By Guest Columnist Andy McDonald
Local businesses got a $4 million boost from tourism in 2023, according to Business and Tourism Development Director Donna Angel.
Angel revealed the latest numbers in her presentation to the Berea City Council at last Tuesday’s meeting, stating that by promoting conferences, festivals and events, and aggressively bringing more motor coach traffic into the city, local businesses reaped the financial benefits.
According to Angel, 12 conferences were held in town last year with the collaboration of Berea Tourism, bringing $348,700 in visitor spending on restaurants, hotels, gasoline sales and retail. Two visits from the American Car Club alone yielded $140,000 for Berea business. Festivals and events, meanwhile, brought in $2.8 million, $2 million of which was from record attendance at the Berea Craft Festival, which drew spending at local restaurants, hotels, campgrounds, air bnbs, and other businesses. Festival of LearnShops, meanwhile, yielded $250,000 in tourist spending in 2023, while supporting local artisans.
In a shift in strategy, Tourism also aggressively courted motor coach companies, attracting more overnight stays, restaurant visits, and spending on local retail valued at $886,000 last year. Overall, approximately 4,905 visitors came to Berea by motorcoach in 2023, 3,560 of whom stayed overnight.
Angel said the numbers were determined through a combination of research by the city’s advertising consultant, Right Place Media, along with surveys of local business owners.
“I hope that shows that Tourism is really pushing to build our city to what we wanted it to be, whether its [promoting] activities, family gatherings, and continuously adding new things to our city to build us up,” Angel told officials. “It’s amazing what we’ve done and I hope you’re pleased with it.”
As Berea’s profile grows in the tourism industry, so has the national recognition the city gains in the media. Berea was voted #1 as the Best Small Art Scenes in America in a recent Newsweek Magazine poll, and the 6th Best Small Town Arts Scene by a readers’ poll in USA Today. The city ranked 4th among the 50 Best Small Towns in America by Southern Living Magazine, and several publications have touted Berea for its growing outdoor activities and its charming holiday atmosphere at Christmas time, which has been boosted by events like the Mayor’s Merry Mingling in Old Town and city spending on holiday décor.
Angel attributed the national attention to two things. After the COVID pandemic hit, the city was able to capitalize on its outdoor resources, such as parks, shared use trails and hiking areas, which surged in popularity during the pandemic. The same was true with the city’s LearnShop craft classes, which were retooled to fit the new tastes of post-pandemic travelers, offering newer and more group-oriented experiences.
Additionally, Tourism committed to reaching a broader national audience, expanding its advertising in surrounding states, the east coast, and western states. Then-Tourism Media Manager Dani Gift successfully leveraged that advertising spending by significantly growing Berea’s social media following. Soon enough, Berea was getting a growing number of write-ups in national magazines and websites.
Angel said tourism staffers quickly learned there’s an important connection between the amount of paid advertising and growth in social media. When Berea Tourism advertises, the number of followers on platforms like Facebook and Instagram surge. Paid advertising thus yields free advertising.
“The minute we put out a national magazine ad, our total followers would jump from 20,000 to almost a million. That is the biggest return on our dollars,” Angel said.
She added Tourism uses that increased exposure to boost local businesses on social media. As a result, a small, independent restaurant that might not have the funds to buy an ad benefits because of Berea Tourism’s advertising overall investment.
“After the pandemic, we learned that we’ll all one,” Angel said after the meeting. “Every business out there is touched one way or another by what we do.”
Angel recalled a time when she first started at the city, some five years ago, when the Berea Tourism Commission and the city administration changed its tourism strategy. They shifted from emphasizing Berea’s identity as the Folk Arts and Crafts Capital of Kentucky to attracting a wider range of visitors, promoting outdoor activities, free outdoor music, and using tourism funds to create resources that could benefit both local residents and attract visitors, such as shared use paths, the Chestnut Street Pavilion, and the Silver Creek Bike Park.
Is the investment in tourism paying off? Angel said absolutely, though she added it’s not always readily apparent to people who live here.
“Our city continues to be a strong, healthy community and people really want to be a part of our town,” Angel said. “I think it’s sometimes hard for people who live here to recognize what a remarkable and unique place this is.”
