Ep.#111: AO Tourism

We explore how AO Tourism attracts visitors while improving daily life for locals, from sports tournaments and conferences to art, food, and outdoor events. Cat shares her path from intern to Director of Communications and Marketing, clears up misconceptions, and tells a moving story of turning hardship into a community run.

• AO Tourism’s mission and lodging tax funding
• Key drivers: University, Grand National, Chewacla, downtown Opelika
• Why tourism benefits residents as well as visitors
• How the team differs from a chamber model
• New Auburn office, Opelika visitor experience, local art gallery
• Cat’s career path and leadership approach
• How to bring conferences and tournaments to Auburn–Opelika
• Growing staff and capacity to serve the region
• Where to connect: aotourism.com and social channels

www.aotourism.com

Transcript

Meet AO Tourism And Mission

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susanna Hodges.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Welcome, and with me is Kat Bobo. She is the director of communications and marketing with Auburn Opelica Tourism, or as we call you for short, AO Tourism. Welcome.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. I appreciate the invite.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

So tell me a little bit about AO Tourism. I think people have probably heard about you, but not quite sure about what you guys do.

How Destination Marketing Works

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Absolutely. Auburn Opelica Tourism is a not-for-profit organization that represents both Auburn and Opelica and technically all of Lee County. We are a very uh interesting organization in that we do get to represent both cities equally all the time, which is really great. But you know, you can find us on social media as visit Auburn Opalica. Sometimes when you travel other places, you might see Visit Savannah or visit New Orleans. And it's a similar operation. We we promote our destination to visitors who do not live here in hopes that they will come in and spend the night in a hotel or lodging property and visit our amazing retailers, our amazing restaurants, see our attractions, that sort of thing, and have a good experience while they're here. We're actually tax funded by the lodging tax, something that a lot of people don't know or realize. But yeah, so a lot of our messaging is encouraging visitors to come and either return to Auburn Opalica for a visit or to come for the first time. Sometimes that looks like us um trying to bring in large business, maybe a large-scale sports event, like a pickleball tournament, or maybe that looks like business travel. Maybe we're trying to bring in a professional conference to be at um the Marriott or the hotel at Auburn University. So we just we work as a team to bring in visitors to our area. Um and we hope that in doing so that we are advocating for our community to make it better. Um the things that we are trying to make happen here benefit not just visitors, but also locals and residents.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

So well, I know that's important for Auburn and Opalica, especially with how our area is growing. And uh we obviously have tourist drivers, you know, the university and then downtown Opalica. We've got a lot of reasons to come here.

Major Local Tourism Drivers

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Absolutely. Auburn University is definitely one of the bigger um attractions, if you will. Um, but even uh like the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, the Grand National, that brings in, I mean, they're packed and it brings in international travel. Um, pickleball tournaments and other sporting events are a huge tourism driver as well. Chihuahua State Park is a loving space, and everything from a triathlon to a mountain biking championship can be held there. Um, so we are we are very fortunate in Auburn and Opalica to have what we have. And so it honestly makes my job as the marketing director very easy to share what I love about our community and what we think is special and wonderful and kind of share that with people who you know want to want to visit.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Absolutely. Well, how did you get involved with AO AO Tourism?

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Well, I'm from Auburn, actually. Um a lot of people don't realize that. And so I um had always heard about Auburn of Bleca Tourism as a really good internship opportunity. Um, I have a degree in public relations, and if you're trying to stay put for that internship, you need to graduate. There's only so many really well-known internship opportunities, and so I pursued this one, and um I met Robin Bridges, who is now our president and CEO, but back then she was the PR director. Um I met her and became an intern, and a couple months later got asked to stay full-time. And I have been here for almost 10 years, and I know it feels bizarre, to be totally honest. Um, so I started as an intern and then communications specialist, and then the communications manager, and I have been director for maybe two years or so. Don't quote me on that necessarily, but yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

So that's you've been with the with the AO tourism for a while now. I'm sure you've come across some misconceptions people have about what you guys do. So, what are some of those things that that you'd like to clear up?

