Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 13, 1990 TAG: 9006130193
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PETER MATHEWS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Chambers from Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles and Floyd counties and Radford have produced a colorful 36-page brochure with photographs touting the area's natural beauty and other assets. The first printing of 60,000 copies will be distributed at businesses and interstate highway visitor centers.
"Imagine," begins the section on Floyd County, "383 square miles of misty morning mountains and gently rolling hills where the sun begins its day showcasing landscapes designed by nature, abundant woodlands, crystal mountain streams and breathtaking vistas nestled between the legendary Blue Ridge Parkway and two major interstate highways."
The idea is to make the valley a travel destination, not just a place that people drive through.
"The New River Valley has never actively pursued the tourism market, as such, because in the past we didn't think there was much here to offer," said Bill Clegg, general manager of the new Blacksburg Comfort Inn. "What we're realizing now is that the scenic beauty is something people from other areas appreciate when they come to visit."
No other regional group in the state has produced such a brochure, said John Watt of the Virginia Department of Tourism. Watt was in Radford Tuesday when the brochure was unveiled to some local business leaders, mostly from the hotel industry.
The chambers' joint project is similar to efforts by the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance to lure industry.
Doug Eckel, Blacksburg's director of economic development, said the valley has 2.4 percent of the population but receives only 1 percent of the travel money spent in Virginia.
Nationally, travel-related expenditures increased by 8 percent from 1987 to 1988, Eckel wrote in a report to be published in the alliance newsletter. If tourist dollars grew at that same rate here, the valley could add 140 jobs a year, he said.
The brochure isn't the only glossy new publication around. Valley governments and businesses also bought some advertising in the 1990 Virginia Mountains Visitors Guide. The colorful 48-page magazine, produced in Roanoke, touts tourist attractions from Shenandoah County to Abingdon.
That publication is designed to bring tourists here, and the valley's new brochure will make them "linger longer," Watt said.
He and Michael Evans, a Virginia Tech associate professor of hotel, restaurant and institutional management, said states and localities are fighting harder for tourists' dollars.
"It's a war out there in tourism today," Evans said.
by CNB