Dear Editor,

Our much anticipated review, an assessment and promotion plan is coming. It will be presented in a public meeting on Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the county commissioners’ meeting room.

OK, why is great? It’s great because it will give us, Effingham County, a road map to develop a tourism industry in our county. Why is that great? It’s great because tourist dollars are dollars that not only ring the bells in the cash registers of our businesses but also translate into sales tax dollars for our local governments.

And Effingham has an untapped treasure trove of history and tourist-interest sites and events. There are the many things associated with the settling of the Salzburgers in Effingham County — of  international interest. There are many sites and related events from the Civil War era —  of national interest. There are many sites and events that will attract visitors/tourist from the entire state, all of which will bring the tourists/visitors to Effingham. This will give a big boost to our economy.

The review/plan will be presented by a group of specialists in the tourism/development departments of some nine state agencies, all with different areas of interest, from agriculture to the arts to the historic venues. The group will be led by Bruce Green, director of product development from the Georgia Dept. of Economic Development.

This group spent three days in Effingham in November gathering information from citizens of the county under the guidance of the Effingham County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The work by the CVB in putting all of this together has also been supported by the Effingham County Commission. The CVB works closely with Historic Effingham Society to promote mutual interests. The Museum and Living History Site are two jewels in the county for visitors/tourists.

A part of the presentation will encompass the needed business outlets to service tourists. As the CVB begins making plans for specific events it is time for business interest to begin to prepare to address business trade.

Ruth Lee
Effingham Convention and Visitors Bureau