Reaction to Greenwood being featured last week as a vacation hot spot on par with Paris and Hawaii on NBC’s “Today” show has been strong, according to local tourism officials.
“Of course, we were thrilled. ‘The Help’ just keeps on giving,” said Paige Hunt, executive director of the Greenwood Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The focus of the segment on the morning news program Friday was “Movie-Set Getaways.”
The segment featured “Today” host Al Roker talking with Nilou Motamed, feature director of Travel + Leisure magazine.
The two discussed tourist packages available at five movie locales, including Greenwood, the principal filming location for “The Help.”
The film, released last year, is based on the best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett about the relationship between black maids and their white employers in 1960s Jackson. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, and Octavia Spencer won best supporting actress for her role as black maid Minny Jackson.
During the “Today” segment, The Alluvian, which was home to many of the film’s stars during the 2010 filming, was noted for offering special “Help” packages for tourists who wish to experience the “total Southern charm that you’d expect” from a small Southern town, Motamed said.
The segment has already produced some calls, according to Beth Williams, general manager of The Alluvian.
“Since last week, we’ve had several inquiries,” she said.
The Alluvian’s “Help” packages start at $235 per night and include a DVD of the movie, a commemorative movie poster, the option of guided or self-guided tours and a “turndown treat” at the end of the day.
Other featured locales included Waimea, Hawaii (“The Descendants”), Asheville, N.C. (“The Hunger Games”), Paraty, Brazil (“Breaking Dawn, Part I”) and Paris (“Midnight in Paris”).
The subject apparently was done specifically for the TV program and is not part of the new April issue of Travel + Leisure magazine.
Hunt said copies of the bureau’s self-guided “The Help” tour may be requested online at www.greenwoodms.org.
“We’ve had lots of people come through who have done that tour,” she said.
