The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce has operated the Blacksburg & Christiansburg Visitor Center since the two town-focused business chambers merged in March 2003. After a campaign by the chamber and lodging partners, the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg increased their occupancy tax rates with 1% dedicated to support the Blacksburg & Christiansburg Tourism Development Council (BCTDC) beginning in fiscal year 2005 (July). Montgomery County also joined in providing financial support for this joint tourism marketing effort, and all related contracts were finalized by early 2007.
This approach created a pool of funds to promote tourism at a regional level without direct cost to localities or taxpayers. The initiative could complement other efforts individual businesses or each government may have already had in place, or planned to launch independently. The justification for this funding was based on an understanding that collaborative approaches had proven effective in other areas of the country, and these provided better results than fragmented marketing efforts. Results could be measured by the number of occupied room nights, with this average showing related tax revenues derived through meals and lodging taxes and the 1% of state sales tax which returns to the county.
The Director of Tourism for the BCTDC, Shane Adams, recently presented both Blacksburg and Christiansburg town councils with a summary of the Tourism Research and Strategic Plan prepared by Randall Travel Marketing, Inc.
The BCTDC executive summary doesn’t do Christiansburg any good if it is not read or discussed.