“Hotel stays are down just a little bit but the entire state is experiencing the same thing.
They’re down across the board,” Bivens said. “Our budget is a little bit less for this year but we still have a healthy outlook. Hopefully things will get better.” The LTA gives an annual amount to the Denton FarmPark, where the 29th Annual Bluegrass Music Festival was held. Bivens said that event led to 100 hotel rooms being rented in the area and approximately $7,000 in revenue for local hoteliers. “We’ll have to re-evaluate, make some adjustments to advertising and watch our spending very closely,” Bivens said. “We’re going to have to ask ‘Did we net business from that’ — from that particular event that we granted money for.” The board also approved $13,600 to the Barbecue Festival for printing brochures and production of billboards. The 26th annual festival is scheduled for Oct. 24. Bivens and others attended the N.C. Travel Industry Association’s “Tourism Day Extravaganza” earlier this week for state lawmakers at the Legislative Building in Raleigh. Cecil Conrad, LTA’s board chairman and part owner of the Barbecue Center, cooked some Lexington-style barbecue for legislators while the Kinston tourism organization fixed up some Eastern-style barbecue for state representatives and senators to remind them of tourism’s important role in the state’s economy. “It was a friendly rivalry,” Bivens said of the different barbecue styles. Bivens also has been keeping track of the number of visitor’s to the city’s new welcome center on East Center Street. Since it opened in December, the number of visitors has doubled, she added. The LTA used to lease space in the Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce’s offices.
A bike race that was a surprise success last year will return again to uptown Lexington for another host of races in July. Bivens said she is working with Jim Martin, with the Piedmont Triad Omnium bike races, to plan another event for the weekend of July 9-11. The LTA is also working with the Bob Timberlake Gallery, the Charity League of Lexington and Childress Vineyards to host the Holiday House event at Timberlake’s studio in December.