Why Shop Local?- December 2008

by Stephanie Movre, Executive Director, Holly Springs Tourism Bureau

     We have all heard time and time again to shop locally, especially during the holiday season, but here are just a few reasons why shopping locally is so important:

     1. Protect Local Character and Prosperity- By choosing to support locally owned businesses, you help maintain Holly Springs’ diversity and distinctive flavor.

     2. Community Well-Being- Locally owned businesses build strong neighborhoods by sustaining communities, linking neighbors, and by contributing more to local causes.

     3. Local Decision Making- Local ownership means that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and who will feel the impacts of those decisions.

     4. Keeping Dollars in the Local Economy- Your dollars spent in locally-owned businesses have three times the impact on your community as dollars spent at national chains. When shopping locally, you simultaneously create jobs, fund more city services through sales tax, invest in neighborhood improvement and promote community development.

     5. Job and Wages- Locally owned businesses create more jobs locally and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than chains do.

     6. Entrepreneurship- Entrepreneurship fuels America’s economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.

     7. Public Benefits and Costs- Local stores in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure and make more efficient use of public services relative to big box stores and strip shopping malls.

     8. Environmental Sustainability- Local stores help to sustain vibrant, compact, walkable town centers-which in turn are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile use, habitat loss, and air and water pollution.

     9. Competition- A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.

     10. Product Diversity- A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based, not on a national sales plan, but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.

     It’s important this holiday season that we are all very conscious of our impact on the community. Each time we spend a dollar, we would do well to weigh the full value of our choices, not solely to ourselves immediately, but for the future we want in our own hometowns.

Tourism Traffic report

* Unfortunately with the turning weather and the holidays, we are entering our slow season but have had a great year overall! We’ve received just under 3,000 guests here at the tourism bureau so far this year!!! We look forward to welcoming many more in the coming months. As always, if you need any additional information on attractions and events in the Holly Springs’ area, please visit our website at www.visithollysprings.org where you can also sign up to receive our email news letter. You can also give us a call at 662-252-2515 or stop by our office for a visit, 104 E. Gholson Ave.!

Tourism Professionals Gather in Georgia- September 2008

by Stephanie Movre, Executive Director, Holly Springs Tourism Bureau

     I just returned from Dahlonega, GA where I completed the second portion of a three-year professional development program that will lead to certification as a Tourism Marketing Professional (TMP).

     I was one of 300 tourism professionals enrolled at the Southeast Tourism Society Marketing College held earlier last month.  The week-long program turns the facilities of North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega, Ga., into a laboratory to teach tourism marketing each summer.

     There is no other professional development program like the STS Marketing College, and it is recognized nationally for its training of tourism leaders. 418 people have earned TMP certification.

     “In the tourism industry, TMP certification carries a lot of weight,” said Bill Hardman, president and CEO of the Southeast Tourism Society, a 12-state organization that promotes travel and tourism in the Southeast. The Society is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

     The STS Marketing College began in 1992 to provide continuing education for tourism professionals.  Tourism ranks as the first-, second- or third-largest industry in each STS member state. Students come from convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, attractions, hotels and other segments of the tourism industry.

     The curriculum covers topics such as family vacation research, special events marketing, media relations and creative advertising.  Heritage tourism and community/rural tourism are courses that have attracted special interest in recent years.

     Some of my favorite topics included branding, in which the instructor suggested a citywide branding campaign to create a cohesive image for the entire town of Holly Springs—an idea I would love to tackle in the future. I also really enjoyed the statistics I received on international marketing. Who knew the People’s Republic of China was one of the world’s fastest growing travel groups?! I was also very excited to learn that the international traveler is very interested in our country’s history and culture—both things Holly Springs is very rich in.

     As with the year before, I gained even more knowledge and resources I was able to bring back to Holly Springs and look forward to implementing many new ideas in the coming year!

Tourism Traffic report

*We had a great turn out for the Hummingbird Migration Celebration and just beautiful weather! I, along with Amy Heaton of the Chamber of Commerce helped Audubon staff welcome over 8500 nature enthusiasts. We passed out information on the area as well as hand fans imprinted with a list of our upcoming events. Hopefully many of the guests will come back to enjoy our future events!

*Here at the tourism office we have welcomed 2,174 guests so far this year and have four upcoming group tours!

