AGENCY CHIEF EAGER TO PUSH FOR TOURISM

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 26, 1992                   TAG: 9201260151
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: E5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
AGENCY CHIEF EAGER TO PUSH FOR TOURISM
Howard Packett wants the planners to help lure the tourists.
Millions of tourists travel on Interstate 81 and the Blue Ridge Parkway every year, he says.
If the Roanoke Valley and the Alleghany County area could draw more people off the highways, it would be an economic boon for the region.
Packett thinks the Fifth Planning District Commission is uniquely equipped to promote tourism because it is a regional agency composed of nine localities stretching from Roanoke to Covington.
Packett, newly elected chairman of the commission, said Thursday he wants the agency to take a more active role in promoting tourism.
"We are the only agency in the area that includes nine localities and I think we could work together on this," Packett said.
He said the regional planning agency can supplement the efforts by existing tourism-promotion agencies. And, he said, the commission might be able to tap grants and other funding sources because it is a regional agency.
Packett said he gets frustrated sometimes because, while the region has so many attractions, many tourists are unaware of them.
Roanoke County Treasurer Alfred Anderson, a member of the commission, said the Roanoke Valley has just as much to offer tourists as Asheville and other areas in western North Carolina. He said North Carolina has an aggressive promotion program.
Commission member Lee Eddy, chairman of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, said the region needs to be more aggressive in trying to attract tourists to boost the economy.
"We don't have a lot of land for industrial development, but we can promote tourism," Eddy said.
Roanoke City Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles said one benefit of tourism is that "we get the tourists' dollars without having to pay for educating their children."
The commission voted to support a regional multistate tourism effort, the Appalachian Railroad Heritage Project. It is a joint effort of public and private agencies that stretch from Staunton to the New River Valley and southeastern West Virginia.
The project's mission will be to mark railroads' contributions to the development of the region's coal, iron and timber industries.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB