The Unexpected Gift of Tourism: Seeing Home Through Someone Else's Eyes
A few years ago, a woman named Jackie Calvert stepped off a riverboat in Henderson, Kentucky, while on an Ohio River cruise she had been planning for quite some time. She was from Florida, and I imagine relocating to a small town in western Kentucky wasn't exactly on her bingo card. Somewhere between arriving at our riverfront and heading back to the boat, Henderson got its hooks in her. Today, Jackie calls Henderson home and has become an active, engaged member of the community she first discovered as a tourist.
As the executive director of the Henderson Tourist Commission, I consider Jackie something of a professional success story. After all, convincing someone to visit your town is one thing. Convincing them to pack up their life in Florida and move here? I'd say that's a pretty darn good ROI.
I've spent nearly a decade in my role, telling Henderson's story to anyone who will listen. One of the things I've come to appreciate most about this work is that tourism has a funny way of accomplishing things we never quite intended. Sure, we're in the business of attracting visitors, filling hotel rooms, supporting local businesses, and contributing to Kentucky's growing tourism economy. But somewhere along the way, I've realized that one of the most meaningful things we're doing is a whole lot harder to put in a board report.
We're helping people fall in love with a place. Sometimes for the first time, and sometimes all over again. We've heard from young people who grew up in our area, moved away for school or work, and are now considering a move back home. Many have mentioned keeping up with our tourism marketing while they were away, and in doing so, they've started seeing their hometown a little differently.
When you grow up somewhere, it's easy to become a little blind to what makes it special. The historic buildings are just the buildings you've always driven past. The riverfront is where you took your photos for prom. The annual festivals are just things that happen every summer. You don't necessarily think of those things as reasons someone might choose to spend their hard-earned vacation time in your hometown. But seeing your community through the eyes of someone discovering it for the first time can make the familiar look pretty extraordinary. We spend our days finding the stories worth telling, from the music spilling onto our streets during the W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival to the people behind the counter at a local business who make a stranger feel like an old friend. We're packaging those stories for the outside world, but I love knowing our neighbors are watching, too.
There's an economic development connection here that deserves attention. In Henderson, our tourism and economic development organizations work closely together because we understand that attracting a business and its workforce and attracting a visitor aren't totally different endeavors. Our economic development partners are all-stars at bringing the right people together and making a compelling business case for investing here. Our role is different. We're helping people picture what happens after the deal is signed. Will their employees enjoy living here? Will their families find a sense of belonging?
Kentucky's growing tourism economy supports jobs, families, and real opportunities. But there’s what I call a happy little side effect to all this storytelling that we don't talk about nearly enough. When we celebrate what's wonderful about a place for the benefit of visitors, we might just convince the people who already live there to see it in a new light. In a time when communities are working to attract talent, welcome new residents, and give young people a reason to come home, that feels pretty significant.
I don't know how many more people will step off a riverboat in Henderson and decide they'd rather stay for good. I certainly hope Jackie isn't the last. But I do know that every time we share a story about our community, we're reaching more than potential visitors. We're reaching people who grew up here, people who chose to move here, and people who've lived here their whole lives and might have forgotten why it's special. Sometimes, the best way to help people appreciate home is to show them why someone else would want to visit.
