TUSCUMBIA-Tour buses are rolling into town with increased frequency as Colbert County Tourism and Convention Bureau reaches out to group travelers around the world.
The groups are coming from nearby communities and other countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.
As part of the effort to promote the Shoals as a group travel destination, two busloads of employees and officials from Daikin America’s Decatur facility spent Saturday, April 16 touring attractions including the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, FAME Recording Studios and Ivy Green, the Home of Helen Keller.
“Everybody had a great time,” said Forrest Keith, community relations and general affairs manager for Daikin America in Decatur. “Several of the people in our group had never visited any of the attractions in the Shoals and others had not visited any of the attractions in many years. Everybody was wide-eyed and excited as they learned about the history of FAME Studios, the many great musicians from Alabama who are part of the Music Hall of Fame and the life of Helen Keller.”
At Ivy Green, the cast of “The Miracle Worker” performed several scenes from the play.
Dr. Kenji Hamada, an Oregon optometrist and civic leader, who helped sponsor the Daikin America tour, said Colbert County is an amazing destination for group and individual travelers.
“It has so much history and beauty. I love this region of the country,” Hamada said as he toured Ivy Green with the Daikin America group. “Everywhere I go, I tell people they need to visit the Muscle Shoals area. “
Hamada said the Daikin America tour will help boost tourism in the Shoals as tour participants tell their family and friends about the attractions they visited.
Susann Hamlin, president and CEO of Colbert County Tourism, said group travel is a growing segment of the tourism industry.
Hamlin and Kathryn Balch, sales and marketing representative for Colbert County Tourism, attend numerous travel shows and stay in touch with group travel organizers to promote the county as a destination. The tourism bureau can assist group travelers in all phases of planning their trip, including providing guides to accompany them during their visit.
Hamlin said those efforts have been highly successful and she expects this year to be one of the busiest ever for group travel in Colbert County.
In addition to Colbert Tourism reaching out to group travelers, Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourism
State Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow
Association is promoting the Shoals and other north Alabama communities as a destination for tourists from Japan.
State Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow of Red Bay suggested promoting north Alabama to Japanese tourists after visiting Japan in 2015. Morrow said many of the people he met in Japan were familiar with the musical heritage of the Muscle Shoals area, the aerospace industry in Huntsville and other north Alabama attractions.
Alabama Mountain Lakes President and CEO Tammy Reist said the organization has created itineraries for seven tours across north Alabama that are being marketed to Japanese tourists.
Hamlin expects the efforts to bring Japanese tourists to the Shoals will be highly successful.
“We have people from across the country and from around the world who say they love our area,” Hamlin said. “We just have to let everyone know what we have to offer and that we are open for tourism. We are working hard to do that, along with the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association and the Alabama Tourism Department.”
