With tournaments acting as major drivers for visitor spending, tourism officials will assess the state of sports facilities in Hamilton County to determine if there are any opportunities for growth, particularly for youth athletics.
Barry White, CEO of the Chattanooga Tourism Co., mentioned the study during his remarks at a summit Tuesday morning focused on the region’s tourism industry. More than 10.7 million people visited Hamilton County last year, spending $1.7 billion. That’s a 6% increase over 2022.
“It’s part of our DNA,” White told the crowd, referring to the region’s tourism economy. Speakers also touched on growth at the Chattanooga Airport, downtown developments and trends in the hotel and sports industries.
(READ MORE: Delta restarts Big Apple nonstop flights from Chattanooga Airport)
In an interview, White cited LakePoint Sports, a complex about an hour south of Chattanooga in Bartow County, Georgia, as an example of a facility officials would like to emulate. The venue has enough room to accommodate 12 full-court basketball games or 24 full-court volleyball games, according to its website. Its 1,300 acre campus also has eight baseball fields and three multiuse fields for soccer, lacrosse, rugby and football.
The tourism company helped with a recent feasibility study at Camp Jordan, White said. The recreational facility in East Ridge has 13 baseball fields, 14 soccer fields and an 18-hole disc golf course.
The study of Chattanooga sports facilities would evaluate existing facilities and determine whether there are opportunities for new investments.
“It’s pretty much a blank slate to really determine where we want to be,” White said.
Youth athletic events can spur a significant amount of outside spending, he said, and they helped propel the region’s economic recovery after the pandemic.
“When you’ve got kids playing, mom and dad and brothers and sisters are traveling with them,” White said. “That’s more people in town spending more money on food and recreation and everything else.”
The tourism company recently released another needs assessment that recommends the development of a new outdoor amphitheater in Chattanooga with the capacity for 6,000 people. Last year, a study of the Chattanooga Convention Center, where the summit occurred Tuesday, recommended the addition of a 35,000-square-foot ballroom, a 400-room hotel attached to the facility and outdoor space, White said.
“There’s larger conventions and meetings we’re losing because we don’t have a big ballroom,” White said.
There’s also a need for a large hotel, he said. When big events are in Chattanooga, White said, guests are usually spread across seven or eight hotels compared to two or three in peer cities.
“We have people spread out a lot, and we can be more efficient and more effective with additional rooms attached to this property,” White said.
(READ MORE: TVA eyes redevelopment of downtown site as office needs shrink)
The Tennessee Valley Authority is evaluating alternatives for its Chattanooga Office Complex, a 1.4 million-square-foot campus on Market Street that sits on 8 acres.
“Due to some pretty significant operational changes at TVA, Chattanooga has a once in a generation – and I would actually say a really once in a century – opportunity to reposition and redevelop this almost 40-year-old campus,” Emily Mack, president and CEO of River City Co., told attendees.
While portions of the site may support some government functions, Mack said, there is an opportunity to support vibrant, “people-focused” development that could include at least one new hotel, outdoor space and mixed-use development consisting of retail, food or housing.
“That is also something that is in the very early stages,” she said.
FLIGHTS
Early Tuesday, Delta Air Lines resumed daily nonstop flights between Chattanooga and New York City after a furlough due to the pandemic. April Cameron, CEO of the Chattanooga Airport, said during a presentation that Delta also intends to boost service to Atlanta and Detroit, and the airline will increase seat capacity 48% from August to November.
“That’s a pretty significant increase for our market,” she said.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga Airport’s lack of direct flights ‘kind of a problem,’ official says)
Travelers are essentially casting a vote every time they buy an airline ticket, Cameron said.
“You’re either voting for the Chattanooga Airport, or you’re voting for the Nashville airport,” Cameron said. “You’re telling the airlines that Chattanooga needs more seats or that Nashville needs more seats. We’re asking you to consider Chattanooga and vote for us because the more seats that we fill, the more service we’re going to get.”
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.