Tourism in Front Royal: Fact versus Fantasy – land

The Front Royal Visitors Center, a popular Front Royal tourist destination – is it really dysfunctional as the interim town manager says? Royal Examiner File Photos by Roger Bianchini.

At the Town Council meeting of February 10, 2020, Mrs. Wendy Kurtz and Mrs. Amber Poe Morris spoke on the lack of tourism information about Front Royal on the web. Their remarks puzzled me.

How can tourism be on the upswing here according to other speakers, official State documents and recent articles in the Royal Examiner? At the same time, a well-established, functioning team – the architects of this success – were fired?

My typical practice avoids calling out non-elected officials. Yet the puzzle of the two ladies’ different findings had me wondering if I could safely surmise their potential motive may not be as innocent as appears? Was it strictly political in nature to defend the Interim Town Manager and the Town Council?

To quote “… two public speakers expressing outright support of Council, the Interim Town Manager and the downsizing plan Monday, … were Warren County Republican Committee Treasurer Amber Poe Morris and Wendy Kurtz, wife of the current successor to Tederick’s past stint as chairman of the Warren County Republican Committee, Steve Kurtz.” (February 11, Royal Examiner, “Tederick, Council Defend Budget Plan, Staff Terminations in Face of Public Criticism”)

Amber Poe Morris says ‘yes,’ trust the man she termed ‘Front Royal’s Trump’ on this one.

Time to check for facts, keeping in mind that we always need to identify better and more creative ways to promote our town – I do not believe anyone would question that.

Even a novice can google “Front Royal” and “Tourism”. What comes up? In less than five minutes, about 213 reviews show up on Trip Advisor and other tourism-related sites. The number one activity upon arriving in Front Royal is: “go to the Visitor Center”; “best ever Visitor Center” wrote one. Material is available!

Opinions and statistics from INSIDE the Visitor Center contradict the Interim Town Manager and the two ladies who spoke. The ladies support outsourcing, yet again there is evidence to support keeping tourism in-house – under the control of the town, and county, administrations.

Quite importantly, the Virginia Tourism Corporation research reports “$151,000,000 in lodging expenditures” by visitors to Warren County, a 4.9% increase from 2017 to 2018, support for 1700 jobs with a $23 million payroll, and $2.9 million in tax revenue.

Last week, based upon 210 reviews, our Visitor Center was ranked second only to Skyline Caverns as top attractions in Warren County. “Do you know how unusual it is for a Visitor Center to rank as an attraction?” (AT Trail Community Committee Co-Chair Susan) Tschirhart asked, adding pointedly, “And we’re about to fire that entire staff and change a recipe that has been steadily generating increased revenue for each of the past five years.”

However, AT Community Committee Co-Chair Susan Tschirhart said statistics don’t add up to dysfunction (but the ‘alternate statistics’ probably do).

And of that Town tourism budget already appropriated for the current fiscal year ending June 30, Tschirhart observed, “We were puzzled to learn that the tourism budget for marketing and advertising has been frozen.

“This is money already allocated to the current fiscal year and critical to generating business for 170 tourism-dependent businesses in the county who count on the Visitor Center and its marketing materials and services to generate income. Eighty-five percent of Front Royal’s tourism budget is covered by the lodging fees, all collected from visitors to our area. The remaining 15% comes from the Front Royal promotional merchandise sold at the Visitor Center. None of our tourism department’s salaries or expenses come out of our own taxpayer dollars. Why are we cutting the tourism budget just as the tourism season is about to begin?” Tschirhart asked.

She also suggested that Council and the Interim Town Manager’s course of action flies in the face of, not only the town’s own past experience with outsourcing tourism, but other Valley communities who have learned their lessons and are moving in exactly the opposite direction from the one five elected and two appointed town citizens have chosen to move this Appalachian Trail Community toward.

A new Town tourism attraction – the Front Royal Town Council in ‘Fantasyland’.

“Berryville and Round Hill were designated AT communities last year. Luray, designated just after Front Royal is now working toward moving its under-performing tourism department out from under its Chamber of Commerce. In all of the other counties, tourism is handled by town/county government.”

I do have to take heart that certain members of the Town Council (e.g., Councilman Thompson who asked at the meeting of Feb 10, if she could get more information) may actually now see the truth behind what has happened to the previous staff and take corrective action. Possible they could show the compassion that the Interim Town Manager once suggested was needed. Only time will tell if a true character comes to the forefront for the rest of the Council.

With that supporting material, I close with the following comment: Is it possible that tourists to our area do not look for such web links as I found – could they just be lost when they arrive in our small town, or do they simply ask people while on I-66 traveling west where is a fun place to visit?

I sincerely doubt that.

A better plan may be to provide them the number to our Interim Town Manager, or members of our Town Council, as they seem to live in a “Fantasyland” – and, that’s just another attraction warranting a visit to Front Royal, yes?

And Gail and Nellie can point you to our elected and appointed officials’ Fantasyland ground zero – it’s right up East Main Street on the right at, actually on both sides of, Crescent Street about 3 blocks from the Visitors Center.