The idea behind tourism in many North Carolina communities is to get travelers off the interstate highways (if you have one) and Johnston County is blessed to have two! The purpose is to get travelers to come, from other states and NC counties within several hours drive of their destination and spend the night. Yes, it is great to have them spend money shopping and dining, but if you are being funded exclusively by visitors' taxes paid when someone stays at overnight places, then it is crucial to get them to spend the night.
Spending the night creates lots of good things. It is hotels/motels making money, shopping venues getting extra shopping time, gas stations pumping gas, meals eaten at local dining places, and perhaps a stop at a service business of some sort, and of couse, that hotel visitor's tax of around 6% or so. More nights equals more money. So yes, heads in beds is the point here.
However, before you get any heads in beds you must get those BEDS in their HEADS! More precisely, you must get them thinking YOUR beds in their heads, not someone else's beds in their heads. Trust me. Almost every county or city in the country is currently doing the same thing since tourism is a high spending and low infrastructure cost. Visitors stoping and spending the night in your area results in hotel tax, sales tax, and not to be forgotten, property tax as in a vibrant visitor economy means those shopping center, those hotel, and those restaurant buildings are more valuable.
So to get your beds in their heads someone must figure out how to do it. Advertising, marketing, and dedicated professional people are required to get the job done. Tourism Authorities are supposed to do just that and the Johnston County Tourism Bureau has been doing just that for some time now, successfully! In fact, JCTB has one of the best growth records in the state and honestly, Johnston County is not exactly on the tourist maps, so to speak. Other than the Carolina Premium Outlets the list shortens quickly as to an overnight draw. Remember, we are speaking "overnight" draw. And yes, we are blessed by having the Bentonville Batteground, Ava Gardner Museum, and Tobacco Museum.
Over the years, the JCVB has performed first class work getting people to stay in Johnston County. They have done so with Advertising in out-of-state magazines and some in-state publications that have wide circulation. Being at out-of-state traveler's trade shows where prospective tourists go to find ideas of where to visit is important. Visiting the state border visitor center, building relationships and informing the workers there about what Johnston County has to offer, making a regular stop at the NC Visitors Call Center in Raleigh (where people call for information on planning visits in NC), and much more to mention here add so much value. Lately, JCVB has been doing yeoman's work with social media such as Trip Advisor, Facebook because such is where the younger (and older) set go to find out where to visit. JCVB posts ads and put up websites, and more importantly monitor any bad references that might kill an entire exit's businesses with one post. So, the key here is to keep the older tourists coming while creating desire in younger tourists, too. JCVB has their job cut out, yes?
We are blessed in Johnston County to have a local, professional woman at the helm of our tourism authority, one who has in her heart a passion to grow tourism in this county. That cannot be replaced by just another professional. Donna Bailey-Taylor leads a team that works well together and, as a whole has some years of experience in working with local businesses and government to get people to stay in Johnston County's overnight venues. Ms. Bailey-Taylor serves at the pleasure of the JCVB board and acts in accordance with what they direct.
Ms. Bailey-Taylor and the staff have done an outstanding job over the last two decades with honor and recognition, with Ms. Bailey-Taylor being one of the the best at her craft. They have won awards, spent tourism tax wisely and effectively, and yes, produced almost an unbroken record of continuing increases in heads in beds. They succeeded in this by discovering how to get JOHNSTON COUNTY HOTEL BEDS in prospective visitors' HEADS!
How do I know all this? For twelve years I participated as a JCVB board member and to note I am currently not on the board. I personally have watched the staff work. I personally have participated in spending decisions. I personally have objected to some ideas, but accepted what the board decided in a majority vote. Ms. Bailey-Taylor is NOT compensated by governement money nor is anyone on the JCVB staff. The entire operation (staff, marketing, everything) is funded by tourism tax, not a tax from local taxpayers' pockets. So, whatever they do to create more demand for heads in beds comes from using only the tourism tax revenues to do so. Let me repeat that. NO Johnston County taxpayer pays one cent for any part of the operation of the JCVB. It is completely funded by visitors' tax on hotel stays.
