Rickey Thigpen is hopeful for the future. Despite seeing revenues dip by nearly 28 percent in the last two months, he believes Visit Jackson will be able to weather the storm and eventually thrive.
Visit Jackson is the city’s cultural and tourism promotion agency.
The group is funded with a one-percent hotel and restaurant tax.
Diversions to the agency in March and April fell by almost $177,000, a roughly 28 percent drop compared to the same two months last year.
However, the worst could be yet to come, with diversions from April and May sales not expected to be known until June and July.
In April and most of May, restaurants across the state were closed to dine-in customers, with many establishments having to shut their doors entirely. Hotel revenues during those months also dried up.
Even with the decreases, Thigpen said the agency should be able to weather the decreased revenues, with Visit Jackson having built up a sizeable reserve.
The reserves are required for the agency to maintain certification through Destinations International. Visit Jackson is one of three bureaus in the state accredited by the organization. “Thank God we have not had to utilize those funds yet,” he said. “We probably will have to for the long-haul.”
Coronavirus restrictions have led to a downturn in the economy, hitting restaurants, hotels and the travel industry across the country especially hard.
Sonoma County Tourism, in Sonoma County, Cal., was expected to cut its $8 million budget by nearly a quarter this year, according to a March 20 article in the North Bay Business Journal. Like Visit Jackson, the Sonoma agency is funded by an assessment on hotels and other lodging in the area. Those revenues have fallen off as a result of the Golden State’s lockdown.
In April, Don Welsh, president and CEO of Destinations International told CBS MarketWatch that “destination management organizations” across the country have had to cut staff, either temporarily or permanently, as a result of coronavirus.
So far, Visit Jackson has not had to lay off employees. However, staffers are taking one furlough day each week to help cut expenses. The group has 17 full-time employees. “I furloughed myself, actually,” Thigpen said. “Everybody is taking a share of it.”
Visit Jackson also has temporarily closed its visitor center and has cut national and regional advertising. “Revenues are down, so it would be irresponsible to run an ad saying, ‘come visit us this weekend,’ when people can’t come visit us,” Thigpen said.
Visit Jackson is funded by a one-percent sales tax placed on all hotels and most restaurants in the capital city. Revenues reported for March and April were based on collections from February and March, before the most restrictive of the COVID-19 shutdown rules were put in place.
Data from April and May sales tax collections will be made available in the coming weeks. Thigpen doesn’t know how the agency will make up the lost revenue. However, he does expect tourism in Jackson to bounce back quicker than larger markets.
He believes some people will be unwilling to board a plane or travel overseas as a result of the virus. He also believes many people will be wary of larger tourist attractions, which draw larger crowds and offers the potential of spreading corona further.
Thigpen said the agency will be looking at marketing strategies to reach travelers within a 500-mile radius of the city.
“People are not going to be going to New York, Chicago, Atlanta and LA,” Thigpen said. “They’ll be going to smaller destinations where they feel safer.”
