Campbell County hopes to jumpstart tourism

By Sarah Watson

Published: November 14, 2008

“Come for the history, stay for the beauty” is the slogan Campbell County officials hope will increase tourism traffic in the county.

That slogan is featured on a new brochure, which was completed last month.

The goal is “to try to draw more business into Campbell County from the tourism point of view, to highlight the few attractions we do have,” said economic director Mike Davidson.

“We certainly don’t have the synergy to do an effort like Bedford County or Lynchburg or Appomattox, but we’re trying to capitalize on what we do have to maximize the exposure.”

The brochure highlights Patrick Henry’s Red Hill plantation, the county’s 1848 courthouse in Rustburg and Altavista’s Avoca house, which was the home site of Revolutionary War Colonel Charles Lynch as key historical destinations. Some of the 20,000 copies already have been distributed, Davidson said.

The county spent about $15,000 on the project, which included input from stakeholders throughout the county, Davidson said. The marketing effort will focus on working with other attractions in Central Virginia to give tourists another place to visit while here, Davidson said. “If they could take out an extra day and see some extra sights, we have some things to show them.”