Tourism is a Science and a Business to Attract Visitors- August 2008

by Stephanie Movre, Executive Director, Holly Springs Tourism Bureau

     Tourism helps a community become more attractive and prosperous - more attractive, because a community must be appealing to draw and satisfy visitors; more prosperous, because these visitors spend money.

     Visitors who enjoy and appreciate our community are likely to spend more money, come back again (perhaps often), and recommend it to their friends. As a tourist center becomes more popular, word spreads fast to create a reputation as an attractive, hospitable, and satisfying place to visit or spend a vacation which is a phenomenon we have experienced at the Tourism Bureau first hand. When we poll visitors on how they heard about us, 9 out of 10 times it was through a friend.

     Tourism is the science and business of attracting visitors, accommodating and serving them. Like any business or industry, it needs the moral and financial support of the entire community. Although certain businesses receive the bulk of the tourist dollars—e.g. motels, hotels, resorts, restaurants, gift shops, retail stores, tourist attractions, gasoline stations and transportation companies—secondary businesses also benefit.

     This latter group includes construction firms, laundries, food and other types of wholesalers and suppliers, public utilities, entertainment places and local services -
barbers, hairdressers, printers, photographers, even doctors and dentists. Thus, everyone in the community eventually benefits financially, either directly or indirectly.

     According to recent estimates, two travelers in Mississippi spend about $50 to $60 per day on lodging, meals, recreation, sightseeing, and shopping. By attracting 100 additional visitors per day for a year, an established tourist area would gain about 100 new, part- or full-time jobs, $960,000 in personal income, $192,000 in bank deposits, and tax money to pay for the education of 42 children for one year.

     The Holly Springs Tourism Bureau is proud of the leaps and bounds made by both the city of Holly Springs and its residents. We are also proud sponsors of local events such as the fast approaching Hummingbird Migration Celebration, the Vietnam Memorial Wall Replica, the Kudzu Festival, the Christmas Home Tour as well as the recently completed Ida B. Wells-Barnett Festival and Commemorative Banquet, North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic and Pilgrimage of Homes.

Tourism Traffic report

*We are excited to open our doors once again to the many nature enthusiasts set to gather at this year’s Hummingbird Migration Celebration at Strawberry Plains Audubon Center. Last year over 8,000 came out for the event and we hope for over 10,000 this year! The Chamber and the Tourism Bureau will be sharing a booth, distributing materials about Holly Springs to visitors. We encourage businesses to offer visitors any specials or extend their regular business hours to attract visitors to town, and we will be happy to pass on the information. Please visit us at www.visithollysprings.org or give us a call at 662-252-2515 for more information.

*Here at the tourism office we have welcomed 2,058 guests so far this year and have six upcoming group tours!

 Famous London Black Cabs Touting Travel to Mississippi- July 2008

by Stephanie Movre, Executive Director, Holly Springs Tourism Bureau

     The Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau along with the Tourism Division of the Mississippi Development Authority have recently launched a one month moving promotional campaign involving the famous black cabs one sees in London, England. The campaign consists of 120 taxis with 90 in London and 15 each in Manchester and Glasgow.  The cities selected were determined by their transatlantic air service along with population.

     Each taxi carries tip seats panels in the interior of the taxi which communicate to a captive audience in the back of the taxi normally on a one-to-one basis for an average of 16 minutes. The exterior of the taxies display various images of Mississippi along with the web address, www.visitmississippi.org.

     Craig Ray, director Tourism Development, Mississippi Development Authority said, “We are excited about this different approach to traditional advertising and promotion. This is literally a moving billboard that constantly is delivering a message to a huge international audience.

     International visitors from the United Kingdom constitute the third largest number of travelers to Mississippi. United Kingdom visitors represent 15.8% of the Top Ten registrants at the highway Welcome Centers.

     “We anticipate a significant increase in our international visitors. The weakness of the dollar presents a great value for them. Their vacations usually consist of several weeks. We know they have visited the major metropolitan cities and when they return to the United States they are looking for the authentic Southern experience, Mississippi offers just that,” added Ray.

     If anyone is looking for true southern hospitality, antebellum splendor, outdoor recreation and of course Elvis at Graceland Too, Holly Springs is the perfect destination!

