 "Photo: Sholten Singer")
The 23rd Annual Yeager Symposium had its final lecture Wednesday, which focused on heritage tourism and possible improvements for the Huntington and Tri-state area.
The lecture, “Ecotourism in Appalachia and Huntington, WV,” was presented by the symposium and the Harry and Betty Wolfe Lecture Series, which helps the Yeager scholars get speakers for their events.
Tyson Compton, Audy Perry and Stacy McChesney spoke on behalf of the Cabell-Huntington Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Perry, chairman of the board for CVB, said Huntington’s heritage revolves around the river and rail atmosphere.
The Harris Riverfront Park and Pullman Square are positives for the Huntington community, but they need to be more pedestrian friendly, he said.
Perry said another unique aspect of Huntington is the 1920s architecture of the buildings downtown.
“If we don’t achieve with heritage tourism, we should be ashamed of ourselves,” Perry said. “It’s a no-brainer.”
Compton, director of the CVB, said the bureau moved its offices to Heritage Station earlier this year.
Compton said he thinks people don’t realize how much potential Huntington has.
He said two local attractions that are good for Huntington’s tourism economy are the Heritage Museum and Camden Park.
He said local tourism brought in about $2 million in tax money for the city in 2007.
McChesney, kitchen manager for Jamie’s Kitchen, said Huntington residents come together weekly to share their ideas on how to contribute to the Create Huntington project.
Create Huntington holds weekly meetings called Chat ‘n Chews Thursday evenings in the lobby of the Hotel Frederick on 10th Street, where community members can participate in discussions about how to improve the city.
“Give us your ideas because we want to hear them,” McChesney said. “We want to connect to the people who share similar interests. I know that whatever you come up with is ultimately going to improve my quality of life. It could most definitely improve the experience that people have when they visit downtown Huntington.”
Phyllis Baxter, represented the Appalachian Forest Heritage Area.
Baxter said the AFHA focuses on the conservation and heritage development of 18 counties in West Virginia and Maryland.
The AFHA works to conserve the natural beauty of Appalachia by doing things like planting trees and environmental cleanup.
Heritage tourism, also called place-based tourism, is the fastest growing segment of the tourism market, she said.
The lecture was the last of a three part series that focused on ecotourism.
The first lecture was given by Sterling Evans, Louise Welsh Chair at the University of Oklahoma, titled “The History of Ecotourism: Case Studies of ‘Oro Verde’ from Latin America.”
Three speakers from El Salvador gave the second lecture, titled, “Prodetur & Ecotourism in El Salvador,” which was about their experiences establishing a tourism business in their war-torn country.
Kristen Barry can be contacted at ryder8@marshall.edu.
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