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THURSDAY, August 27, 1992
Tourism: jobs, tax
revenue, business
While surrounding counties such as Fauquier struggle to cash in on the rich bounty that tourism offers, Rappahannock County is already way ahead of the game.
Blessed with scenic countryside that draws the city folk like flies, Rappahannock is a natural destination for many who want to visit quiet surroundings for the weekend or for their vacations. The quaintness and charm of our small towns offers a quiet reprieve from the hustle and bustle of every day living and a taste of “the way life used to be.”
A number of excellent restaurants and of course the Inn at Little Washington have already done their part in drawing visitors as well as the apppoximately 20 to 25 bed and breakfasts that provide the perfect surroundings for people in search of “getting away from it all.”
It has long been established that the healthiest way to bolster local business and the tax coffers is to attract good, clean industry. What better means to do that here in the county than to develop an aggresive tourist trade - no factories, no drain on the school system or any of the other services and no hassle for the residents.
Weekend visitors leave only their dollars behind. A conservative estimate of those dollars is one to three, one tourist dollar spent generates three in the local economy.
Recently the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors and the Warrenton Town Council has come up with $15,000 each to fund local tourism promotion. While this is only a small pittance if a full scale effort is to be launched, it is a step in the right direction. Staunton and surrounding Augusta County invested approximately $70,000 towards tourism in 1989. Today tourists spend about $37 million in Staunton each year.
The regional Foothills Association, the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection Inc., the Bed and Breakfast Guild and both the Washington and Sperryville business councils already are focused on the importance of tourism in Rappahannock. Obviously another aspect in this scenario that is paramount is preserving our countryside and the unique quality that is Rappahannock County.
According to the U.S. Travel Data Center, in 1988 Rappahannock County’s total travel expenditures amounted to $4,182,000. Its travel generated payroll came to $603,000 and the number of travel-generated jobs came to 48. State tax receipts relating to tourism came to $51,000 and local tax / receipts came to $22,000.
The bottom line: travel means business, jobs and tax revenue.
The last several years havejtaught us what hard economic times really mean. Jurisdictions all over the state have suffered with budget deficits.
This is a time when rural counties all over the state must be looking to their economic futures. Rappahannock should also be thinking ahead.
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