Kentucky’s tourism industry experienced historic success in 2023, generating a record $13.8 billion in economic impact and supporting 95,222 jobs, according to a report released by the Kentucky Department of Tourism, Arts and Heritage.
The state welcomed 79.3 million visitors, up 4.5 percent from last year, who spent a total of $9.7 billion across a range of categories.
In Perry County, tourism spending is expected to increase by $1.5 million from 2022 to 2023, from $57.8 million to $59.3 million. Local officials and business owners say they too are feeling the impact of tourism in the area.
Hazard Downtown Coordinator Bailey Richards said she believes a few factors are contributing to the increase in local tourism.
“Tourism is having a big impact right now,” Richards said. “When people come here, they’re ready to buy things. The Downtown Strategic Plan that was done a while ago included a very detailed market analysis, and it puts the daytime population at over 53,000. The normal population is about 5,000, so that’s 10 times that. On any given day, the normal population is about 10 times as large. This isn’t necessarily due to tourism, but it’s interesting. I mean, people are coming to work, to school, to shop. We’re kind of a retail hub.”
In recent years, Richards said, several events have been organized, including Big Idea Fest and the North Fork Musical Festival, and the county has also seen the emergence of new attractions, such as Leatherwood Off-Road Park, all of which have brought new patrons who stay multiple nights in the county and city.
“We get quite a few people who come for day trips just because they think this might be an interesting place to explore,” Richards said. “We had a group come from North Carolina recently who stayed for two days, and we’re starting to see more of that. We also get people who drive up because they heard about the hazard, read an article about it or saw something online. We’ve seen a big increase in that number.”
Thirty-four new businesses have opened in Hazard since 2022, Richards said.
“Since then, we’ve expanded two downtown locations and outgrown the space, and one of them has pivoted its business to an online model,” she said.
Hazard Coffee Company owner Steven Prosser said his business is benefiting.
“Hazard Coffee Company is like a central hub for coffee shops,” Prosser said. “People who are passing by stop here. We host a lot of local events that draw people from the outside community, and we also have a lot of people who stop by on their way to other places in the area. We get a lot of people from out of town, whether they’re going to the valley or visiting family, and they make sure to stop here.”
Prosser also noted an unexpected uptick in business following recent flooding in the area.
“We’ve been incredibly busy since the floods,” he said, “and since then we’ve had a constant stream of people coming from all over the area to help build houses, do contracting work or even just do assessments. There’s been a huge negative impact from the floods, but there’s also been subtle positive side effects from people helping each other and seeing how much they enjoy being in the area.”
Perry County Pathfinders President Desi Jarrell said tourism has a direct impact on local events.
“Pathfinders has traditionally engaged with local people, but with the introduction of monthly events like the full moon hikes, we’re starting to attract people from other counties who have heard about the hikes,” Jarrell said. “We’re finding new ways and doing our best to reach as many people as possible. I think we’ve seen an increase in activity over the past year, and I think it’s mostly due to the consistency of the events and people looking forward to them. With each hike we host, we’re seeing more and more new people. We’re seeing more people from neighboring counties coming to Perry County to participate in our events.”
Terry Feltner, president of the Hazard Perry County Tourism Bureau, said interest in local attractions is growing.
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in tourism because of the new trails at Perry County Park,” Feltner said, “The events that we sponsor throughout the year definitely bring a lot of people to the area. All of the new festivals and events that have been added to the community have definitely increased attendance. We’ve definitely seen an increase in tourism, but I think there’s a lot that we haven’t taken advantage of yet.”
Feltner said tourism plays a vital role in the economy.
“We’ve talked to organizers of several events that they’d like to host here,” she said, “and I think we all recognize that tourism is a very important part of Eastern Kentucky now that a lot of our industries have been shut down. Tourism is going to be our main source of revenue for the time being.”
Feltner said there are several events and attractions that bring people to Perry County.
“I think the Black and Gold Festival is probably the single biggest tourist draw we have, and it’s a three-day event, so that helps,” Feltner said. “The second biggest event is Small Town Christmas. If you add up all the trail events we have throughout the year, I think it’s probably our third biggest event, and of course we get a lot of visitors to the county fair.”
Feltner said the tourism bureau is open to new ideas to boost local tourism.
“We want the community to know that we’re always open to new ideas,” she said, “and we’re happy to support any new ideas, especially with a two-day event. We can’t do everything, but we welcome anyone to come and suggest things to us and explore possibilities for the event in the form of sponsorship or publicity. Anything we can do to help, anything that will help us get more people staying in our hotels and eating in our restaurants, we’re happy to help.”
