Local tourism boosts economy, saves household tax dollars
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — What is the economic impact of tourism in Clarksville-Montgomery County?
A good place to start is the revenue from state and local taxes that tourism generates and the resulting tax savings for households in the county.
The big number when it comes to tourism is nearly $193 million in annual direct-visitor spending.
Based on its latest numbers, Visit Clarksville, the tourism arm of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council, calculates that each household here pays $237 less in annual taxes than it would if there were no local, travel-related spending.
And, tourism here now generates some 1,490 jobs, mostly in hotels and restaurants, said Theresa Harrington, executive director of Visit Clarksville.
Sporting events are a big part of the local tourism emphasis, from Amateur Athletic Union basketball tournaments to softball and soccer tournaments to nationally sanctioned horseshoe pitching.
"We had another AAU tournament this past year which is helping us with revenue," Harrington said. "We're also being helped a lot by an upswing in new hotels, which means we're seeing less spillover of travelers' overnight stays to Oak Grove, Hopkinsville and Nashville."
This past year, about 150 net new hotel rooms were added in Clarksville, for a grand total of 2,800. Harrington said the construction of Hankook Tire is helping to boost the overnight stays in Clarksville as well as sports tourism and other events such as Miss Tennessee USA.
"Attracting sports tourism is what I was really hired for in the beginning, about 21 years ago," Harrington said. "We realized then we weren't a bona fide tourism destination, but there were some other things we could do to help us attract those dollars."
Now, with the cooperation of Austin Peay State University and the local school system, events such as TSSAA track and field coming in May and cross country events planned for October, are bringing more young athletes and their families to town, along with the AAU.
Some of the events that are hosted here are not necessarily sanctioned or sponsored by Visit Clarksville, but the community is realizing the revenue, nonetheless.
"For about 12 days this summer between July 8-19, it will be hard to get a hotel room in Clarksville because of the AAU boys and girls basketball tournaments we'll be hosting," Harrington said. "And these will be young folks who'll be traveling with their families, so there is a large multiplier effect with their local spending."
Destined to be destination
Outside of the sporting realm, Clarksville-Montgomery County continues to work on becoming more of a tourism destination.
To some extent, geography works to the city's advantage. It's less than an hour's drive from the destination of Nashville, while surrounded by outdoor destinations including Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, and it lies about halfway between other key cities such as St. Louis and Atlanta, with Memphis to the west and the Great Smoky Mountains to the east.
So, these considerations alone make Clarksville at least a one-night stopover for many travelers.
But Clarksville is also home to Fort Campbell, and several other attractions ranging from Beachaven Vineyards & Winery to the Customs House Museum that is part of a historic, and possibly redeveloping, downtown, plus Fort Defiance in New Providence, Historic Collinsville south of the river and, soon, what looks to be a new crowd pleaser ... Old Glory Distilling Co. near Exit 4.
"We're moving in the right direction," Harrington said, "but to be considered a true tourism destination, a community has to offer visitors some place to go that will keep them here for two or three days. Until we can get a facility here that is large enough to host conventions, we are not there yet."
In the same year that Beachaven — the community's top attraction based on total annual visits — turns 30 years old, Matt Cunningham's Old Glory Distilling Co, is opening not far away from the winery, with a similar goal of producing and showcasing distinctive products.
Anticipation has been building for months about the small-batch artisan distillery in Clarksville's future. Cunningham said he hopes locals and tourists will take to his 20,000-square-foot distillery, which is promising a varied product mix of Tennessee whiskey, vodka, rum and "smooth" moonshine.
"What I'm hoping is that we can get Old Glory included on the Tennessee Bourbon Trail," Harrington said. The trail also includes other landmarks such as the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg.
Customs House changes
Meanwhile at downtown's Customs House Museum, changes and improvements are ongoing. Contrary to what may be popular assumption, little about the museum remains static.
Next month Jim Zimmer joins the Customs House as its new director, and a 30th anniversary museum campaign is underway to almost completely renovate the lower level, said Michelle Dickerson in Customs House marketing and development.
"The current lower-level renovations are expected to continue through the end of February," Dickerson said. "There are several new planned exhibits within six primary, named areas."
Some of the changes are geared, for example, toward making the museum more interactive and hands-on, particularly for children. All of the changes encompass the goal of telling the complete and thorough story of Clarksville-Montgomery County from its earliest beginnings to now, officials said.
Some of the renovation work and evolving exhibit development is to be privately funded with naming rights granted to museum donors.
The Customs House currently attracts up to 35,000 annual visitors from all over the world. Dickerson said most of the museum's tourists are from the United States., but there are frequent international guests as well.
"Often we see people coming into town to visit relatives at Fort Campbell or their students at Austin Peay, who stop in to see the museum," Dickerson said.
"But there are also, for example, those fans of particular artists that we might be showcasing at a particular time, who stop by simply because they follow that artist's work, wherever it is on display.
"A lot of people may be under the impression that our exhibits pretty much stay the same, but actually the galleries on the main level are usually rotating on a four-to-eight-week basis," she added.
Festivals are also part of the local tourism equation. Soon, spring will be coming to Clarksville-Montgomery County, and that means it will be time for the Rivers & Spires Festival in historic downtown. This year the festival runs from April 14-16, and is expected to attract between 30,000 to 45,000 people.
"A few thousand of those will likely be from out of town," said Harrington. "It's a community event with all types of music and children's activities that utilizes the assistance of over 600 community volunteers.
The idea of Rivers & Spires is to help bring the focus of Clarksville back to its roots in historic downtown. More information about the event is available at www.riversandspires.com
Similarly, the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department is host for the Riverfest along the banks of the River District each year on the weekend after Labor Day.
"This is another annual event that brings the community together and some out-of-town guests as well," Harrington said.
"Through events like these and others, we are mainly trying to raise awareness of who we are and what we have to offer as a community. I do think people locally often take for granted what we are about, while we bring in busloads of visitors throughout the year who say they can't believe all that we offer.
"The visitors love our beautiful downtown and the two rivers," she said.
Montgomery County Travel Snapshot
*2013 Economic Impact of Tourism in Montgomery County
• Generated $192.18 million in direct tourism expenditures
• Generated 1,490 jobs
• Produced $30.91 million in payroll
• Created $3.64 million in local tax revenue
• Created $11.30 million in state tax revenue
*Latest reporting year
Per Household
As a result of taxes generated by tourist activity in the county:
• Each household pays $237 less in local and state taxes
• Each household pays $58 less in county taxes
-- Each household pays $179 less in state taxes
On An Average Day
On an average day in 2013, tourist spending in Montgomery County
• Generated $526,520 in daily expenditures
• Produced $84,684 in daily payroll
• Created $9,972 daily in local tax revenues
• Created $30,958 daily in state tax revenues
In Other Words ...
If it were not for state and local taxes generated by tourism ...
• Each Montgomery County household would pay $237 more in taxes
Source: Visit Clarksville / Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council