KINGSTREE — An expert said passion, commitment and champions are needed to go the extra mile and make tourism a success in Florence and Williamsburg counties.
Robert Cleverdon, director of international projects of the Irish company Tourism Development International, made his comment to local public officials during a Thursday forum at Brown’s BBQ in Kingstree.
The public forum was designed to focus on how the counties can build on their current tourism product and find ideas for the future, Florence Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Holly Young said earlier in the week.
“The key is matching tourism with what tourists are wanting,” said Peter MacNulty, managing director of Tourism Development International. In November 2005, New Carolina’s Tourism Cluster Committee commissioned a study by MacNulty to complete a statewide Tourism Action Plan, which included a call for planning at the regional level.
MacNulty said when visitors stop in your town, you should ask them what they’re looking for in tourism attractions.
Florence and Williamsburg counties have the “raw ingredients” of friendliness, beautiful and distinctive landscapes and historical sights, which should be packaged and marketed based on visitors’ individual interests, MacNulty said.
“The Black River is a gem in the rough,” said Diane Boyd, a member of the Williamsburg Chamber and a real estate agent. When you are used to living in an area, Boyd said, you don’t realize the benefits of the attractions you have.
Johnsonville City Councilman Brad Richardson said he thinks his town still has the persona of being a great place to build a family. He said he thinks his town could benefit by offering a tourism attraction possibly two or three times a year, in the spring and fall.
“We all have limited resources, but we all need to capitalize on what we do have,” Scott Williamson of the Williamsburg Chamber said.
“We need to collaborate, not compete, to be successful,” said Briley Altman, director of Lake City’s National Bean Market Museum.
Altman said he thinks Lake City can become an “authentic” tourism site for South Carolina. Lake City residents have a sense of real excitement and positive anticipation of things to come, he said. Kingstree has beautiful colonial buildings and Johnsonville has the Lynches River, Altman said.
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