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COVER
STORY - May
2001 by Campbell Wood Angling for
Tourists
Tourism is now the state’s third-leading revenue producing industry, accounting for nearly $8.2 billion spent in 1999. The Kentucky Tourism Development Cabinet lists and promotes 859 tourist attractions across the Commonwealth. State government has played a key role in marketing Kentucky tourism and bringing about its recent surge of growth. In the early 1990s, the number of tourists visiting Kentucky began to level off. In 1995, Gov. Paul Patton appointed Ann Latta as Secretary of the Kentucky Tourism Development Cabinet. “In my first year in office,” said Latta, “I got to report the first decrease in tourism revenue that we had had since records first began being kept. It was not in actual dollars, but when we adjusted the numbers for inflation, they showed we had an actual decrease.”
“Our objective there was to promote travel in the United States for people living abroad,” said Latta. Later, as Mayor of Prestonsburg, she oversaw the creation of that city’s first tourism commission. “We passed the hotel-motel-restaurant tax,” she said, “and with the proceeds from that we established the tourist commission. We also used that tax to finance the Mountain Arts Center.” With her background, Latta felt confident early in her tenure to set the goal of “taking this industry from its present $7.2 billion impact to $8 billion in the next few years.” She began by making changes in the Cabinet. “One of the major changes I made in the Cabinet was to consolidate the marketing programs of our five agencies: the Department of Travel, the Department of Parks, the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, the Kentucky Horse Park and the Kentucky State Fair Board,” said Latta. “We are now all represented by one advertising contract.” That contract was recently switched from Creative Alliance to Doe-Anderson, both Louisville advertising agencies. “This consolidation brought more advantageous rates for all of the agencies,” Latta explained. “And the agencies’ ad campaigns all now carry the same look, which creates a stronger media identity for Kentucky.” Latta described the Cabinet’s current advertising budget of $2.6 million as being small. “That $2.6 million is very small in comparison with other states, particularly states around us. We try to really key into where we are going to do the most good. We have target cities: Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus – those people that are close enough to drive here in a few hours.” “Kentucky – It’s that friendly,” is the tag-line of the Commonwealth’s tourism advertising campaign for 2001. “We did quite a bit of research in the last couple of years trying to determine what our advertising should be – what our strengths are and what we should capitalize on,” said Latta. “It came out of research and focus groups that one of Kentucky’s strongest points is the friendliness of the people here. It’s what brings people back again and again. We have a very high approval rate – about 80 to 90 percent – from people who have visited Kentucky. People are looking for an all-American experience. They want to be with friendly people.”
“From that bill came the Newport Aquarium – the first project approved,” said Latta. “It just bounced Northern Kentucky tourist figures off the map last year.” In its first year of operation, the $40 million Newport Aquarium had 1.25 million visitors. Its presence along the Ohio River is a magnet for further development to the Newport riverfront. Under construction right now and scheduled to open in October is Newport on the Levee, a $142 million entertainment center. The Levee will feature an Imax theater, a 20-plex movie theater, an interactive entertainment center, live entertainment venues, restaurants and retail businesses. The second project completed under the Tourism Development act was the Kentucky Speedway, an auto race track with stadium seating for 65,000 and extensive corporate box seating. It opened last summer near I-71 in Gallatin County, between Louisville and Cincinnati. “We know that it’s going to be a big draw,” said Latta, “and it will give us a lot of television exposure.” The Speedway’s schedule features NASCAR and ARCA races. NASCAR racing is widely acknowledged to be one of America’s fastest-growing sports in popularity. Another project approved under the Tourism Development Act and currently under construction in Louisville is The Glassworks, which will feature a working studio, sales gallery and gift shop. Visitors will have the opportunity to view artisans creating glass art using a variety of techniques. The Tourism Development Act was designed solely for the purpose of drawing major tourist attractions to the state. A new program enacted in the 2000 legislative session will provide funding for smaller tourism development projects. “We can make low interest loans up to $250,000 for tourism-related businesses,” said Latta. “Conceivably tourism infrastructure could qualify for that.” Tourism infrastructure includes hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and restaurants. Loans can go to new projects or for improvements to existing businesses. With all of the attention paid to tourism-related construction projects, Latta doesn’t lose sight of the importance of the environment. “About half of our tourists are doing something outdoors,” she said. “I’m sorry that the governor’s legislation did not pass,” she continued, referring to Gov. Patton’s bill that would have required counties to clean up illegal dumps. “It does have a major impact on tourism. If tourists see these kinds of junk piles around the state, it really turns them off. They’re not going to want to come back. Those who come here for outdoor recreation are the people who are going to be in the backwoods and along small streams and places where they are going to see these dumps. “Also, we spend a lot of money on ads talking about how beautiful Kentucky is. When we get publicity on this, and we do – it happens all the time – a photograph in The New York Times or national news stories on television showing images of these trash dumps – it works against us. And every time a tourist doesn’t come to Kentucky, we’re losing upwards of a hundred dollars a day. Somewhere in the state, that tourist didn’t come and we’re losing that much money.” Outdoor and wildlife activities have a significant impact on the state economy. Figures for 1996, the most recent available, show that 2.5 million people engaged in wildlife watching, boating, hunting and fishing, generating $4.7 billion in spending. Outdoor-related employment created 63,703 jobs.
