year ever in Alabama Tourism. Last year tourists spent 10.3 billion dollars in the Alabama economy with a record number of 26 million visitors. Lee also reported an increase in tourism jobs by an additional 21,181 which means 178,000 people make all or part of their income in tourism. Tourism is Alabama’s largest non agricultural employer. Revenue collected by the state from tourists primarily goes into the Alabama General Fund. To better understand just how much tax revenue tourism is collecting for our state, each family living in Alabama would have to pay an extra $400.00 a year in taxes to reach the same number (if tourism spending did not exist).
The success in the numbers comes from a slowly improving economy but was also greatly aided by the recovery in the Gulf. Whereas 2010 was adversely affected by the Gulf Oil Spill, 2011 made a major comeback due to people wanting to visit the Gulf Beaches again but also due to a large ad campaign by BP to promote tourism all across the Gulf. These ads are still running.
We had a good year in North Alabama too. Early reports show our growth over 2010 to be from 2-12% depending on location.
In the 10 years Lee Sentell has been Director of the Department of Tourism, the growth in Alabama has been phenomenal. In fact it has grown from $6.5 billion in visitor spending to $10.3 billion in the period of 2002-2011. Here is a special thanks to Lee and his entire staff for this their 10th year. When you go to the statewide meetings as I do and the state gives their presentations it is easy to see how we have been so successful. In addition, our Department of Tourism has won numerous awards given out by organizations that are looking at all 50 states. Congratulations!

Come Relax in Paradise by John Dersham

Our area is a bit different than most Alabama Counties in that a significant portion of tax revenue raised from tourism comes from actual tourists. Here is what I mean. In many cities and counties tourism dollars are raised by people who are not necessarily there on vacation. They are on business trips. Business travelers are considered tourists because the money they spend is from outside the area and is new money spent in our area from outside. In many larger areas a big part of tourism is bidding for meeting and conventions. This is especially true in the cities where large convention centers and large meeting and accommodation spaces exist. In DeKalb County we host some meetings and conferences every year and we are excited when this business comes to us. It is not, however our primary generator of tourism dollars. We are a leisure tourism area. Our visitor comes because they have planned a vacation or weekend here specifically to be a tourist. All of our top attractions revolve around a scenic leisurely vacation. These attractions are Little River Canyon, DeSoto State Park, Sequoyah Caverns, the town of Mentone, the Alabama Fan Club and Museum, statues and fan appreciation weekend. Other attractions are city of Fort Payne Boom Days historical appeal and the Depot Museum. On Sand Mountain the new Agri-Business Center in Rainsville is bringing in tourists as does Collinsville Trade days. A new growing audience for us is the younger adventure sports market. True Adventure Sports specializes in activities such as repelling, rock climbing, zip lines, canoeing, kayaking etc. All of these capture the 35 and younger crowd. We have traditionally been a baby boomers leisure market and we still are but The N.E. Agri Business Center and True Adventure sports have greatly helped grow our number of younger visitors. There a many other attractions in DeKalb County for tourists like Miracle Pottery and Orbix Glass and a host of other artisans that attract visitors our way. The fact remains that our tourism revenue stemming from the 65 million dollars spent by tourists in DeKalb County is mostly coming from vacationers. This is very good for us because vacationers return here time and time again. We are fortunate here is DeKalb County to have a very high return rate for leisure travelers. Once people come here they tend to come back. We are trying to get more to come the first time because we know once here they will most likely return. Our true southern hospitality, low costs, and easy access with low overall traffic make us perfect for weekend travelers 200 miles or less away. Many of our weekend visitors have become attracted to staying at one of our 150 rental cabins, our B&B’s or our campgrounds and hotels. We are very fortunate to live in an area that is nearly guaranteed to keep bringing in tourism dollars. Our demographics for tourists tell us they live close enough, have enough money and are the right age to keep coming for many years into the future.

Hallelujah Trail by John Dersham

A few years ago DeKalb Tourism introduced the DeKalb County Hallelujah Trail. The Hallelujah Trail is a brochure guide to a road trip of twenty historic churches in DeKalb County. The brochure contains a picture of each church with a description and a road map to their location. The DeKalb County Hallelujah Trail is part of a grant program from Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association who in 2007 introduced the North Alabama Hallelujah Trail which consisted of thirty two historic churches in North Alabama, including two in DeKalb County. The two in DeKalb County are also included in our brochure. Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association received support grants for their broader project through the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Alabama Department of Tourism and from Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association. AMLTA has been instrumental in the long term support and development of tourism marketing programs geared specifically to developing successful long term tourism in the sixteen North Alabama counties.

I encourage you to take a day or two and go visit these churches. This is a fun and different way to view our beautiful county. If you tour our 20 churches listed you will also be getting a mini vacation throughout our county. Our historic churches cover the entire county. Along the way you can visit our other attractions. You can shop, you can eat and have a day re-discovering your home county with a different motive to lead you on the tour.

The first stop on your Hallelujah Trail daycation should be at DeKalb Tourism’s Information Center at 1503 Glenn Blvd S.W. Here you can pick up the Hallelujah Trail brochure and other travel guides and maps all will help you decide where to go, what to do along your Hallelujah Trail route.

The churches selected for our Hallelujah Trail are as follows:

*Particular churches were chosen based on age or because of other historical significance. A majority of the churches included have had continual congregations for more than one hundred years.


Our Lady of the Valley-Catholic Church in Fort Payne.
First Presbyterian Church of Fort Payne-Also part of North Alabama Hallelujah Trail
First United Methodist Church of Fort Payne
First Baptist Church of Fort Payne
White Hall Methodist Church of Hammondville
Valley Head Methodist Church
Little River Baptist Church- Mentone
Mentone United Methodist Church- Also on the North Alabama Hallelujah Trail
St Joseph’s on the Mountain Episcopal Church-Mentone
Sallie Howard Memorial Chapel- Mentone
New Oregon United Methodist Church- Fort Payne
Walker’s Chapel Methodist Church- Dogtown
Collinsville Presbyterian Church
Collinsville Baptist Church
Skirum Baptist Church
Fyffe Church of God
Robertson Chapel Methodist Church-Rainsville
Chavies Baptist Church-Rainsville
Trinity Methodist Church-Rainsville
Liberty Baptist Church-Henagar

For more information call us at 256-845-3957 or view our website at www.TourDeKalb.com

Have a fun and safe trip!