Tourism Traffic report

*We are happy to report that the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic held in Potts Camp, July 4^th and 5^th, was a huge success! The Tourism Bureau and the Holly Springs Chamber of Commerce shared a booth at the event, inviting visitors to spend a little time in our great city. We were excited to be on hand to greet many of the 3600 festival patrons as well as new, and potential, neighbors who moved to our area due to the true hospitality they have experienced.

*A great crowd also turned out for the unveiling of our first Blues Trail Marker honoring R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, July 3^rd, on the square. Many here for the Picnic came a day early just to see the new marker and then joined us at Annie’s for a small Hill Country Blues party later that evening. Many thanks to Sara Davis, Kenny Brown, Chico Harris, Fat Possum Records, the North Mississippi Allstars, the Kimbrough and Burnsides family, as well as private donors from all over the world for making the marker possible! If you’d like to help us with additional markers, you can make a donation on our website (www.visithollysprings.org) as well as on our MySpace (www.myspace.com/hollyspringsbluestrail).

*Here at the tourism office we have welcomed 1,664 guests so far this year and have 5 upcoming group tours!

Holly Springs Honors Local Blues Legends- June 2008

by Stephanie Movre, Executive Director, Holly Springs Tourism Bureau

     Holly Springs is now adding yet another feature to our already impressive list of visitor attractions.  We will receive our first of four Mississippi Blues Trail markers honoring Holly Springs and Marshall County blues legends R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough Thursday, July 3^rd, on the corner of Van Dorn and North Center Street!

     We all know that Mississippi is the birthplace of America's music. Blues, country, rock 'n roll - they all started right here. From blues legends Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and B.B. King to the king of rock 'n roll, Elvis Presley, to the father of country music, Jimmie Rodgers - the only place you'll find the history, heritage, legends and folklore that surrounds the sounds of America's music is Mississippi and we are excited for Holly Springs to be a part of it!

     To honor these music legends, the Mississippi Blues Commission was established and began work to place markers at key sites in Mississippi to honor Blues musicians and give visitors insight into this unique musical heritage. As these 200 plus Blues Trail markers are being unveiled, visitors have not only gained a firsthand appreciation for the people and places that inspired the invention of Blues music, but are also touring other places throughout the state as they travel from one marker to the other.

     The marker will feature high-resolution maps, photographs and text and will eventually employ the latest technology to allow visitors to hear the sounds associated with each location. A detailed Blues Trail map will also be available that will provide driving directions, GPS coordinates and basic information for each site.

     The unveiling of the new marker is tentatively scheduled for noon on the square with short performances given by family and friends of Burnside and Kimbrough who made the purchase of this marker possible. Two unforgettable tribute concerts were held at Proud Larry’s in Oxford May 31^st and June 4^th thanks to Sara Davis and Chico Harris where friends and family (including Gary Burnside, Joe Ayers, Calvin Jackson, Kenny Brown, Cedric Burnside, Lightnin Malcolm, Dixie Dan [who flew in from Michigan for the event] and the Hill Country Review) all performed to help raise money for the markers. We would also like to thank Danny Klimetz (www.captured-photography.net) for unforgettable images of the event as well as Fat Possum Records and the North Mississippi Allstars for their private donations.

     Once the first marker is placed we will begin fundraising for additional markers to honor: The Johnson Brothers/ Rust College (Holly Springs), The Myers Brothers (Byhalia) and Rufus Thomas (Cayce).

Tourism Traffic report

* We had a great turnout for this year’s Spring Pilgrimage, April 18^th- 20^th. Numbers were up 45% all thanks to the hard work of not only the Holly Springs Garden Club, but also the entire town who made guests feel so welcome.

*It’s time to celebrate not only our independence but our blues history at the North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, July 4^th and 5^th out in Potts Camp. Last year the event drew over 2,000 people and we are expecting an even larger crowd this year! For more information on the event go to: http://hillcountrypicnic.wordpress.com or call 888-687-4765.

*Here at the tourism office we have welcomed 1,425 guests so far this year, 588 in the month of April alone, and have scheduled 11 upcoming group tours!

Holly Springs Receives Small CVB of the Year- March 2008

by Stephanie Movre, Executive Director, Holly Springs Tourism Bureau

We recently returned from the Governor’s Conference on Tourism, which was held at the Jackson TelCom Center—where we received top honors as Outstanding Small Tourism Bureau of the Year!

