Chamber luncheon features local champions of tourism

Sep. 5—If you can't get Hal Rogers, might as well get two of the areas top tourism professionals.

That was the approach that Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bobby Clue used in filling the speaking slot for the September Chamber membership luncheon Tuesday at The Center for Rural Development.

Rogers, the longtime Fifth District U.S. Congressman from Somerset, was scheduled to speak at the monthly luncheon, but the recent death of Don Sundquist, Rogers' former Congressional colleague and friend from the state of Tennessee, pulled Rogers away to pay his respects.

So in stepped Michelle Allen, executive director of the Somerset-Pulaski County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Lake Cumberland Tourism, and Alison Pyles, Tourism Director for the City of Burnside. The two each gave presentations about the state of tourism locally, and some of the big things on the horizon for residents and visitors alike to enjoy.

In particular, Pyles was just coming off a successful Labor Day weekend event — "Thunder over Burnside," which took place Friday at Saturday at Cole Park. The event featured two evenings of music, food trucks and other vendors, and a fireworks show at the conclusion, and according to Pyles, drew just shy of 2,000 attendees over the course of the weekend.

"Our goal is to get to the point where our events can be free, and I think that number (of attendees) will grow exponentially when we get that," said Pyles, who has overseen tourism in Burnside for about a year and a half now. "I'm tickled to death with the turnout that we were able to produce."

Pyles also noted that plans are to make "Thunder" a one-day event next year, and that the city's Memorial Day concert will be moved to the first Saturday in June to avoid competing with other holiday attractions and things like graduation.

Burnside's tourism efforts are funded by the city's 3 percent restaurant tax — "If you've noticed that your cheeseburger and French fries are a little more expensive at the south than the north location, that's because it's 3 percent more expensive, and I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry, because it allows me to do things like Thunder Over Burnside ... and promote our community, and I think that's worth 3 percent," she noted.

The restaurants see any sacrifice there returned by Burnside's restaurant spotlight, a monthly social media promotion by Pyles' Tourism Board — "We feel like our restaurants are really starting to see a little bump in their numbers from that," she said.

She also mentioned Burnside's partnership with Somernites Cruise to host the car show's monthly Meet & Greet early Friday at Cole Park. That now includes what Pyles called a "restaurant passport," so that those attending the Meet & Greet can pick one up and go to Burnside restaurants to be entered into a drawing to win $1,000.

"We're putting our money where your mouth is," said Pyles. "We felt like that was another great way to get people to patronize those restaurants that are funding us."

Despite it being September, Christmas was also on Pyles' mind on Tuesday, announcing that the Burnside Christmas Parade would be on Friday, December 1 — the day before the Chamber's own parade in Somerset, so as not to be held on the same day, as was the case last year — as well as the return of the annual Christmas Island light display driving tour of Burnside Island come November 18.

What Pyles is most proud about with Christmas Island is what it does to give back to the community. Non-profit and community organizations volunteer to work the gate and concession stand and in return, get a portion of the proceeds; Pyles noted that the city has given back more than $65,000 to the local charitable and non-profits entities that work the event.

"When I pulled that number, I knew it was going be a good number but I didn't know it was going to be that good," said Pyles. "That made me extremely proud of the fact that we are able to put on Christmas Island every year. Giving back to the community in that capacity makes it well worth the labor of love that it is."

Pyles also urged those at the meeting to take advantage of sponsorship opportunities for Christmas Island; the city seeks sponsors for each individual light display along the route.

She observed that the ratio of out-of-town vs. local guests was just about 50-50 last year. To help encourage more from here in this community to visit Christmas Island, Burnside will be offering discounts, such as a veteran's special on Monday nights, and a Student Night on Thursdays.

"We love the out-of-town guests and we want to keep showing off our community to people who don't live here, but we also want to make sure that the people who live here can enjoy it too," said Pyles.

She added, "As a person who didn't grow up here, as a person who was a tourist first and chose to move here and raise my family here, I feel like tourism is truly the gateway to growing our community. .... You guys just embrace people that come, and you make them want to come back."

Allen gave a presentation very similar to the one she and City of Somerset Tourism Director Leslie Ikerd delivered at a Somerset City Council meeting, talking about the impact of tourism on the local economy in recent years yet (with 2023 still ongoing, this year's numbers are not available yet).

While Burnside relies on the restaurant tax for its tourism funding, Allen's CVB is funded solely by a 3 percent transient tax on lodging. "Anytime somebody comes to our short-term rentals or stays in our hotels, we put heads in beds, that helps us to turn that money around and market for everyone here," said Allen.

"In Pulaski alone, if we did not have tourism tax dollars left behind in our communities, we would all pay per household an extra $418 a year on taxes," she added. "So those that say tourism doesn't help us — well, we're saving you $418, plus all the great things that come with tourists."

The numbers Allen gave were generated by a company called Tourism Economics, which was hired by the Kentucky Department of Tourism to determine economic numbers across the Bluegrass. The area's first recent record year for tourism was 2018, said Allen with $119 million economic impact. In 2019, that number jumped to $126 million, and the future looked bright.

Then COVID became a household word in 2020, and tourism across the country took a hard hit with event cancellations and lockdowns. Pulaski's numbers went down only 30 percent, while bigger cities like Lexington, Louisville and the northern Kentucky-Cincinnati area were down 60 percent in that time.

"We were up because we had our outdoor recreation. We were also the only county in the entire state to have a consistent occupancy rate for that year," said Allen. "So we're really, really proud of that. A lot of that is due to Somernites Cruise — (Executive Director Keith Floyd) marched his plan right up to Frankfort and said, 'Here it is, we're going to have it.' Mayor (Alan) Keck fought for us for so many different things and we still had a Moonlight Festival (in October). Our hotels did everything they could do. Our short-term rental folks did everything (they could). And look at our restaurants! ... Everybody in our community really came together, so that kept us from losing from 60 percent."

In 2021, Pulaski jumped back up to $137.8 million — "They came, they saw, and they wanted to return when they could and bring all their friends and family with them," said Allen — and in 2022, the record was shattered at $144.5 million.

Allen also noted that "not all tourists come from Ohio." While the so-called "Ohio Navy" is famous for descending upon Lake Cumberland every year, tourists come to this area from all over — Allen named places like Pennsylvania, New York, California; she even had a couple from Australia in her office recently — and Pulaski also serves as a regional hub for smaller surrounding communities that don't have all the dining and retail options that Somerset does.

"They come to us spending their money, which (means) they're tourists, because they do not live here," said Allen. "All those lines you see at Chic-fil-A, that's not everybody from Somerset. It's a few of us, but not everybody is from Somerset."

Allen said that they're launching digital marketing efforts at places like Blue Grass Airport in Lexington and in Nashville, Tennessee, a place from where the area is starting to see a larger tourism presence. The community was also included in the "Garden & Gun" magazine, reaching half a million readers, and was awarded a key grant for Lake Cumberland wayfinding signage, creating at least 50 news signs across the lake.

Additionally, people are coming here to stay from other places around the nation, said Allen. People come into the CVB office weekly wanting to move to Somerset, and say that they saw online what this area has to offer — "We've got quite a few Californians coming to the office weekly, trying to come to somewhere where it's a little bit more peaceful; folks like our community because we've got that great southern hospitality," said Allen, noting that Somerset is the right size for people wanting to leave areas that are "too big" for their tastes.

"These days, we're not just a marketing organization, we're not just destination salespeople; we're politicians, developers, community organizers and neighborhood advocates," said Allen. "We try to do a little bit of everything to help our community when it comes to tourism."