Kat’s Path From Intern To Director

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Yes, um, well, because of the way that our team is housed, our offices, a lot of people have always assumed that we were part of a chamber of commerce, for example. Um we're actually we're not, we're a separate organization. Our team um has always had staff in both towns. So we have an Auburn location that we have a new location, actually. It's in downtown Auburn on Gay Street. I encourage you to come visit us. It's a really phenomenal office. We have an in-house local art gallery here, but we also have boots on the ground in Opalika. We have some of our team house in the Opalica chamber, um, as well as our visitor experience, like interactive high-tech space there. So a lot of people think that we are a chamber or are like a chamber and that we are membership based, which is actually not true. As I mentioned earlier, we're we're funded by that lodging tax. So we don't have membership dues to um keep in mind. And in the the simplest way possible that I can share is if someone calls us on the phone and asks what the best barbecue restaurant in town is, is each person on our staff might give a different answer. Authentic, honest answer, we get to truly share the best parts about our community, you know, with a visitor. Um and be as honest and real and up front. We're not held back by anything. Um, and we have so many amazing businesses in our area to promote and to love on and to kind of tell their story with people. So um that's probably the most most common misconception, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:23

You know, you mentioned the experience uh at the Obaleika Chamber, and um, and for those listeners that haven't been there, it really is neat. And you know what, Kat, I think that sometimes when we live here, we forget about what's special about where we live, you know, and it's always good to remind to do those things and get reminded of really we have such a great place here in Auburn and Opalika. And the things that y'all provide that are intended for visitors really are good for people who live here too, right?

Clearing Up Chamber Misconceptions

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Oh, absolutely. And I mean, our destination is very event-centric. So we're also very involved with local events that we want to bring visitors into, of course, but we want these events to be amazing for us, yes, people who do live here. So, yes, it is easy to forget though, how amazing all of our places to eat, you know, we've got David Bankrop is a five-time James nominee. Like, we have some incredible things. 1856 being Michelin recommended, and and it's a teaching restaurant that students work in. Like, I know we have some incredible things that it's it's very easy to get excited about and share.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Absolutely. Well, tell me a little bit about what you like to do for fun when you're not working on promoting Auburn and Opalika.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Well, um, let's see, I have two small children, so I spend a lot of my time chasing around a five and a three-year-old. Um, I recently have started running, which is funny and not at all related to the War Eagle Run Fest coming up next week. Um, it's actually not, I don't think I could do a half marathon, but that is next week. Um, so you might, if I'm not in the office, you might find me either going for a run or I I do enjoy being a tourist in my own town and that I like to experience our restaurants often. Um I'm trying to think, I like to travel. I mean, I love art. I'm very into art, which is beneficial because we do have our art gallery in-house right now. Um, it's hard to separate me from work sometimes, but I have a really wonderful job.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

So well, you know, part of the reason I do this podcast is to encourage people to do what they love. And um, so sometimes when you're trying to do something that you love, you come across some challenges. And so I like to encourage people to get over the challenges, don't let it stop you. And uh, so do you have anything that personal or maybe that AO of tourism has encountered that were some challenges that you guys overcame that made you personally a better person, or the organization a better organization?

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Oh, that's a tough question because we are so fortunate to be able to live and work and play here in Auburn, Opalica. Um, across the tourism industry, when you go to a tourism conference, for example, there are going to be countless sessions on advocating for your organization to your local community. A lot of our friends and other destinations, for example, don't have support in their community for tourism. Think about, and I don't want to name anywhere specific, but think about a destination that you've seen put out an article about how they don't want more tourists, how they don't want more visitors. Those destinations that that's that is a hardship. That is not something that we face here in Alvarnova like.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Yeah, we want them. Please come visit us.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

And we're also a football town, so we can handle tourism. We know we know how to house 80,000.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

That's right. That's true. Yeah.