The conference, presented by the Mississippi Tourism Association, gives those in the tourism industry an opportunity to learn from leaders in the industry through two days of seminars which include topics such as: “Getting a Yes in a No Town” and “Effectively Using the Internet and MySpace”—in which the Holly Springs Tourism Bureau MySpace site (www.myspace.com/visithollysprings) was spotlighted.

The conference concluded with an awards luncheon where Governor Haley Barbour gave the keynote address. Governor Barbour stressed the importance of tourism to the Mississippi economy and congratulated all award recipients. Wanda Collier-Wilson, Executive Director of the Jackson, MS, Convention and Visitors Bureau and 2008 President of the Mississippi Tourism Association, and Craig Ray, Director of the Mississippi Development Authority Tourism Division, announced the winners.

Award categories included Travel Writer of the Year, Community Volunteer of the Year, Governmental Friend of Tourism, Member of the Year, Attraction of the Year, Festival/ Event of the Year as well as Outstanding Convention and Visitors Bureau of the Year—where Holly Springs won in the small bureau category.

Four “Outstanding Convention and Visitors Bureaus” were awarded, within four categories based on budget size. Recognized for outstanding efforts in promoting tourism in the area through events and activities that generate visitors, all winners showed their willingness to work with surrounding tourism endeavors that not only promote their own, but also other partners as well.

Holly Springs was commended for all of the hard work its residents have invested—not only into tourism, but into preservation, beautification, and other tirelessly committed efforts that ensure that our visitors can continue to enjoy a glimpse of the Old South in the Antebellum Capitol of the Mid-South.  I was proud to accept the award on behalf of the entire town of Holly Springs, and I look forward to one day also accepting the award for Outstanding Large Bureau of the Year!

Other winners were Desoto County Tourism, Ridgeland Tourism Commission and the Tunica Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. For more information on additional winners, please visit the Media Services page on www.visithollysprings.org .

Tourism Traffic report

*Spring is almost here and the tourism office is already buzzing with excitement over the 70th Annual Spring Pilgrimage- “A Festival of Art & Architecture”, April 18th- 20th. This year’s event is sure to be a crowd pleaser, including arts & crafts vendors, re-enactors, storytellers, and even an evening supper at Montrose Saturday, April 19th , featuring live music from “The Digs” and a silent auction. All are encouraged to attend to not only enjoy the festivities, but to share their own unique stories with visitors. Please visit our website at www.visithollysprings.org for a full list of events as well as to register for free tickets.

* Walking Horse Classic, held March 15th at the Marshall County Fairgrounds, was a huge success! Thank you to all volunteers and supporters.

*Here at the tourism office we have welcomed 427 guests so far this year and have already scheduled 20 group tours!

Blues Traveling in Holly Springs- December 2007

by Stephanie Movre, Executive Director, Holly Springs Tourism Bureau

            December was a busy time at the tourism bureau. We received one of our most interesting guests—performer-lecturer-author, Steve Cheseborough.

Steve is known to bring life to the acoustic country blues and hokum of the 1920s and '30s in the tradition of Blind Boy Fuller, Memphis Minnie, Charley Patton, Robert Johnson and Bo Carter – by re-creating the music and recounting the lives, legends and lore of the fascinating men and women who created the blues, and the land they came from. He is a respected authority on the blues, author-photographer of the acclaimed guidebook Blues Traveling: the Holy Sites of Delta Blues, and a contributor to Living Blues, Acoustic Guitar and other magazines and newspapers. He speaks and performs in the Starz! TV documentary Last of the Mississippi Jukes, also featuring Morgan Freeman and Chris Thomas King, and is host and musical director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s nationally distributed “Blues Breaks.”

            I was excited to meet Steve, since many people have come into the tourism bureau holding his book, especially during the Mississippi Hill Country Blues Picnic in July. All have asked me about a somewhat odd-ball record shop mentioned in the book, but I had no idea where it could be, so I asked my new friend. He chided me for not recognizing what some believe to be an essential blues connection in Holly Springs—Aikei Pro’s. Clearly, a guided tour of Holly Springs was in order—him guiding me through the blues, me guiding him through the rest.

