ACTion Newsletter, Summer 1998

ALABAMA COMMUNITIES IN TRANSITION

Public Issue Information for Alabama Citizens

Abstract: Alabama Communities in Transition. Public Issue Information for Alabama citizens

Keywords: tourism, Cherokee County, bed and breakfast, hospitality training.

Tourism is presently one of the largest industries in the state of Alabama, with an annual economic impact of $4.7 billion. The present is bright and the future appears even brighter. A tourism strategic plan has been adopted by the tourism leaders of Alabama, and this plan has as its vision an annual 10 percent rate of growth. This is ambitious and will require all components of the tourism industry pulling together if it is to be achieved.

To be most effective, tourism promotion and development should involve many aspects of a community and should have broad-based community support. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, with specialists at the state level at Alabama A&M University, Auburn University and Tuskeegee University and with permanent personnel located within each county, is one more resource a community can use to fully develop its tourism potential. Extension has been and will continue to be actively involved in tourism development throughout the state.

The first article of this issue highlights Extension's past and present involvement in tourism development in Cherokee County. The second article presents Extension's efforts to strengthen the bed and breakfast component of the tourism industry. The final article briefly identifies Extension's efforts to support hospitality training in the state. For more information on these topics, or suggestions for additional topics on tourism, contact me at (334) 844-3517, or FAX (334) 844-9022.

In some rural counties of Alabama there may exist a need and opportunity for Extension staff to facilitate economic development through tourism promotion. Conditions seemed ripe for such involvement in Cherokee County in the early 1980s. At that time the County Tourists Association was inactive. It had been formed in the early 1970s to combat negative publicity of a PCB-pollution scare concerning the Coosa River. The Coosa River is a major tributary of the beautiful 30,200-acre Weiss Lake in Cherokee County.

The County Agent Coordinator had just been given a community resource development assignment under the District Agent. A group of volunteers form Cherokee, DeKalb and Etowah counties met to study the feasibility of Little River Canyon as a major canoe/kayak destination. The Cherokee County Agent Coordinator was part of that study group. Although the water sports idea was discarded, the group was organized into a still-existing three-county council that meets monthly to promote the Canyon and the tourism opportunities of this area of Northeast Alabama. The Canyon, billed as The Deepest Gorge East of the Mississippi River, divides Cherokee and DeKalb Counties on Lookout Mountain. The County Agent Coordinator served as secretary of this volunteer council.

The Little River Canyon Advisory Council has a proud record of success. It facilitated the establishment of the Lookout Mountain Parkway known as America's Most Scenic 100-Mile Mountain Drive. It sponsors the annual 450-Mile Outdoor Sale along the Parkway from Noccalula Falls Park at Gadsden to Chattanooga. The outdoor sale continues along the U.S. 127 corridor from Chattanooga to Cincinnati, Ohio. A 69-mile Lookout Mountain Hiking Trail was also established by the Canyon Advisory Council.

A three-county 25-member National Park Advisory Committee was formed by the Council to assist a study team from the National Park Service. This study team determined that Little River Canyon was a resource of national significance worthy of inclusion in the National Park Service. Congress established the Little River Canyon National Preserve that was signed into law on October 21, 1992, by President George Bush.

Among other important projects was the establishment of a county historical museum. The retired county agent coordinator still serves as director on the museum board. Loop tours were developed for the Lookout Mountain Parkway and the Cherokee County area. Tour fact sheets were also prepared and printed by the county extension office on historic Cornwall Furnace and former furnaces of the southeast Cherokee County area.

Highlights of Cherokee County's tourism opportunities have been featured in the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourism Association newsletter. In addition several slide presentations and videos have been prepared and distributed. All of these were completed by the Cherokee County Extension office.

Weiss Lake, billed as the Crappie Capital of the World, attracts thousands of visitors each year from the Midwest. For more than 15 years several hundred Kentuckians have met at Weiss Lake for the Kentucky Open Crappie Tournament. Proceeds benefit the Cardinal Hill Children's Hospital in Lexington. The county Extension Office has assisted in this event as well as providing assistance in obtaining expanded state facilities for boat launching and parking areas on the lake.

Cherokee County also features Jon Pratt Memorial Park, which contains the grave of John Pratt, inventor of the typewriter, and the John Wisdom Trail, which traces the route of John Henry Wisdom, known as Cherokee County's Paul Revere. By horse and buggy as well as on mule-back Wisdon rode 70 miles from Gadsden, Alabama, to Rome, Georgia, on May 2, 1863 to warn of an impending raid by the Union Army on the Confederate arsenal at Rome. The county also features the Coosa River, Cottage River, Little River, and Terrapin Creek, a favorite of canoeists. The county park board, with the help of the county Extension office, plans to re-establish over 50 historical markers to facilitate self-guided tours.

Recreation and tourism can be strong components of economic development in many of Alabama's rural counties. Some counties do not have existing organizations that promote tourism and recreation opportunities. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has expertise that can help fill this need, both at the state level and at the county level. Even in smaller populated counties, such as Cherokee County, growth opportunities for economic development through tourism exist.

