This spring I had the opportunity to attend the spring conference for the Southeast Tourism Society. At this seminar guest lecturers from the tourism industry gave attendees updates on tourism trends concerning what people are doing, where they are going, how they use technology to plan their travel, where they spend money, and what they expect out of their travel experiences. Last week I had the opportunity to have a one and one half hour private consultation with Judy Randall of Randall Travel Marketing. Judy is one of our nation’s foremost travel and tourism experts. She was also a speaker at the seminar I had recently attended. Judy gave me the opportunity to talk about DeKalb County. Her role was to help me utilize proven travel trends to help us plan how we promote and advertise DeKalb County.
*Festivals are still big, and growing due to the fact they offer lots of things to do that are fast paced, entertaining and are usually full of music and food and don’t cost much to attend.
*Attractions are changing too. The high tech attractions that are visual and electronic oriented are very popular among thirty-five and younger ages while the Baby Boomers and seniors like more traditional scenic or educational attractions.
*Motorcycle tourism is big now due to high gas prices and the popularity of group motorcycle clubs. We get a lot of motorcycle tours here especially on the Lookout Mountain Parkway.
Here in DeKalb County we are blessed with beautiful scenery, easy driving tours and lots of places to go and things to do. Our primary audience here is the Baby Boomers who enjoy the beautiful relaxing venues we have to offer. Of the younger population we attract those who have an outdoor preference. Those who like hiking, bicycling or do more adventure sports like rock climbing, repelling, kayaking, etc
