National Travel and Tourism Week Celebrates All That Travel Is
through economic impact, unique experiences, enjoyment of community assets
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GEORGETOWN, KY – APRIL 17, 2019 – May 5 through 11 is National Travel and Tourism Week in 2019, and destinations across the country, including Georgetown/Scott County, are celebrating all the reasons #TravelMatters each day.
@TravelMatters to our economy
In 2017, each of Scott County’s 18,421 households saved more than $1,000 each because visitors spent $326,563 a day in the county. All that tourist activity generated $119,195,515 in direct tourist spending. Scott County netted a 5.5 percent increase in 2017 that, according to the 2017 Economic Impact of Kentucky Tourism report released by the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, continued a growth trend in the county and statewide that has held for more than five years.
“Tourism has a very real impact on the quality of life we enjoy in our community,” said Lori Saunders, executive director of Georgetown/Scott County Tourism.
@TravelMatters for new experiences
Situated in the midst of Kentucky Horse Country and as Kentucky’s Horse Headquarters, Georgetown offers unique and varied experiences relating to the horse. Meet champions of the turf at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm and feed carrots to such equine celebs as Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm. Explore Kentucky Horse Park, catch the Parade of Breeds Show and meander through four museums, each narrating different aspects of the story of the horse.
Ride like the wind at Whispering Woods Riding Stables. Learn or enhance riding skills with the Three Hill Farm Horsemanship Training Experience. Drop by the Steve Hockensmith Fine Art Gallery and Robert Clark Gallery for equestrian art. Attend horsey events, including the Kentucky Three Day Event, Horsey Hundred, Festival of the Horse and the National Horse Show.
@TravelMatters to our jobs
Cindy Grisolia works at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm where she wears multiple hats as media coordinator and in administration as well as serving as chairman of the board of directors.
“Opening our farm to racing fans and horse lovers from all over the globe has not only helped us support our retired equine athletes financially, but it has also allowed us to build our brand, showcase a unique Kentucky experience and, perhaps most importantly, educate the world about thoroughbred aftercare,” she said. “We couldn’t do what we do without our visitors, and it’s a thrill to welcome them every day.”
Grisolia began at Old Friends in 2005 as a volunteer and became an employee in 2014. Her favorite part of the job is event planning.
“It’s quite fun to find new ways to enhance our farm experience and create a successful fundraising event – tiring but fun,” she said. “Deep down, I’m just Martha Stewart with horses.”
@TravelMatters to keeping America connected
Seeing different parts of the country, experiencing the culture, exploring unique “only-here” attractions, tasting local foods, learning the story of a new place and meeting the people that make up a given community fosters connections – whether it’s exchanging smiles in a shop or meeting a new lifelong friend. It provides learning opportunities, many times showing people from all over are more alike than different.
@TravelMatters to health
Travel gives people a chance to step away from their workaday world and rest and recharge, exercise their mind and body. Travel expands the mind, lowers stress and improves mood. Those who travel tend to have a longer life expectancy – that’s a scientific fact – and it holds whether the travel is global or local, like right in a person’s own backyard.
@TravelMatters to hometown pride
In Georgetown, the community’s hometown pride is seen in its beautifully preserved, flower-trimmed downtown, clean streets and well-tended shops and restaurants. It shows in the delight the community has over being home to the largest Toyota manufacturing plant in the world at Toyota Kentucky and the official Kentucky-Japan Friendship Garden at Yuko-En on the Elkhorn as well as to one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture anywhere at Ward Hall. It also shows in the commitment of Georgetown farms to Kentucky Proud: Bi-Water Farm & Greenhouse, Elmwood Stock, Evans Orchard and Triple J.
@TravelMatters to families
Call it a staycation, a playcation or just out-and-about having fun, but Georgetown has lots of ways for a family to have fun and enjoy each other’s company, from fresh-air farm fun to picnics at local parks, including Great Crossing, Peninsula and Brooking, which hosts the Scott County Fair, to geocaching along the Scott County GeoTrot and Historic Buffalo Trail to horseback riding and cycling trails. The Georgetown & Scott County Museum shares community history and Elkhorn Creek beckons paddlers for a lazy float.
Learn more about all the experiences Georgetown offers at www.GeorgetownKy.com. Then share your own experience when traveling to Georgetown with #TravelMatters, #NTTW19, #GoToGtown, #GeorgetownKy and #TravelKy.
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