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(bright upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - Hi, welcome to "Interact."

I'm Michelle Price, and we're here at the historic Monterey Train Depot.

Joining me today, are Ashley DeRossett from the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development, Patti Purdy with Upper Cumberland Tourism Association, and Andrea Kruszka with the Tennessee Tech Center for Rural Innovation.

And we're gonna be talking about tourism.

So, Andrea, how does the Center for Rural Innovation interact with tourism?

- So, one of our big initiatives over the last three years has been doing rural tourism branding for some communities.

And actually, one of our first ones, was Monterey, which is where we are right now.

- So, Ashley, can you tell me how much of an impact tourism has on the Upper Cumberland?

- It's got a huge impact on the entire state.

We just received our new tourism economic impact numbers.

And so, for 2021, our numbers do like behind for one year.

So, in 2021, it was a $24 billion industry across the state.

And so, all 95 counties saw increases, 14 in the upper Cumberland, also saw increases as well.

And so, it's a huge industry, depending on what county you are in the Upper Cumberland.

Some might be smaller, some might be larger, but it's a huge industry for the entire state, but also for this region.

- Is the increase because of us coming off the pandemic and everybody wanting to be back out?

- I don't know.

I think that's up for discussion.

I think we could probably battle that question all day long.

I think definitely, the trends are different.

So, we had current trends that you could watch before the pandemic, things were kinda normal.

People were playing normal with their marketing strategies.

The pandemic happened, everybody had to regroup and work in state to get our residents out traveling.

And it's looking like the traveler's changing just a little bit during the pandemic.

You had families that were working remote.

Now, that I think our children are mainly all back in school across the United States, that is changing.

People are still working from home, so I think you're seeing couple trips during the week, maybe with babysitters at home with the kids.

So, I think it's changing.

I think our marketing has to change as well.

But I think it does have a little bit of impact showing that we are coming out of a pandemic.

- Patty, are you seeing a big difference in the Upper Cumberland.

- In the aspects of the visitor, yes.

Our numbers are definitely up as she has said with the reports.

But it also is a really neat thing to see, especially coming outta the summertime, we were very busy this summer.

It's really nice to see businesses opening back up, people getting back to work, and seeing those dollars coming back in to help support our regions.

So, I definitely do see a difference and an improvement.

- Have you noticed any certain draws in the Upper Cumberland?

- Well, of course, our lakes are a main draw.

Dale Hollow Lake, Center Hill Lake, Cordell Hull Lake, those are definitely a draw for us at this time.

Also, we do have some other main attractions that tends to draw in a visitor, which is canoe on the Caney, the Caverns, the Cumberland Playhouse, Grandville.

The great historical town of Grandville, Tennessee, that draws in a visitor.

So, we have a lot of great resources and treasures right here in our region.

- I would add that she mentioned lakes, she has really promoted the lakes, and Patti's done a great job with that.

Coming, it's already been announced, but there'll be more marketing promotion coming in 2023.

Dale Hollow Lake has been announced as one of the Bill Dance signature lake series.

So, there'll be more to come on that, but I think that's exciting for Clay and Picket counties.

- And then, I would also add, we have so many waterfalls and some of them are world famous, like Cummins Falls, Fall Creek Falls.

It's such a destination for hiking, for kayakers, adventure kayakers, climbing, so many different things.

Like it's an outdoors person's paradise here.

And that's part of the reason I love this area so much.

- Does that play in with all of the state parks that we have in the area?

- I would think, yes.

- Absolutely.

- Yeah, there are definitely a key thing that attracts people to our region.

- Yeah, and especially, I would think Tennessee over some of the other states nearby who charge for state parks.

And Tennessee, unless you're staying in a campground or a cabin, or using one of the restaurants or gift shops, just to enter the park is free, which is very unusual.

- The state parks were instrumental during the pandemic, because they already had the built-in infrastructure to host a visitor.

They had the campgrounds, they had the cabins, some of them have a lodges.

