Lodging Needed

A common theme during my time in Stokes County has been the lack of available lodging. Here are the facts: we have nearly 1,000,000 visitors a year, they have very limited options on where to stay if they want to extend their visit.

We understand the reality of the situation, it is very unlikely that one of the large chains will pick Stokes County as a location. That means we need to look at other options: campgrounds, RV Parks and individual cabins. This idea works in other areas across the state, especially along the coast and in the sparsely populated rural areas of the Appalachian Mountains, there is no reason that it will not work here.

The EDC Board and I have discussed this in detail, along with our Planning and Envirnmental Health Departments. We believe that we can work with prospective lodging developers with the guidelines that are already in place to assist them in creating the rooms necessary to fuel tourism spending.

We already have mechanisms in place to help with marketing cabins or vacation rentals. Our PurePlay tourism website receives 70-80,000 visits each month, we work closely with Hanging Rock State Park, all our river hosts and the other tourism venues across the county. What we need are people who believe in this opportunity to step in and make things happen.

We have scheduled a meeting to discuss this matter in more detail on December 12 at 10 AM. It will be held in the third floor conference room of the Reagan Building in Danbury. I ask that if you know of anyone who shares our passion and the vision of the future to join us. Good things are taking place, be a part of it.