Photo by Ken Odor
Aynsley Fisher and Wayne Dementi hold a mockup of a proposed brochure for the newly chartered 35 Mile Drive Association.

0 Comments Email Article Tweet This Share

A group of local business people who have been meeting informally for months last week formalized their mission to promote tourism-related business in Goochland.

At a meeting last Tuesday at the Goochland Library, the 35-Mile Drive Association picked Aynsley Fisher to serve as its president. Wayne Dementi will serve as vice-president, Blane Cope will be secretary and Jenny Liesfield will be treasurer.

Terri Phipps was chosen to be an at-large director of the organization.

“We’ve been feeling the momentum,” said Dementi as he opened the meeting.

He and Fisher recently represented Goochland County and the Goochland Chamber of Commerce at a Virginia Tourism Corporation session in Alexandria on “The Power of Travel.” 

“It was incredibly educational. We both came home armed with information and full of new ideas for Goochland County,” said Fisher.

Fisher said they learned that the target audience for tourism promotion, from which 60 percent of tourism dollars come, is aged 25-34.

“They don’t want to drive too far with kids in the car,” Fisher noted. The goal is to hook this group by the time they turn 45, so they will keep coming back.

Fisher said the 35-Mile Drive Association’s immediate priorities are to “launch our first imitative which includes three things: The development of a 35-Mile Drive Association brochure, logo and a Web site which will support our mission of promoting the hospitality industry in Goochland.”

Because the organization originated from the 35-Mile Drive series which appeared in The Goochland Courier, the initial outreach efforts are targeted at businesses along that corridor.

But the 35-Mile Drive Association is about promoting the hospitality industry in all of Goochland, said Fisher.

The group discussed who could become a member of the group, eventually adopting a motion that would allow businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry, along with other area businesses that support tourism, to join.

Future meetings were scheduled for the third Tuesday of each month, with the next meeting set for Nov.17 at 5 p.m. at Tanglewood Ordinary.

After the organizational business was concluded, the group saw a presentation on the Discover Goochland Web site provided by Lisa Dearden of the Center for Rural Culture.

Fisher said the hope is that the Discover Goochland Web site will be the umbrella for the county tourism Web site, the 35-Mile Drive Web site and the Tucker Park at Maiden’s Crossing Web site.

After the meeting Dementi reported that the group has 13 charter members, who each paid a $50 membership fee.

Fisher said others have the opportunity to join as charter members between now and the end of the year for the same $50 fee. After that date, new members will be accepted for a $65 fee.

There are no comments for this entry