If they didn't have one, they're open now, especially at Fall Creek Falls.

So, I think that was the great thing through the pandemic, state parks were ready, they were open, and they could host the visitor.

- So, I think people wonder if tourism's really a good thing or a bad thing?

- It's a great thing.

It's real money.

As the commissioner always refers to it, it's real money for the state of Tennessee.

- I think people probably don't realize how much of an impact tourism actually has on their local economy.

- So, what I would say to that, is there's multiple ways for county governments and city governments, and residents to benefit from a visitor coming to town.

So, first of all, should they buy anything, the state and the county is collecting a sales tax.

We won't talk about numbers 'cause it's different everywhere.

But they're collecting sales tax and it's going to the elected bodies.

Then also, you have the option of an occupancy tax.

So, most of our counties, I think we're down to maybe just a handful who do not have occupancy taxes right now.

But they're collecting that and it's going back into governments.

So, when you have the sales tax, then you have other taxes in there that's combined, that we won't go into for, maybe drink tax and things like that.

But all of that goes back in, and essentially it makes property taxes because we don't have a state income tax in Tennessee, thankfully.

All that goes back in and it helps lower property taxes.

It allows, those extra funds allow for infrastructure, education, and just a variety of different things, just like we're operating at the state level.

So, tourism brings in money at the state level and it allows us to fund, roads and education, and different things.

So, it's definitely a huge benefactor to success, and the economy in a lot of our communities.

- Are the occupancy tax, what most people think of as hotel/motel taxes?

- Yes, absolutely.

Sorry, no time.

I'm so sorry about that.

But yes, occupancy tax.

- Okay.

- And I would also say, tourism employs so many people in this region in Tennessee as a whole because it's our second biggest industry.

- It's the second largest industry, but we were the third largest employer in 2021, 317,000 jobs.

- Oh, wow.

- So, that's real people working in communities.

- I know all of our bigger towns have a lot of hotels.

So, that would be a lot of different employees, different skillsets?

- Restaurants, hotels, attractions, places like...

I mean, it's things like that people don't really, truly think about a lot.

Yeah, third largest employer in the State for 2021.

- What are the current trends in tourism?

Are people visiting?

Are they doing day trips or coming for the weekends, or are people coming here to actually spend whole weeks?

- It's all of it, and above.

I mean, it's really neat to see what kind of visitors we are attracting.

And that's one of the things we do, my organization does, is we do create day trips, but we also do create a trip that they can do, not just in one county, but go across the county lines and go to a couple different counties within their stay.

So, we're seeing all of it, which is wonderful.

- Are we still bringing in a lot of groups like the hog rallies and those events?

- I do know that there is a lot of different conversations going on right now to attract those type of groups back into this area, 'cause we love with the hospitality and our Southern roots and ways to entertain people on the massive scale.

Yes, we are definitely looking into all that.

- What's changing with tourism?

Are we seeing like changes from your typical things with like people coming, visiting just waterfalls and things?

- Well, I know the visitor that I have, a lot of 'em are trying to retreat and get away from it all.

They're looking for that peacefulness of the waterfalls, or going down a hiking trail.

They do really embrace the beauty.

But the other thing that we have, that's so wonderful here in the Upper Cumberland, is music.

We have so much music here to provide and offer.

The other thing is, is we have great food in this region.

We're starting to be called the foodie region.

And there's a reason for it, we have great food here.

And so, that visitor we're attracting, they're trying to get out of the bigger cities, getaway and really just rest and reset.

And they're finding it here in Upper Cumberland.

- Not to mention great breweries and wineries.

- Yes.

- And distilleries.

- Yes.

- And eventually cideries.

So, we've got it all.

I mean, people who are coming for the waterfalls and the hiking, they need to eat, they need to drink.

And we've got plenty of places like Calf Killer is a great example where you can go hike Virgin Falls and go up there and have a beer, and not feel disgusting out on the patio there 'cause so is everybody else?