Visitor Perks Locals Can Use

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Every weekend, all fall long, we can do that. Um, so we're very, we're very blessed in a way. We also have wonderful support. Um, both both cities, both parks and rec, both chambers, um are always in the loop with us and aware of all of everything we've got going on. They're on our board, but not every tourism organization has that sort of community support. So that's something I do want to point out on honestly, kind of as a thank you to people, is we are so grateful for the people who do know what we do and what our efforts are for. But you know, that's that's the first thing that comes to mind. Personally, I um I did have one hardship. I had a child um born with cancer a few years ago. I had to pull back from work, work remotely while he was in treatment. And the whole time there, I was like, how can I, how can I, how can I give back to this? And I I decided I, you know, went through the weeds and um figured out that pediatric cancer research is kind of an underfunded area. Um, so when I got back from this um tragedy, my son's doing really well. He's in remission.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

Oh good.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Oh, I'm so sorry. Um, but I came back and was like, I'm gonna have an event in Auburn. I'm gonna have my own event. And so it was kind of neat. I got to work with all of my tourism resources to put on my own event.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Your own experience, you know how to do these things.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Yeah. That's another thing is AOT. We actually do not host that many events year-round. We help and we connect event planners to resources. If event planner comes in, we'll connect them to the caterer and the venue and the volunteers, but we don't actually host many. So to be able to have my own event um and give back to this area that's obviously very um important to me personally and using my professional skills, it was just kind of a full circle. That's wonderful.

unknown 12:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

What's the name of your event? Um, it was called Benjamin's Bone Marrow Blitz. So it was a um a fundraiser that had, I don't know if you've ever heard of Be the Match. It's a nonprofit that um helps people get entered into the bone marrow donor registry. Yes. So we had all these people come run the 5K and the 10K, and there was a one-mile fun run, and it was like 200 something runners and then almost 200 volunteers because they had to line the course. It was a big operation. Um, it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. A lot of people helped with that. That's and so it was just kind of a neat, you know, other side to what I do most of the time that I got to experience.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

So well, let's uh turn our attention back to AO tourism. What is one thing you wish uh people knew about AO tourism that they may not realize? Yes.

Life Outside Work And Local Runs

SPEAKER_01 13:06

So great question, actually, because from a marketing perspective, which is what I do day in and day out, I'm typically creating messages and stories and content that I send out to visitors who are not here. So oftentimes locals they do see some of our work, but they're not seeing the bulk of it. So if there is something that I could just tell everyone that's here, a come talk to us. We have ideas. If you have an event, for example, if you are going to a conference that is in Chicago every single February and you are tired of going up there to the snow every February, come talk to our staff. Let's bring your conference here. Okay, let's bring your child's soccer tournament that you have to drive to Birmingham to all the time. Let's bring it here. If there is any reason that we can get these groups into town, we will figure out how to do it. That's what we do all day. And it's so fun. So that that would probably be the one thing is like come come talk to us, come see how we can work with you. If you have a new business that in any way is kind of open and open to the public operation, come tell us, let us announce it. Like if it's a restaurant, a retailer, a new activity, um, anything like that. Like we want to know and we want to be able to share your story. And so I would just encourage people to come and see our staff and come meet with us and let's work together.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Well, that's not something you don't often think about is you know, getting the things that you're doing out of state, trying to get them to come here. So that is an excellent tip. That's you know, yeah, we could get those people to come here. Absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

Absolutely. Especially sporting events. We have our team. When I started here at Tourism nine something years ago, we were a team of four, five, and now we are a team of 10. We have at least four part-time interns at all time that help on the marketing side. But we're just as our community grows, so are we. And and we're kind of ready to handle some of these challenges and and to help our community. And that's what we're here for, to make the community better.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

Absolutely. Well, how can people learn more? Where do they need to go online? Do they yes?

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Um, definitely check out, yeah, check out our website if you haven't already. It's aotourism.com. We also are on pretty much every social media platform. You can follow us at Auburn Opalica, but even on Instagram, we do giveaways at least twice a month, whether it's for a gift card to one of our local restaurants or to like an upcoming event, VIP passes, tickets, all that kind of stuff. So follow us and we'll keep you updated on all the things that we're sharing with our visitors and our locals. Visit our website, shoot us an email, come see us, come see the visitor experience in Opalika. We'd love to have you. We'd love to get to know you.

Community Support And Industry Challenges

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Well, thanks so much for joining me, Kat. It's been a pleasure learning more about you and AO Tourism.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpauburn.com. That's gnpauburn.com. Or call three three four four two nine seven four zero.