Local tourism officials had much to celebrate this week as the most recent impact numbers were released by the state. And it was a record year for the area.
See Somerset Tourism Director Leslie Ikerd and Somerset-Pulaski County Tourism Director Michelle Allen presented Pulaski’s 2023 tourism economic impact numbers to both Pulaski County Fiscal Court and to the Somerset Council, announcing that the county earned $150.9 million.
That is not only a record, it is more than $6 million over what was earned the year before.
Allen said that she knew 2023’s number would be more than 2022’s, but she wasn’t expecting that large of a jump.
Not only does that $150.9 million reflect the majority of the tourism impact numbers seen in the entire Lake Cumberland region – an 11-county region that saw $348 million in economic impact from tourism – but it also earned Pulaski a rank of 15th out of all 120 Kentucky counties.
Allen explained that those numbers come from Tourism Economics, an independent consulting firm hired by the commonwealth of Kentucky. Local officials have no say on how those numbers are determined.
But what she and Ikerd can say is that the importance of tourism in the commonwealth positively impacts the day-to-day lives of those who live here.
“Each household in Kentucky would need to be taxed an additional $564 if we did not receive the taxes and the dollars tourists in our community,” Allen told Somerset City Council. “… When anybody says, ‘We don’t want tourists here,’ just remember that number.”
While the exact formula for how Tourism Economics comes up with their figures isn’t know, Allen said it is a combination of three factors: Direct impact, meaning times when a tourist eats at a restaurant or pays for a service with their own dollars; indirect impact, an example of which is when a conference is held and the venue hires a caterer to serve lunch; and induced impact, when the people who are paid for their work by tourism dollars turn around and spend the money again within the community.
Ikerd also talked about how she, Allen and those in the tourism industry work to impress those who come into Somerset for business rather than as a vacation, and the impact that can have on the visitors.
“Sometimes it’s not about the overnight stays,” Ikerd said. “Sometimes it’s about bringing people here for day trips and business trips. They come here, and then they want to come back. You show them some great restaurants, and we take them shopping and do different things with them, and they want to come back and bring their families.”
Ikerd also noted that the increase in activities and festivals, especially in the downtown Somerset area, has caused a positive impact in their numbers. Since 2019, she said, downtown has become more lively on weekends and past 5 p.m.
While Somernites Cruise has been anchoring the local festival scene for the past 24 years, she said the addition of the city’s food truck and art festivals have brought people downtown.
“This past year alone, we’ve had 18,000 people just from our three events that we hosted,” Ikerd said of the city’s festivals.
She also noted that there have been many shows and events at the newly-renovated Virginia, some of which have been sold out.
And while the economic impact numbers are impressive, government officials at both meetings had questions about where the county can go from here – what new attractions might be on the horizon?
Allen said she couldn’t say there were any big plans in place, she did note that the city was looking at expanding sports tourism with an expected makeover of SomerSport park recently announced by Somerset Mayor Alan Keck.
She also said there has been a large influx of conferences and business meetings held in the area, thanks to the efforts of the Somerset-Pulaski Economic Development Authority.
The good tourism news was tempered somewhat by the knowledge that the area has lost three hotels in the past couple of years, although Allen said even that news isn’t as bad as it could be.
One hotel is being rebuilt after the original building, the Best Western near Lowes, was destroyed by fire. And Allen said the area could certainly use more hotels to replace the other two that went out of business.
But, she said, other short-term rentals like Airbnb’s are being booked frequently.
Plus, Keck added somewhat cryptically, there has been “discussion” about having a small boutique hotel downtown, which he said would benefit people wanting to stay overnight during Somernites and festivals.
'; var element = document.getElementById("sub_message"); element.appendChild(subMessage); console.log("Code Loaded!"); } else { var subMessage = document.createElement('div'); subMessage.id = 'sub-message-top'; subMessage.class = 'panel panel-default'; subMessage.style.backgroundColor = '#eee'; subMessage.style.borderRadius = '5px'; subMessage.style.padding = '10px'; subMessage.style.marginTop = '25px'; subMessage.style.marginBottom = '25px'; subMessage.innerHTML = '
Support local journalism.
Subscribe Today'; var element = document.getElementById("sub_message"); element.appendChild(subMessage); console.log("Code Loaded!"); }}