- One of the other things that we have going on too, is we have a lot of new Airbnbs, but they're very creative in the ones that they're creating to have a really truly ultimate visitors experience.

And just some of 'em are just so incredible that we have.

So, that's something else that I see that's very unique for our region.

- Are the Airbnbs taking away a lot of the guests from your standard hotels?

- I don't believe so.

I think that we need actually more hotels in this region.

We see the need.

There's a couple of counties that don't have a hotel in place, and we do need more places for them to stay.

'Cause it actually plays off of the restaurants and the breweries and the wineries.

So, at this time, I see where we actually need more hotels and more Airbnbs in this region.

- Ashley, what do you think?

- I think there's enough for everybody.

And I think that as we, again, went through a pandemic, I think that our families are all looking at accommodations very differently.

What works for my family is not gonna work for your family.

So, I think having a combination, allows us to be more of a destination for those that's look into be in Tennessee.

- We're here today in historic Monterey Train Depot.

Are there events that are held in other depots and other places like this?

- What I would say, is when you have such a great place like this museum, the farmer's market is nearby, you've got a coffee shop nearby.

So, you take one location and you group it into one destination.

So, that's one things that we're talking about with communities about creating itineraries around festivals, and making sure that if someone's coming for whatever festival it is in your community, that they can also experience a lot of other things.

So, long answer to say, yes.

- We have a lot of music festivals, that are going on in the Upper Cumberland.

From the Fiddlers' Jamboree that has been going on.

What?

50 something years at the Smithville?

- 52 Years I think coming up.

- And Jackson County has started multiple festivals in the year.

Monterey is heavy music festivals.

Are you noticing those bring in a lot of people from other states?

- Music is what we're known for.

So, when we talk about marketing, music is a pillar.

One of our leading horses is Nashville, and their brands visit Music City, and people are coming to Nashville for music.

There's seven genres of music that can be found throughout the state.

And so, people are coming for music.

We've launched the Tennessee music pathway that we have official locations.

And then, we also have events that we list on there.

And then, we're recognizing artists that have made an impact on music in Tennessee.

And if I would name them, it wouldn't be correct because we have so many.

But we have that program, we have music festivals.

But music is who we are, it's just a part of who Tennessee is.

- WCTE has had two different shows.

We've had the Fiddlers' Jamboree and Bluegrass Underground.

Have you noticed people coming in just because of those shows?

- Yes we have.

We've definitely seen, a lot of people coming over from other countries for our events, especially the Smithville Fiddlers' Jamboree this year.

- And I would also add the Caverns, actually, if you go in, they have a map where people can put pins in where they're from.

And so, of course, there's a lot of people from Tennessee, and Kentucky, and Alabama, and surrounding areas.

But then, you'll look and be like, "Someone from Thailand," or "Someone from Australia or Denmark."

And so, it's really cool to see that these places are reaching people all over the world.

- And I think as we continue as BNA International airport continues to expand and grow, and add international flights, I think it's going to be a big bonus to bring in international traveler here.

Because we know an international traveler coming into Tennessee is going to stay for longer than a week.

Okay, so we love day trippers and it's great, but we know that we're getting an international traveler is staying overnight, which generates additional occupancy tax for communities.

- How is the Upper Cumberland managing tourism?

- Well, one of the great ways that we're doing it, is with upper Cumberland Tourism Association.

It's actually a membership-based organization.

And as people join, we create a magazine every year that's called the "Stay & Play."

I did bring a sample to show you really quick.

And it's a really great guide that we've created for our visitor when they come to our region.

And that's one of our ways, our initiative to get out there and spread the word about how great our region is.

But it's another way to help support the businesses that are here in the Upper Cumberland to get their message out too.

- For your magazine, is that something that somebody can just go to your website and request, and you mail it out to them?

- Absolutely.

And they also, are found throughout the state of Tennessee at all of the Welcome Centers.

- We have 16 Welcome Centers throughout the state.

