After an initial hiccup due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Greenwood’s tourism industry seems to be rebounding.
“I think actually we have fared a lot better than expected,” said Danielle Morgan, executive director of the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Morgan said the Memorial Day weekend was when “things kind of started to pick back up.”
Two factors have contributed to a tourism resurgence in Greenwood, Morgan said.
First, she said, because of the pandemic, many people have opted to travel by car. Greenwood has always been “an easily drivable destination,” Morgan said, drawing visitors in from Jackson, Memphis, Little Rock and Birmingham, among other places.
Because people are willing to drive rather than fly, Morgan said, the CVB has began marketing the city in more distant cities such as Dallas and Atlanta.
Second, Greenwood’s size helps, because in small towns, “people feel a little safer than they do in a larger city,” Morgan said.
Although the CVB has had to cancel group tours or postpone them until next year, Morgan said tourists have continued to visit Greenwood and have taken self-guided themed tours, embarking on trips to see filming locations from the movie “The Help,” visiting civil rights locations throughout town or going to the Robert Johnson gravesite along Money Road.
Sylvester Hoover, who leads civil rights and blues excursions in the area through Delta Blues Legends Tours, said the last tour he guided as the pandemic reached Greenwood was on March 12. After that, Hoover said, he did not have any tours until June 24.
Since then, he said, his business has been “trickling back up.”
Hoover said he led four tours in July and six in August. He will lead his fifth tour this month on Saturday.
Before the pandemic, Hoover said, his tour groups usually averaged around 15 people. Now he’s cut the group size to seven people at a time.
Hoover’s guests have come from all over. In July, he gave tours for history teachers from Mississippi. His tour this Saturday will feature guests from California.
Though people are traveling again, they are still being cautious, Hoover said.
The resurgence of tourism has benefited some hotels in town, such as The Alluvian. Beth Williams, its manager, has said there’s been an increase in traffic at the hotel and its ancillary services such as Giardina’s restaurant, the Alluvian Spa and the Viking Cooking School.
However, for Sriram Nallani, co-owner of Greenwood Inn and Suites, business hasn’t been going so well.
Nallani said his hotel has received guests such as construction workers who are working on projects in the area or the occasional family in town to attend the funeral of a relative.
“Otherwise I see loss of business due to COVID, because we don’t see any celebrations like we used to,” Nallani said, referring to events that usually draw visitors.
Travel and tourism expenditures generated by visitors last year totaled $53 million, according to the CVB. Additionally, 755 people are employed in the tourism industry in the Greenwood area and the industry generated over $4 million in state and local taxes in 2019.
To support the hotels and restaurants that are key to Greenwood’s tourism industry, the CVB launched its “Greenwood Cares” campaign to help ensure that both tourism partners and tourists keep safe during the pandemic.
Masks were given to restaurant and hotel employees, and bottles of hand sanitizer were provided to local hotels through the campaign, Morgan said.
Despite a strong chance the coronavirus may linger for some time, Morgan said she remains optimistic about Greenwood’s tourism industry.
“I think we’re all learning to coexist with the virus and we’re learning ways to travel responsibly and safely,” she said, adding that this might mean more self-guided tours. “I think things will continue to improve. People are ready; people miss travel.”
• Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
