Davidson County Plan Promotes Tourism, Recreation
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Community leaders exploring ways to enhance Davidson County’s tourism base have found much of what they were looking for right here at home.
The county already enjoys a steady influx of tourism dollars from the Richard Childress Racing Museum‚ Bob Timberlake Gallery‚ festivals‚ furniture outlets and other attractions‚ and it’s also considered an ideal vacation site for outdoor enthusiasts. Linking those two areas together is one goal of a new plan to boost tourism‚ recreation and economic development in the area.
“The unique approach to this is‚ while most communities look at tourism and recreation separately‚ we’re trying to do those two plans in tandem‚” says Ben Ross‚ chief executive officer of Davidson Vision‚ an organization formed in 1999 to enhance economic development.
As Ross explains it‚ recreation can be seen as serving area residents‚ while local tourism efforts focus on visitors from within a 150-mile radius of the county. Meanwhile‚ eonomic development strategies target particular industries that are considering a move to Davidson County.
“The master plan currently under way will give the community information about what’s needed‚ what’s possible‚ what the different areas of the county want and what neighboring markets would support‚” says Jo Ellen Edwards‚ project coordinator of the Tourism Development Partnership.
“And it looks at not just bringing tourism dollars here‚ but it also looks at what residents want or need to improve quality of life.”
The Tourism Development Partnership was created in 1999 as a grassroots effort to bring all the communities in Davidson County together to develop a focused tourism approach. Final recommendations are expected in the summer of 2005.
Davidson County now ranks 30th among North Carolina’s 100 counties in tourism revenue‚ bringing in almost $89 million in 2002‚ the latest figures available from the state Department of Commerce.
As home to natural sites such as Boone’s Cave State Park‚ High Rock Lake and the Yadkin River‚ Davidson County has a lot to offer anyone who enjoys hiking‚ camping‚ mountain biking and kayaking or canoeing. And county planners say there are plenty of reasons to believe those NASCAR-lovers‚ furniture shoppers and festival-goers might want to stay longer and enjoy the great outdoors‚ too.
“Hunting around the High Rock Lake area is very popular‚” says Robert Karbas‚ a professional bass fisherman and co-owner of David Fritts Outdoors shop. Karbas owns the shop along with fellow pro angler David Fritts‚ winner of the 1993 BASS Masters Classic.
“The lake is one of the oldest fisheries in the area‚ and one of the best as far as the quality of the fishing‚” Karbas says. “That’s amazing considering it receives a lot of fishermen and a lot of traffic from family boating and that type of thing.”
The marriage of tourism and recreation is expected to go a long way toward stimulating economic development.
“If we can find where the interests of those three markets overlap – the existing residents‚ the day-trip market and future residents targeted for economic development – we can make decisions based on returns on investment and the numbers of people most served‚” Ross says. “That’s really the philosophy behind the plan.”
Details of the master plan can be found on the Web site for the Tourism Development Partnership‚ at www.davidsoncountync.com.
Story by John McBryde
Photo by Stephen Cherry