Let's go back to just who are the people JCVB is trying to reach here. It is NOT Johnston County residents who frankly use the motels here very little. It is NOT close by counties since those visitors might come and shop and dine which is wonderful but few, if any, stay the night. It is NOT someone, while traveling, by some remote chance, read a local newspaper or listen to a local radion station while in their car or stopped to get gas or eat a meal. It IS the people in NC counties and other US states who need to spend the night. Remember, you must get visitors to spend the night for them to pay visitor's tax.
One of the largest budget items has been interstate and major highway billboards. Billboards along the interstate (in my opinion and most hotel owners' opinions) create more bang for your advertising investment. More heads in beds, if you will. My years on the JCVB included a steady diet of saying, "Can this money be better invested on another billboard?" Of course, billboards on US 70, Interstate 95, Interstate 40, US 701 and US 301, where most visitor traffic comes from, makes good sense to me and others. Of course, our competitors along those raods were interested in acquiring those same billboards and looked for ways to get up on them instead of Johnston County, as there is a limited number along those roads due to regulations.
Here is one example of spending most of you do not know about. The newly formed Sports Authority in the county is a direct offshoot of the JCVB and is targeted at a demographic some may not consider for overnight stays in the county. The Sports Authority is going after many of those baseball, softball, swim, football, and other such youth sports leagues who have tournments across the state to use our sports facilities. The kids who participate bring their parents and others, many who dine out, shop, and spend the night since tournaments generally last over an entire weekend. Talk about a home run - getting one of these tournaments pays for itself over and over with no cost to local residents. Add in all that sales tax money they leave behind as well. The JCVB staff puts together a welcome bag for these players with gifts, goodies and offers to encourage spending more money while in Johnston County. Much of that so called "questionable" money spent at Wal-Mart was for those bags being given to players and their parents, at NO cost to local taxpayers.
The Johnston County Tourism Bureau is governed by a board selected by each of the local chambers of commerce, some at large members, and some local people involved in the tourism business. Those member slots are required by a state law governing the board and must be approved by the Johnston County Commissioners. No member of the JCVB gets paid a dime. They do get a lunch when they meet monthly. Frankly, most of these people on the board work day jobs and the lunch provided at the meeting makes it so they can do the board's work during lunch break and go back to work. The lunch is usually a sandwich and drink or a catered meat and vegetable meal from a local restaurant, keeping that money local. Not exactly fine dining but much appreciated. The JCVB work is hard and the board can meet up to twice monthly, if needed, for committee meetings. There is also a state law that governs the board and how they must collect and spend the revenue. The board is the fiduciary agent that makes sure that happens. Each member is required to sign a document annually that states they know nothing was done illegally during their tenure.
During my tenure on the board, I do not know a single time that money was "wasted" or there was "questionable" use of funds. During the five years time frame of the recent local news investigation I was the Secretary/Treasurer for three of those years and the Vice Chair for the last two, so if anything happened I would have known about it and frankly signed off on it. As of now, not a single board member has come forward to say otherwise either. Each year we were audited and never did an audit come back saying money was being misappropriated. For the record, at no time was I ever interviewed during this local media inquiry.
There are other opinions out there regarding if the room tax has a real value. As in, if we just drop the room tax completely would the resulting assumed decrease in room rates bring more visitors to spend the night in our hotels? If the room tax was the only variable in the heads in beds then a lower tax or no tax at all might very well make a difference in where travelers stay the night. However, one must take in location, how close are hotels to the main roads, the cost of doing business locally, the local property tax rate, does the area appear safe to stop and spend the night, are there places to dine nearby, and other such factors. So, the room tax is part of a dynamic environment that has lots of moving parts. If a lower price was the only reason for where travelers stay, then all the lower priced hotels would be full every night.
So, Johnston County citizen, next time you pay your local property tax, consider that it is lower by about $200 each year because the JCVB does their job, does it well, and at no expense to county taxpayers but brings a reward, visitors, and promotes the county we all love. They get OUR beds in people's heads!
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