And so, I encourage residents and visitors alike, if you've not been in a Tennessee state Welcome Center to stop by.

And they have so much quality information that can help you plan a trip.

It's really incredible.

- So, what do you see for the future of tourism in the Upper Cumberland?

- I think we're gonna see more people coming for the arts.

We're getting a really thriving arts scene here in Cookeville in the Upper Cumberland, and that's only gonna continue to grow.

It's becoming kind of a little, tiny, mini Asheville with the breweries, and arts, and music, and Cumberland County Playhouse.

There's so much to do, and there's all the hiking.

Like it's the perfect spot for anyone as far as I'm concerned.

- I agree with you.

I agree with you 100%.

And that's actually something that we covered in our "Stay & Play" last year, was all of the artists that are in the region.

'Cause we really wanted to put a spotlight on 'em, 'cause we have so much talent here.

We're very, very rich in talent when it comes to the arts.

- WCTE is actually doing a show called, "Wish You Were Here" that will let everybody know about all the different, unique places in the Upper Cumberland that you can go visit.

- Have you been helping with that show?

- Myself.

Ash, you did too?

You were part of the first meeting, the very, very first meeting when the show was being developed, 'cause I had just been hired.

- I sure was.

- So, you were.

You were part of the very first meet and greet, and then, Ashley's been a part of it, and I have too.

It's been a really great and fun project for all of us to coordinate efforts and talents to really spread the awareness of how great our region is for a visitor.

- Is it a chance to show off our little hidden gems?

- Yes.

For sure.

For sure, and it's also a neat way because we do have so many people moving into this region for them to be educated, what wonderful things there are just right around the corner.

So, it's good in many ways.

- So, what's a good way to tell people about some of these attractions in the Upper Cumberland?

- So, social media is obviously one of the big ways, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok is becoming more popular.

And I actually, recently just was at a tourism conference where one of the sessions was on how to do 365 social media post in one day for tourism destinations.

And so, it's fun to think about because anyone even residents who don't necessarily think about their areas of tourist attraction, can think, "Oh, okay, well, I can think of 20 restaurants that I would highlight."

I can think of five parks I could go to, or 30 people in the community who I would highlight as someone who knows a lot about the community, thinking about historical destinations.

So, putting all those together to create these posts and then, pushing them out to visitors all over the world, it's really the best way to do it.

I know that's what I always do when I'm going somewhere new, is I'm like on Instagram, like, "Ooh, I just went to Concord, North Carolina, what's here?"

So, finding all the cool attractions.

- That seems like a great way to do it because it seems so overwhelming a lot of times when people think about, marketing, what we have here.

But they don't realize we actually have so much to share.

- You can also go on to tnvacation.com, and you can look through the different communities and attractions, and we have an option that you can heart.

Click the heart button on that attraction, and you can add it to your trip, and you can actually plan your trip on tnvacation.com.

- Cool.

- That is a wonderful way to do that.

- And Pinterest is another great one.

Pinterest is great for our state, especially, it really helps bring back the traffic to the different individual businesses through their website.

So, Pinterest is a big one for our region.

But social media, just to put it out there, Upper Cumberland TN is our social media for Upper Cumberland Tourism Association, it's that for Facebook and Instagram.

And what we've decided to do as association for our region to get our reach a little bit farther out, is we've actually hired a travel influencer.

You know, we decided we would take a gamble on her and she's been wonderful.

She's been a one stop shop.

She's doing Reel, she's doing TikTok.

She's doing itineraries for the day for our different individual cities.

And so, we've been really blessed with finding a really great influencer for our region.

- Be right back.

I'm gonna go find out how to get that job.

(panel laughing) - Getting paid to travel.

What a fun thing to do.

How much financially, does the state actually see?

I mean, we talk about billions, but kinda put it into perspective?

- So, I think what's great, is sometimes we talked earlier about, is tourism a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, we all think it's a great thing.

We might have some residents that's in a community that might say, "Well, I don't like all these people coming to my community because it's small and I wanna keep it small."

