Dougherty tourism returns to pre-COVID levels in 2021, bringing spending totaling $264 million
File Photo: Alan Mauldin
By Alan Mauldin
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ALBANY — Two and a half years into the coronavirus pandemic, which caused cancellations of events from the Snickers Marathon to sporting events as well as plays and concerts, tourism has “bounced back” in the region.
A spending and economic report for Dougherty County showed that overall tourist spending increased by 16.6 % last year over 2020, totaling $263.9 million. The report included the categories of dining, retail shopping, transportation, lodging and recreation.
“It’s very exciting, considering (COVID-19),” Rashelle Minix, executive director of the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. “We bounced back very nicely.”
The growth last year returns tourism back to pre-pandemic levels, she said.
“I really feel it’s the fact we have a lot of the attractions that a lot of the larger communities have, but ours are less congested and cost less,” Minix said. “This is one of those times when being rural is better.”
Hotel occupancy also has improved and is at 67%.
“The hotel/motel tax collections were up by 30% from last year, so that was good,” Minix said.
Spending on retail, transportation and at restaurants was up by about 15.5% last year over 2020, with restaurants seeing a 17% increase and an 8% increase for recreation.
Food and drink was the largest category of the $263.9 million total at $72 million, followed by recreation at $65.5 million and lodging at $49.9 million.
Among the biggest draws for recreation in the area is Radium Springs, but other attractions also bring people to the county, including the Flint RiverQuarium, Chehaw Park & Zoo and the Albany Civil Rights Institute.
“Radium Springs is one of our highest-trafficked (attractions) on our website,” Minix said. “Radium Springs is definitely a factor for Albany. The restaurants, as you saw in that report, restaurants did very well. For food and beverage 16% is really good.”
In recent months, despite another spike in coronavirus cases that started after the July 4 holiday, the primary cause of cancellations and rescheduling of events has been the massive amounts of rainfall. But even that didn’t dampen enthusiasm for last weekend’s Nut Roll bike ride, which also saw participation rebound to numbers not seen since before COVID.
The CVB director said she is excited about some upcoming projects, including a tennis/pickleball park and clubhouse facility in development by the Dougherty County government and regional tourism marketing.
An example of the latter includes encouraging visitorship at not only Albany’s Civil Rights Institute but other facilities including the Americus Civil Rights Center, Jack Hadley Black History Museum in Thomasville and the Leesburg Stockade Girls, Minix said.
“These are opportunities for us to bring tourists and tell the story of the South as well,” she said.
When visitors have the benefit of multiple sites to visit in the area, that means extended hotel stays and more spending at stores and restaurants while they are in town, she said.
The tourism spending supported 3,772 jobs in the county in 2021 and generated some $21.3 million in state and local taxes, which equals an approximate $622 in tax savings per household, the report said.
The tennis facility will offer the opportunity to bring tournaments, along with overnight visitors, to town.
“Having the pickleball courts is going to be tremendous,” Minix said. “We can get into the tournament field, and pickleball is big right now. There are a lot of tournaments out there we could bid on.
“I’m just looking forward to hopefully the citizens of Albany and Dougherty County will pass the SPLOST (special-purpose local-option sales tax) so these projects can move forward.”
If approved, the sales tax would provide funding for the Civil Rights Institute, Chehaw, the RiverQuarium and Thronateeska Heritage Center.
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