Can local RSA project sustain momentum?

The numbers are hard to dispute:

- 98,000 rounds of golf in just more than two years at the two courses that make up the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.

- Hotel revenue of $10.8 million during the first year of operation at the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa.

- $2.7 million in revenue from a conference center that used to drain city coffers of nearly $500,000 year.

- Thousands of visitors to the Shoals who otherwise wouldn't have come here.

Even the biggest critics of the tourism project involving local governments and the Retirement Systems of Alabama would be hard-pressed to convince anyone that the project has not been a rousing success to date.

But can that success be sustained? The answer could tell a lot about the immediate economic future of the Shoals.

RSA Executive Director David Bronner, heavily involved in making the project happen, certainly is pleased with what has happened to date. Bronner doesn't mince words in saying so.

"If you're not happy with what has been accomplished, then either you've got your head in the sand or don't know what the hell you're doing," Bronner said.

Many people questioned the project during its infancy. Some were concerned about having a 2-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax placed on the Shoals to help pay for it.

Others didn't like initial plans to place the golf course on a Tennessee Valley Authority nature trail. Those plans were scrapped, and a Ford City site was used.

"I was appalled by the attempted land grab of the TVA Reservation," said Florence resident John Crowder, who is knowledgeable about environmental issues and has

been a vocal critic of various aspects of local governments.

Crowder believes the hotel will have continued monetary success. He wonders, however, whether it will ever achieve a four-star rating.

Crowder said that rating has been promised by RSA, which went so far as to agree to pay a fine if it doesn't reach the level.

He said it currently has a three-star rating, which doesn't make it much different from other upscale hotels.

Marriott officials say the hotel has yet to be rated, although AAA officials, for example, have visited the property and are evaluating. The contract between RSA and the Public Park Authority of the Shoals, which oversees local governments' interests in the projects, states the hotel must be built to four-star quality.

At present, the overall economic-development project has been a win-win for the local economy and for RSA. Lodging receipts from hotels in the Shoals are at an all-time high, pumping thousands of dollars into local tourism budgets alone. That doesn't even take into consideration the money being spent by visitors and conventioneers.

That lodging growth has been led by the Marriott -- a cornerstone of the economic-development project. RSA officials figured going in that it would be 2013 before the hotel would generate the kind of revenue it has during its 16-month history.

And the number of rounds being played at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses in Colbert County is more than 30 percent higher than projections.

Colbert County Tourism Director Susann Hamlin said the economic package has helped all hotels.

She's noted lodgings were up 12 to 15 percent in 2006 compared to the previous year, although the opening of the Coldwater Inn in Tuscumbia also played a role in that.

"It has been gratifying to see what has happened here," said Debbie Wilson, director of the Florence-Lauderdale County Tourism Bureau. "I don't think anyone wants to go back to the way it was."

Larry Bowser, general manager at the Marriott, said the success of his operation has not damaged the business of competitors in the market, noting their revenue has remained solid. "That shows we have created new business here instead of business moving from one operation to the other."

Wilson, Bowser and others don't expect the honeymoon to be short-lived.

"We are finding people who have visited here are coming back," Wilson said. "We've had groups that have come here and are booking returns.

"The key is providing the service and the experience so that they will want to come back. We have gone out of the way to make it such a good experience. This has been so new to us and something we've all been proud of; we've gone above and beyond on the service level."

Wilson said local tourism officials have discussed the need to sustain the positive start, and she's confident that will happen.

The key, according to Wilson, is a strong sales team and staffing committed to maintaining a high level of service. Her office has hired a full-time public relations and conventions person just to handle the increased number of visitors. That also has led to bookings into 2009.

She said additional factors are helping the area sustain the convention, and even weekend travel, business. Those factors include advertising campaigns by state tourism officials and by Raycon television, which is owned by RSA. The nationwide and worldwide publicity generated by the Trent Jones Golf Trail also has been beneficial, Wilson said.

"We're still a very affordable destination," she said. "We can't attract the huge conventions, but we can be very competitive in the mid-size convention market."

Hamlin said the area has the combination needed to sustain success.

"It takes a lot of people working to do it," she said. "It takes a good product and they definitely have it. It takes a professional sales staff and they definitely have that, too."

Marketing to new areas also is part of the strategy for tourism officials and hotel and golf trail personnel. Target areas include places like Nashville and Memphis, but officials also have their eyes on the Atlanta and St. Louis areas. The selling points involve the affordability that Wilson spoke of as well as the numerous attractions and hospitality offered in the Shoals.

"There are several markets that we haven't even started to tap into," Bowser said. "We think there are some real possibilities in Nashville and St. Louis, for instance. Groups and conventions are coming from three to five hours out. There are groups that never considered the Shoals before now expressing an interest.

"When we get them here and they can actually feel and touch the Shoals, they get excited. They enjoy their experience here and they want to come back."

Bowser said the local Marriott is among the top five in the chain for customer satisfaction and ranks first in visitors who say they will return and will recommend the hotel to others.

The hotel, with 200 rooms overlooking Wilson Dam, had an occupancy rate of 69 percent in 2006, and that figure is expected to improve this year, despite additional competition in north Alabama. A new Embassy Suites and development of a Westin Hotel in Huntsville could cut into the Shoals convention business short-term, according to Bowser.

"We're not overly concerned, though, because we believe the demand will outpace the supply," he said. "Based on everything positive that is happening in the Shoals, our projections are that we will maintain and possibly grow on where we are now."

Bowser particularly is anxious to see the River Heritage Trail in Florence develop, which will complement the Marriott "and give this area something you rarely find outside the larger cities like Nashville and Atlanta." That project is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008.

Another element of the total economic development package local leaders and RSA signed on to is an attraction at Veterans Park in Florence. That attraction remains in limbo, however.

Rex Burleson, chairman of the Public Park Authority, wrote about a week ago to TVA officials, asking for guidance on the types of developments allowed at the park. He said Friday he still is awaiting a reply.

Libby Watts, sales and marketing director at the golf trail complex, has seen the Fighting Joe and Schoolmaster courses exceed expectations in terms of attracting visitors. Golfers from all 50 states as well as Japan and most European countries have played at the local Trent Jones courses.

She projects the 100,000th round of golf will be played at the complex in March. A celebration marking the occasion is planned.

"I don't see that interest falling back at all," Watts said. "Golf courses actually mature over time, and when our two courses mature, it will be an even greater golfing experience.

"Our marketing efforts will also increase. We've been concentrating more on local markets since we've opened. We want to extend that effort into the Nashville and Memphis areas this year, and we're heading to golf shows in St. Louis and Oklahoma City."

Most golfing-business experts say the local Trent Jones operation will attract a professional tournament to the area at some point, which Watts said would further heighten the interest of golfers looking for affordable prices on a championship-type course.

Bronner compares long-term growth of the projects to a garden. "You've got to tend it," he said.

Bronner said local industrial growth also is important for the long-term success of the projects.

"We've got some things in the hopper, and hopefully something will come to fruition in the next couple of months," Bronner said.

He said the Veterans Park and River Heritage projects also would help boost efforts. "It would take it to a different level."

Burleson feels good about the future, pointing to the fact that the hotel and golf courses already have surpassed expectations.

"If we keep bringing tourists here and industry in, who knows where it's going to end?" he said. "It's bound to level off some time, but who knows when?

"This has brought attention to this part of the state from not only the people of this area, but also all over the state and the United States."

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 740-5739 or bernie.delinski@timesdaily.com.