And so, the one thing that I would say, travel generated about $755 for each household in state and local taxes.

So, in other words, your taxes are $755 lower in state and local, not just your local community because they're different, they're all gonna be different, because each county generated different taxes, right?

So, in state and local combined, each household paid about $755 less in taxes because of tourism.

So, that really kinda wraps it up, I think, and puts it in a great perspective to say that the tourism works, it is working.

And it's working for our state as a whole, all 95 counties, but it's also working for individual communities.

And so, some communities are driven by tourism assets and that's their primary economic driver.

Because at the end of the day, all of our communities are moving forward, trying to create extra dollars in their community.

And so, some of that's driven by industrial development and some of it's driven by tourist development, and both are great.

We tend to focus on the tourism side, but it's driving a lot of communities growth in the upper Cumberland, and so, it's, it's making a big impact.

- Are the counties that focus more on tourism, the ones that are farther from the interstates?

- It varies, obviously, those counties that are on an interstate or have exits off of the interstate, have a higher chance of being successful in industrial development.

But there are communities that are on the interstate and off the interstate that are having great success.

It's all about assets.

And how do you market your assets?

You'll hear why we like to have a Dollywood.

Well, Dollywood wouldn't be successful anywhere else except for Sevier County.

But each county is unique in its own way, and it goes back to marketing.

And how you're marketing that attraction, or how you're marketing your community, that gets people's attention.

- Is there a lot of historical tourism in the Upper Cumberland area?

- You're sitting in it.

- Absolutely.

Absolutely.

We just actually did our newsletter for this month, and it was talking about all the wonderful museums.

And a lot of our museums in this region are free.

I mean, it's a great asset that you can go out, especially this time of year, a lot of travelers have gone back home.

So, it's a great time, even for locals to go experience different museums in the different communities and counties.

So, we do, definitely a lot of history and culture to share.

- We also have the Civil War Program through the state, Tennessee Civil War Trail.

And so, there's a lot of communities that you can follow along.

You can order a brochure that tells you where all the markers are that talks about all of the battles that occurred.

And so, I think there's one right here at the museum in Monterey.

And we're trying to work with the Civil Trails Program to not retell the story, but tell it in a way that all generations understand it.

And that's a great program that you can fall along by yourself.

It's a self-guided tour that you can go from east to west.

It's a great way to get out and explore on your own.

A lot of people don't like to be told what to do, or like, be here at 10:00 and leave here at 11:00.

And so, it's a great way to grab that brochure.

You can get it at a Welcome Center, or you can maybe download it online and you can take a look at it and really visit those sites.

But there's a lot of those markers in the Upper Cumberland.

- We've got a lot of good self-guided tours in the upper Cumberland as well.

Like the Wine Trail is always a favorite, of course- - Yes, Upper Cumberland Wine Trail.

- But then we've got some of the scenic highways and byways is that?

- Yup.

- I always get that wrong how it's said, but- - Scenic byway.

- We have a lot of them.

We have a lot of scenic byways that are just getting off the ground, and they're trying to work on those a little bit more.

Again, you can find those in our Welcome Centers as well.

- Are you seeing a lot of tourism making people aware of small towns that weren't commonly known before?

- Absolutely, historic Grandville is one of 'em.

Tourism has definitely put them on the map.

They are definitely, one to go see, go explore.

We have World Window out there, resort and marina, which is a draw factor for that regional also.

Historic Grandville is definitely a great example of a small town.

Having a great marketing plan, getting the word out about them, and attracting that visitor.

- Rugby's another one that very well with that.

Don't they?

- They do.

They do.

- Yeah, Rugby's a really interesting place for anyone who hasn't been there.

It's an 1800s English village, and it's incredible going up there, just driving through and seeing this is what life would've been like hundreds of years ago.

- Thank you for joining us when we were talking about tourism.

Please continue this conversation with your friends and family.

We're gonna keep talking about it here.

Thank you.

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