Local tourism is a no-brainer

Published 12:24 pm Thursday, October 29, 2015

Editor:

I want to add my wholehearted agreement with Jordan Miles’ excellent column on tourism in Central Virginia (“Atop a tourism goldmine,” Oct. 9).

There is no part of our state or region that offers better access to all the things one seeks in deciding where to spend leisure time; many nationally renowned historical sites in easy driving distance, beautiful waterways and superb park access to them: hiking, fishing, kayaking … it’s all here.

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Generally, tourism requires little more than those assets … good lodging and food, readily available, both of which provide economic opportunities for local folks.

I grew up in a tourist mecca and it was a fine situation for our locality. Each year the tourists came in, spent their discretionary income on food, lodging and entertainment, gave an impressive boost to our local economy and then departed with minimal damage to the infrastructure of our area. In particular, tourism was very kind to the local budget in that no schools had to be built, manned and maintained to support those tourists. Not many industries can make that positive a claim!

I hope we will continue to make every effort to develop our tourism potential.

In terms of positive growth for Central Virginia, tourism is a no-brainer.

Elizabeth F. Samuels

Buckingham