Collegiate Times

For the excited tourist, the New River Valley offers a variety of attractions, encompassing an assortment of natural and manmade delights. Unfortunately, some of these wonders remain under the radar of both visitors and residents.

To foster economic development in the region, the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce plans to market these coveted attractions in the first-ever tourism campaign.

As a first step, the chamber already placed advertisements about the New River Valley in regional travel publications. And by fall, tourists will be able to read the new visitors? guide, peruse the new nature guide, browse the new waterfalls guide and surf through the new tourism specific Web site.

All material produced in the tourism campaign will focus specifically on lodging, retail, restaurants and other attractions in the county and within an hour and a half driving distance.

Eventually, the chamber plans on finalizing with a New River Valley-wide convention and visitors bureau.

To fund the campaign, the Montgomery County?s three municipalities agreed to raise hotel occupancy taxes by 1 percent. The legislature approved the tax raise earlier this year.

With the 1 percent raise, Christiansburg will raise approximately $100,000, Blacksburg $65,000 and Montgomery County $5,000.

Many in the hotel industry applaud the effort, citing increased tourism as a positive concept for the area.

?I support it completely,? said Jeremy Allen, the general manager of the Blacksburg AmeriSuites. ?I think that accommodation tax dollars should be used to promote tourism? And with a 1 percent increase, that?s typically less than 80 cents.?

Joan Elmore, one of the owners of the Giving Tree Inn, agrees.

?I think it?s a great idea. It gives Montgomery County a way to advertise and bring more people into the area to visit,? she said. ?If they don?t know about us, it?s difficult for people to want to come and spend time. It might cost more now, but in the long run it will bring more people and more economic investments.?

Others, however, see the attempt in a different light.

?I think this is a vain attempt to rake in more revenue? I just think it is an exuberant amount,? said Jason Guthrie, reservations manager of the Ramada Inn. ?There already is a Chamber of Commerce website; I?m not really sure what a new website is going to do.?

Because some already perceive current hotel taxes to be high, they are questioning this method.

?I have various guests who come from out of state who can?t believe the tax; it?s very high,? Guthrie said. ?Folks from North Carolina and Maryland are in awe of this.?

Guthrie added that people are mainly drawn to the area because of Virginia Tech, suggesting that tourists may visit regardless of the campaigning efforts.