New events and efforts generated $32.3 million into the local economy through tourism according to a recent report.
Annie Hamilton Edmond provided an update on the past year of tourism activities to members of Meade County Fiscal Court Tuesday (8/8) night during their regular meeting. She said tourism in Meade County generated $32.3 million in spending, $2.5 million in state and local taxes and $5.4 million in labor income and indirectly supports 227 jobs locally. Hamilton highlighted several popular events that used the county’s funding in addition to $25,000 raised in sponsorships for the events.
Meade County Tourism presented five large scale events including the Taste of Meade food festival, Cookout on the Creek BBQ festival, the Great Pumpkin & Watermelon Weigh Off that has become a national event along with the Battletown Witch Festival and the Meade County Bicentennial Celebration. Edmond said it was determined that area had guests from over nine states that participated during the events that had crowd sizes into the thousands.
Edmond said a marketing service was used to target travelers from across the nation and direct them to the Tourism website which has generated over 600 leads for individuals and families wanting more information about the area. She also noted state allotted ARPA funding was used for to distribute 3 different seasonal brochures in hotels, truck stops, and rest stops from Ohio to Tennessee. The funds also are being used to update websites, photography, videos, hire travel writers and conduct brand deals with companies. She also noted working on a couple of grant projects that include a information kiosk for the Buttermilk Falls Trail and new historical markers around the county.
Edmond said that the county’s spending is up $6 million this year with state and local taxes being up $600,000 with 15 new jobs created the bring an estimated $500,000 into the local economy. She provided Fiscal Court members a 12 month marketing plan for the upcoming year which could increase tourism spending by $1 million with additional $100,000 year over year to find highly marketable way to bring people to Meade County.
You can hear the full presentation in the video of Meade County Fiscal Court meeting in our “On Demand” section.
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