A Hotel is Just One Step in a Mile Long Journey

There has been a lot of talk the last few years about recruiting a hotel to Elizabethton and Carter County. But why haven’t we been working on that and what do hotels want? Well, we’ve looked into this and found some interesting information along the way.  In the past Mr. Anderson (former CCT President) and I talked with economists and hotel developers, not only to find out what they’re looking for but to better figure out why they wouldn’t come to Elizabethton.

               

 One thing an economist said about hotels and the role they play in our local economy, and that is hotels serve as an economic indicator not an economic driver. This really stuck with me! To put it a little more mildly, Elizabethton’s lack of hotels indicates to us that we do not likely have enough people visiting the City or County regularly to have a hotel – an economic indicator. Similarly, if Elizabethton or Carter County got a hotel we will not likely see a drastic and sudden increase in visitors and tourism – an economic driver. Keep in mind that less than 20 minutes away from Elizabethton we have a bounty of hotels. I don’t know about you, but when I vacation, I will typically drive 20+ minutes to see some of the attractions!

Believe it or not, a hotel developer is not all that picky! They require a few things – 2-3 acres of land with high visibility, local investors to bring “skin” to the game, and around a 55-70 percent average occupancy rate. Some may take lower average occupancy rates than that depending on the potential of the market. To most, this doesn’t seem like much. Working with Mr. Anderson, the two of us met with three different hotel developers from Knoxville to Nashville and were successful in getting a site visit with one of them. Their feasibility studies, however, indicated that Elizabethton and Carter County did not have enough visitors that would stay in a local hotel in order to maintain the occupancy level needed. Must like retail development, hotel developers don’t care how bad you want a hotel – the numbers have to work.

So what are we doing to try to recruit a hotel to Elizabethton? Well, the City is teaming up with the Chamber of Commerce to gather data and information on our existing hotels, cabins, industries, medical facilities, and other visitor generators. Gathering this data about all potential visitors will give us an idea of how many people are actually visiting Elizabethton and Carter County on a regular basis. We can then use this information to share with hotel developers and get our “foot in the door,” if you will, and have the opportunity to discuss our city and our county further with them. The ultimate goal at this point is to get to a site visit!

Hotels are businesses and just like other business the numbers have to work for them to be successful. But locally we must also realize that getting a hotel in Elizabethton or Carter County will not fix our economic condition. It would certainly be a step in the right direction, but it would be just one step in the mile long journey of developing a tourist industry in Carter County. Working together, all cities, communities, and the county we must create a tourism development plan and start walking hand-in-hand down the same path to fulfill that plan. Only then will we see an improvement in tourism within the County. Let’s talk about it!