Bed and Breakfast Homes in Alabama

In February 1992 J. Thomas Chesnutt, Extension Tourism Specialist, and Georgia Aycock, Extension Resource Management Specialist, teamed with the West Alabama Planning and Development Council to present a one-day bed and breakfast workshop: The Bed and Breakfast Business. Co-sponsors included the Birmingham Regional Planning Commission, Tombigbee Resource Conservation and Development Council, and CAWACO Resource Conservation and Development Council. The meeting was held in Fayette, Alabama, with nine counties targeted in Western and Central Alabama. This area has great potential for attracting tourists seeking to enjoy a relaxing trip away from large, crowded spaces. This region, however, lacked bed and breakfast homes to fill this need.

The program received a small grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission. Presenters included representatives from the Alabama Department of Public Health, Small Business Administration, Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel, bed and breakfast operators, and Dr. Allan Worms, Extension Specialist, Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, who helped develop the bed and breakfast industry in his state.

Attendees received a packet of information to help them decide if a bed and breakfast venture was for them. Some had traveled three to five hours from other parts of the state to attend. Also present at the workshop were real estate and insurance personnel, bankers, and chamber of commerce representatives who have developed an understanding and appreciation of the bed and breakfast industry and who can be an encouragement to others in their areas. The workshop also fostered a spirit of cooperation among area tourism officials.

As a result of interest from the Fayette meeting, three more workshops entitled The Bed and Breakfast Business were conducted in North Alabama in October 1992. These were co-sponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Appalachian Regional Commission, and the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel. A small grant was obtained from the Appalachian Regional Commission to help with speaker expenses. The speakers were similar to those at the Fayette meeting. Topics included What Is a B&B?, B&B--An Industry of Diversity, Insurance for B&B, Assistance Programs for Small Businesses, B&B Business Opportunities, Tourism Promotion and B&B, Health Regulations, Marketing a B&B Business, and discussion by a panel of B&B operators. The workshop oriented and updated current and prospective B&B hosts about the business. Individuals from other areas of the state traveled three to five hours to attend. Community officials and business leaders attending learned better ways to support the development of bed and breakfast businesses in their areas.

Extension Specialists Chesnutt and Aycock recognized the need for uniform food preparation rules for bed and breakfast establishments in Alabama. The existing law was old and was being interpreted by each county health department. They met with the Division of Food and Lodging Protection, State Department of Public Health and some bed and breakfast owners to develop a definition of bed and breakfast homes for Alabama. In June 1994 more than a dozen bed and breakfast owners from throughout the state met in Montgomery to form the Bed and Breakfast Association of Alabama (BBAA). In the past four years it has grown to approximately 50 members, conducted four annual conferences, published two editions of a color brochure featuring members, and has developed a website with all BBAA members listed. In 1997 the BBAA joined Alabama Public Television (APT) in producing a special 90-minute program that highlighted 12 bed and breakfast homes in Alabama. BBAA members also contributed recipes for a successful cookbook. In 1998 the BBAA is teaming with APT to produce another special program and recipe book. Extension personnel have been associate members of BBAA, attending annual meetings, and consulted with officers and members.

In 1995 Extension Specialists Chesnutt and Aycock coordinated a one-day in-service training program, Starting a Bed and Breakfast Home, for Extension agents from throughout the state. Plans are to offer a similar agent training/area meeting in late 1998 or early 1999.

The bed and breakfast industry is a segment of the tourist industry. It is an alternative form of lodging that adds to the tourism appeal of an area.

In providing tourism experiences to visitors to Alabama communities, quality service is, in reality, our number one product. If people are not treated well, they are likely to tell others about their poor experience and are unlikely to return themselves.

Unfortunately, the traveler is extremely unlikely to be met by the mayor, president of the bank, director of the chamber of commerce, or owner of a hotel. Rather, the traveler will be met by the lowest paid employees of the tourism industry, the front line personnel. These include hotel desk clerks, waiters, and convenience store staffs.

Motivating these people to provide quality service is an important, ongoing task complicated by a high turnover rate. Training must be done often, at least once per year.

To assist in this effort the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University offer several workshops to assist communities with hospitality training. Two basic seminars have been developed. The first is Hospitality Training for Front Line Personnel, a 45-minute seminar designed for hotel desk clerks, waiters and convenience store staffs. Topics are as follows:

The second workshop is Hospitality Training for Managers and Supervisors and is about 2 1/2 hours in length. This training is in three sections presented by three individuals:

1) Tourism and Economic Development

2) Going Beyond Great Service: Turning Complainers into Lifelong Customers

3) Food Safety - A Real Issue

This workshop is offered by the Extension Tourism Specialist, an Extension Food Safety Specialist, and a faculty member in the AU Hotel/Restaurant Management Program.

These seminars and workshops have been held around the state for several organizations. As you can see, outlines have been developed and speakers have been identified, but topics can be customized to individual communities depending on their specific needs.

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