Tourism plan emphasizes amateur sports, outdoor adventures

The authors of a strategic plan for Clay County tourism released the document to the county’s tourism development council on Monday, October 10. The plan states that the county should focus on luring amateur sports events and selling the area’s outdoor attractions.

Tyler Othan of Conventions, Sports and Leisure presented the report to TDC members.

He said his firm started working on the project in May, interviewing 50-plus stakeholders and surveying more than 500 residents.

The report states that the county’s tourism strengths include community charm, an abundance of outdoor and ecological assets, affordability and strong youth sports programs.

Challenges include a lack of entertainment venues for young people and families, a significant number of Clay County residents dining outside of the county, limited hotel space and revenues and limited access to water bodies.

He also said some locals don’t want their hometown converted into a tourism center.

“In the State of Florida, the term ‘tourism’ has a certain meaning to it:” he said, “hundreds of thousands of visitors coming, folks coming from around the country.”

Othan added that what he has in mind for Clay tourism is getting people from within Florida and the Jacksonville metropolitan area to visit the county for a day or a weekend.

The report compares Clay’s tourism industry to those of six other communities: St. Augustine, Ocala and Lake County, Florida, in addition to Rutherford County, Tennessee, Johnston County, North Carolina and Kenosha County, Wisconsin.

Clay does better in the categories of outdoor activities, boat tours and water sports when compared to the other communities but lags in parks and museums.

The report states that soccer and baseball tournament organizers like the county’s central location. However, many of Clay’s outdoor sports venues are privately owned, are spread out and not easily booked.

“In general,” the report states, “tournament organizers want to host in the area, but there is no feasible option to do so.”

Othan said the big idea in the report for amateur sports is for the county to invest in a sports complex.

He outlined six examples of other communities that have invested anywhere from $15 million to $20 million in youth sports complexes that range in floor space from 86,000 square feet to 160,000 square feet.

The report also advises the county to focus on trails, campgrounds and attractions like zip lines and water rafting.

Othan advocated that the county look to Clermont, Gainesville and Dunedin and their investments in a system of trails that link outdoor attractions.

“They have these major, primary greenways, a central spine that gets you through their downtowns, gets you through urban areas,” he said.

“We have this sparse trail product today,” he added. “If you were to create something that could be a day-long experience on the trail that could connect you to other trails that could get you into Orange Park, that could get you into Green Cove Springs, and connects to some of these parks that we’re talking about, now we’re appealing to that outdoor enthusiast, who is looking to go somewhere else every six months.”