Mountain Lakes Chamber Hires New Tourism Director

By B.A. Little, Reporter • beverlyannette@southerntorch.com

JACKSON COUNTY, Ala. — The Mountain Lakes Chamber of Commerce continues its main role as an active leader and facilitator in promoting visibility, credibility, and communication while providing a means of growth through tourism.

As the organization responsible for promoting the charming towns and stunning landscape across Jackson County,  a strong economy is driven in part by a thriving tourism initiative that promotes travel amenities in modern ways. Jackson County’s unique landscapes, historical sites, and opportunities for hunting and outdoor recreation provide a treasure with untapped potential to support diversification and growth across the entire region. 

In March of 2019 J.P. Parson, Jackson County Tourism Director since 2002, retired. Although the Chamber originally planned to hire an outside replacement in the fall of 2019, the Chamber Board recently decided to take advantage of the abilities of their current staff. With some internal workload shifts, the current Director of Communications, Sarah Stahl has been reassigned as the Director of Marketing and Tourism. 

An expert in marketing strategies and a recent graduate from the University of New Hampshire, with a Masters of Science in Marketing. Stahl is confident in her abilities to apply modern marketing tactics to tourism growth throughout the county, with a goal to further contributing to the $408,000 in lodging taxes collected in 2018; up 11% from 2017. 

“Tourism is all about selling area features in order to better attract both visitors and residents. I may be new to the tourism industry, but I’m confident in my marketing abilities. I’m totally up to the challenge of promoting Jackson County & eager to have an opportunity to make a positive economic impact in my new hometown,” says Stahl. 

For the Chamber’s part, we take the office of Business and Visitor Resource center very seriously and plan to invest close to $100K over the next two years in strengthening partnerships, promotional marketing, grant matching, staff expertise, and new research that supports regional objectives to enhance marketing efforts & strengthening tourism amenities. 

In this county-wide initiative, the Chamber is proud to work alongside willing community members who share a passion for enhancing regional tourism and economic growth in a way that respects the integrity of the place’s locals love.