            We began our quest at Rust College where Ray Autry, Director of Public Relations, gave us a personal tour of the campus. At the library, we looked through the Roy Wilkins Collection, and found wonderful pictures of the Northeast Mississippi Blues and Gospel Music Folk Festival held at Rust many years ago.

            After a quick visit to the Rust radio station, a tight schedule forced us to bypass Rust’s wonderful art collection and International Room (which I highly recommend), and we hurried to our next stop to see David Caldwell, aka Aikei Pro.

            Although a bit difficult to access, due to stacks and stacks of random treasures—from cigarettes to old audio equipment—Mr. Caldwell receives guests from all over the world. He showed us his guestbook which, we were surprised to see, is actually the thesis of Sylvester Oliver, the professor credited with creating the Rust blues and gospel festival. It included pages and pages of random signatures, some from years ago, some from just the week before.

            This fun trip taught me that no matter how much I think I have learned… there is always more to this amazing and unique town.

Tourism Traffic report: December 2007

* If you didn’t get to take one of the Christmas Home Tours the first two weekends of December, you really missed out! Everything was more beautiful than I could have imagined, and we received great responses from all who attended. Crump Place had a pianist and costumed guides welcoming visitors as they entered, and the tables at the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery Luncheon were absolutely stunning! I’m also excited to report that Holly Springs will be featured in the November 2008 issue of Desoto Magazine for our wonderful antebellum Christmas! Check out the photo gallery section on our website: www.visithollyspring.org for images of the event. Thank you so much to all volunteers, homeowners and the Marshall County Historical Museum for putting on such a grand event!

* At Graceland Too, Paul Macleod welcomed 17 fans from the Altamont School in Birmingham, AL. All were clad in homemade “We Love Paul Macleod” t-shirts. Paul, of course, couldn’t let them leave without snapping a few pictures.

* Here at the tourism office we welcomed 45 guests. Many were students from around the area who were on break, had heard about our charming town and were eager to see it during their short time off.

Shop Locally!- November 2007

by Stephanie Movre, Executive Director, Holly Springs Tourism Bureau

Want to avoid the long lines this season? Shop locally!

     Just looking at our charming town square, it is evident that the disappearance of local businesses leaves a social and economic void that is easily seen and felt in communities both large and small. Most people embrace the idea of distinctive businesses with local character, but often have no idea of the true economic impact of these businesses to their communities and forget that the survival of these businesses depends on their patronage.

     When shopping locally, you simultaneously: create jobs, fund more city services through sales tax, invest in neighborhood improvement and promote community development. In fact-- if each household in Marshall County simply redirected just $100 of planned holiday spending from chain stores to locally owned merchants, the local economic impact would reach almost $2 million!

     A recent study discovered that for every $100 spent at chain stores, only $13 is returned to the community, while the same amount spent with a local merchant returns $45! With much of their life savings invested in their businesses, local owners have a natural interest in the long-term health of the community, so dollars spent at these merchants are recycled back into the community. Buying locally creates an impact in the local economy up to five times that of a chain store, due to the fact that profits of chain businesses are promptly exported to corporate headquarters, often in another state.

     Large chains often have a negative effect on local jobs. Entrepreneurship fuels America’s economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class. Many large chains supply lower wages, fewer benefits and often drive employees into a need for financial government assistance. Also, although they boast of creating hundreds of jobs, chain outlets often displace more jobs than they created.

     Each time we spend a dollar, we should consider the full value of our choices and remember that each dollar is a vote for the future direction of our community. The votes we cast with our dollars every day influence our community at least as much as those cast on election days.

     Although chain stores serve their communities by delivering a consistent level of goods and services, each year seems to bring more national chains displacing locally owned businesses. We can reverse the trend by casting our figurative ballot and voting for the continued strength and vitality of our community by shopping locally!

Tourism Traffic report: November 2007

* Unfortunately with the turning weather and the holidays, we are entering our slow season. We received just under 100 guests here at the tourism bureau but we are welcoming the slower pace to begin preparations for the spring Pilgrimage, April 18th- 20th. Ladies—get those hoop skirts ready and spread the word… the 2008 Pilgrimage will be better than ever!

Heritage Tourism- October 2007

by Stephanie Movre, Executive Director, Holly Springs Tourism Bureau