THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504250110
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
ASK MIKE STEVENS where Surry County's future is, and he will step outside the Surrey House, hand you a map and point straight down the Colonial Trail.
The thick woods that hug much of Virginia Route 10, G7AWCOV26 Stevens designated the Colonial Trail by the state in 1930, are rich with a legacy left by some of the country's largest historical figures: Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan, Captain John Smith, John Rolfe.
Stevens, owner of the Surrey House Restaurant and head of the Surry County Tourism Bureau, believes this historic past is the rural county's key to a prosperous future.
``Tourists are our bread and butter,'' Stevens says. ``When they come in and spend their money, they are creating jobs and increasing the county's tax revenue.''
Tourism brought more than $9 billion into Virginia in 1994, Stevens says, and is the state's most lucrative industry. And Surry County, like its historic neighbors - Isle of Wight County and Smithfield to the east and Hopewell to the west - all want more.
So last December, tourism officials from Isle of Wight County, Hopewell and Surry County formed Virginia's Colonial Trail Regional Tourism Group to promote all the historic sites along the Colonial Trail as a single package.
The group kicked off the 1995 tourist season April 1 with the introduction of the Colonial Trail Historic House & Garden Tour. Buying one block admission ticket at $17 allows a tourist to visit Bacon's Castle, Chippokes Farm & Forestry Museum, Chippokes Plantation, Brandon Plantation, Weston Plantation and Smith's Fort Plantation.
Also included on the ticket are suggestions of places along the Colonial Trail where tourists can shop, eat or visit for free, such as St. Luke's Church in Smithfield and Edwards Smokehouse in Surry.
The Colonial Trail tour was born last December, when Mary Calos, G8AWCOV26 Calos Hopewell's tourism director, began planning activities designed to draw more visitors into that small, historic city on the James River.
``We realized there was a vacuum pertaining to state Route 10. But when we looked at these communities, we saw a wealth of historic attractions all the way down the line,'' Calos says. ``It seemed like a regional tourism match made in heaven.''
Most people living in Virginia probably don't realize the state has invested in marketing videos and television advertisements that are seen all over the country, except here.
``The television ads are aimed at showing tourists there is more to Virginia than Colonial Williamsburg and Virginia Beach,'' Stevens says. ``They encourage visitors to explore the small towns and back roads of Virginia.''
The state's promotion of regional cooperation in tourism reflects in the growing number of regional tours marketed in Virginia today, Stevens says.
`` . . . More state resources for tourism are available to regional groups than individual communities.''
Sue Bland, spokeswoman for the Virginia Division of Tourism, says the root of the regional tourism approach lies in simple economics.
``Like most people, travelers are looking for a value that will let them get more for their dollar. So when you take a theme like Colonial heritage and put together a package that people see as a value, they will be more willing to stay an extra night.''
More and more local people are recognizing the potential that tourism has for Surry County's future, Stevens says. Last year, for the first time, the county's Board of Supervisors budgeted $13,000 for the county's tourism committee.
``Tourism is one of Surry County's best economic resources,'' says county Administrator Terry Lewis. ``By promoting tourism and increasing the number of visitors to the county, there will be some expansion of the county's economy.''
Stevens says he believes tourism has the potential to lead Surry County into the next century financially.
``And the Colonial Trail,'' he says, ``is going to become our jewel.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color cover photo]
[Unidentified mansion]
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Smith's Fort Plantation is one of the attractions on the Colonial
Trail that tourists can visit by buying a block admission ticket for
$17.
A mannequin in the Chippokes Mansion is attired for a 1920s garden
party.
A marker for the Chippokes Plantation notes that it has been a
working farm for 350 years.
The Weston Manor is notable for preserving much of its original
interior.
St. Dennis Chapel is one of several churches of note on the Colonial
Trail.
Bacon's Castle, just off Route 10 in Surry County, is on the
Colonial Trail.
Photo
Stevens
KEYWORDS: TOURISM VIRGINIA WESTERN TIDEWATER by CNB