May 15--Orange County believes the value of a walk in the woods, or an afternoon at a winery, or a tour of an historic site will only increase as the rural lifestyle grows in scarcity. In 2011, the county recorded a double digit increase in tourist expenditures from the year before, making a drive through the country one of Orange County's fastest growing industries.

Nearly a year ago, tourism left its obvious space in the old train station turned visitors center, for closer quarters with the county's parks and recreation department in the Sedwick Building. County administrator Julie Summs said she orchestrated the move to allow for better communication between departments that support one another.

"It was done to try and take advantage of the relationships between the departments and the work being done together," said Summs, speaking specifically about last year's Liberty Ride. "The parks and rec effort is greatly supported by tourism."

Summs said that in the past, tourism functioned as a sister department to a number of other departments, but has evolved into a stand alone entity, working in partnership with parks and rec and economic development. That independence is perhaps the result of the steady growth tourism has seen over the past few years, with some citizens using public hearings to tout tourism as the new economic development. The county's budget actually supports this idea, with tourism budgeted $182,000 to economic development's $160,000. Parks and recreation, though, represents more spending than either at $186,000.

In terms of return on investment, tourism appears to be a reliable source of economic stimulation, accounting for $41.68 million in tourist-related expenditures in 2011 and generating $1.2 million in local taxes, according to an economic impact study conducted by the Virginia Tourism Corporation. Compared to neighboring localities, Orange County holds its own for what it spends. Albemarle County is spending $1.5 million on tourism and saw nearly $300 million in related expenditures in 2011 and Spotsylvania County, the next highest spending neighbor, budgeted $706,000 this year and recorded $229 million in 2011. Louisa County actually spends close to half of Orange County's tourism budget, but saw a return of $63.85 million in 2011, while Culpeper spends more than Orange County at $280,000 last year and reported $33.22 million in purchases made by visitors.

Summs said that Orange County's neighbors aren't necessarily the county's biggest rivals when it comes to competing for visitors.

"Our peers are counties similar in size and approximate to major markets as we are," said Summs. "We can consider counties that have similar number of people but a different level of attractions. We might have a similar number of people as a county with a Kings Dominion, but we don't have that [scale] of attraction."

Tourism manager Leigh Mawyer said that Orange County's Montpelier is somewhat unique in its continued seclusion compared to counties with other presidential sites.

"Orange County is unique because most presidential homes (Monticello, Ash Lawn, Poplar Forest, Mount Vernon, etc.) are in larger localities which makes it hard to draw any comparisons with [our county]," said Mawyer. "You have to look at similar assets in order to be able to form a comparison."

Summs said that the strategy of tourism has changed with the downturn in the economy, that in the past the department attended trade shows further north and south along the east coast hoping to attract visitors for vacations, but now centers on the drivable population in the mid-Atlantic region.

"The economy has impacted tourism in a lot of different areas," said Summs. "We've gotten a strong interest from those that can drive from a few hours away, perhaps for a long weekend...We have a focus on the Washington, D.C. market, the Richmond market, markets that can be easily driven [to Orange] by visitors."

To stretch its budget as much as possible, Summs said tourism operates as a partnership strategy with private businesses, rather than that county itself attempting to attract visitor interest on its own.

"The county can invest in promoting attractions, rather than creating attractions," said Summs. "Government supports, but doesn't create industry in Orange. We have the good fortune to have wineries and Waugh Harley-Davidson, and Montpelier and Civil War sites. [Our role] is to develop the tourism infrastructure to promote the exposure of certain businesses."

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