“The communities are coming together to promote this and do festivals,” said Latta. “People who are bird enthusiasts are a great market for us. “We work with tourism bureaus in cities and counties across the state,” said Latta. “We encourage them to unite their efforts. Where one community has an attraction or two that won’t be a major draw, by working with nearby communities they might be able to create a good attraction that would really draw tourists in there.” As an example she suggested the linking together of Civil War sites for a tour. “We encourage a lot of that,” she said. “The Pioneer Exploration Route from Cumberland Gap up through the Wilderness Trail area in Central Kentucky also present opportunities for communities to pull together.” The designation of U.S. 23 as the Country Music Highway is another example of communities working together on a tourism project, Latta said. “The Country Music Highway runs from Letcher County in the south to Greenup County in the north. Those communities have linked together sites and created a much stronger attraction. It’s had a big impact,” said Latta. “There’s been an awful lot of marketing and promotion of that route as a result. Billy Ray Cyrus, the Judds, Ricky Skaggs, Loretta Lynn, Dwight Yoakam, Patty Loveless and other country music stars all grew up along that highway. Every Kentucky county has produced one or more stars, so there are places to stop and visit all along the route. Instead of competing against one another, those communities have cooperated and put themselves in a position where everybody wins.” Events on the horizon include the Ryder Cup competition at Louisville’s Valhalla in 2004. “That will have a huge impact on Louisville,” said Latta. “This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the world’s best golfers. It will draw huge crowds like the PGA Championship last August. I think the PGA was surprised at the kinds of crowds that turn out here to watch. The PGA Championship was a sellout event both times its been at Valhalla.” An event that could potentially bring hundreds of thousands of tourists to Kentucky would be the 2012 Olympics, if Cincinnati’s bid for the event is successful. “We have a role to play in that with the Horse Park. That’s the venue that Cincinnati is offering for all the equestrian events, so we are cooperating with them in the proposal. I’ve heard that there might be events at the Fairgrounds in Louisville or in Freedom Hall. And we understand that Lexington and Louisville could possibly be venues for some of the basketball games. However, we are unsure about these plans, which have yet to be finalized.” These and other plans seem to indicate that the state has taken a proactive approach to marketing Kentucky tourism. “We’re headed in the right direction,” said Latta. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm across the state as people recognize the importance of tourism to the state and local communities. That recognition is a relatively new thing.” The Tourism Development Cabinet is working with the Kentucky Travel Council to produce a video that will illustrate tourism’s economic impact. More than $600 million in state taxes is generated by tourism, said Latta, and that money gets channeled into many programs benefiting the state. More than $200 million goes to local governments and pays for a multitude of local services. While Secretary Latta is certainly a booster of the industry, she thinks tourism development should be aligned with community values. “There are some tourism developments that spring up with a bunch of t-shirt shops,” she said. “And that’s usually not what people want in their community. They want something that the local people can enjoy. Then, if it brings more people to town spending money, that’s a nice advantage.” Now that Latta’s goal of bringing Kentucky tourism revenues to $8 billion has been surpassed, the Secretary has raised the bar even higher. “We certainly are not planning to rest on our laurels,” she said. “We want to keep moving ahead and building the impact, because it’s so important to our economy.”
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Copyright 1996-2001, by Kentucky Business Online. All rights reserved. Editorial
content is copyright 2001, Lane Communications Group The Lane Report is a trademark of Lane Communications Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
Kentucky’s first
tourists, traveling in groups of a dozen or so, were
jolted and rocked in horse-drawn carriages journeying
along dirt roads from Nashville and Louisville to the
awesome caverns of Mammoth Cave. More than 150 years have
passed since then and Kentucky’s tourism industry
has flourished.
Latta was the first
Secretary of the Tourism Cabinet who brought a
professional background in travel and tourism to the job.
She started her professional career in Kentucky state
government as Director of News in an economic development
program that was largely concerned with tourism and
travel. From there she moved to Washington, D.C., where
she served as Public Relations Director for the U.S.
Travel Service in the Department of Commerce. 
A significant
development that gave Kentucky tourism a boost was the
creation of The Kentucky Tourism Development Act.
“Gov. Patton pushed for that bill in the 1996
legislature,” said Latta. “The Act provides
incentives to draw tourism development projects into
Kentucky. Over a 10-year period after the development of
a project, the investors will see a return of 25 percent
of their investment through refunding of the six percent
Kentucky sales tax that the tourist attraction collects
from visitors. To qualify, the tourist attraction must
cost more than $1 million in development, draw 25 percent
of its visitors from out of state and be open at least
100 days a year.
The Department of
Fish and Wildlife Resources has been active across the
state working with rural communities to develop outdoor
attractions. Eastern Kentucky now has the largest elk
population east of the Mississippi, numbering close to
2,000. This summer elk festivals will be held in Hazard,
Harlan and Prestonsburg – all areas where elk herds
roam. In western Kentucky the Department of Fish and
Wildlife is working with the Department of Parks and
local communities to develop a series of birding trails.
Four separate trails have been identified for inclusion
under the umbrella of the John J. Audubon Birding Trails.