County Chamber Leaders Willing To Talk About Joint Branding Of Dale Hollow Lake

The Directors of the Clay County and Pickett County Chambers of Commerce said they would be willing to talk about marketing the Dale Hollow Lake area in connection with Overton County.

The state tourism department’s number three person in charge suggested such a branding effort might make sense during a visit to Livingston Monday. Clay County Chamber Director Doug Young said the counties have worked together informally for years.

“The thing we have in common with Overton and Pickett is Dale Hollow Lake,” Young said. “And you wouldn’t believe the number of tourists that the Department of Tourism says comes to Dale Hollow Lake every year. Millions of people.”

Byrdstown Pickett County Chamber Director Billy Robbins said he had not heard anything about the joint branding.

“If we can come together and it generates some funding where we can get it together for a joint effort, yes I am interested,” Robbins said.

Young said just this week he had spoken to Robbins about a project. He said the group had not spoken about anything more formal or about the state recommendation.

“And what the state is proposing is that we form some sort of a formal organization where we can really brand this whole area, because there’s so much to offer in this area, and get those tourists in here,” Young said.

Young said the counties need every dollar they can get. He said there is so much to do and see that if a tourist came to one location they could make day trips to another areas.

“I think Dennis [Tumlin] is taking the next step and pulling us together in a formal meeting,” Young said. “And once he gets us together we can go from there. He may even have some funding to help make this work.”

Robbins said he’s interested in how the combination might put more dollars toward marketing the region.

Tennessee Tourism Chief Customer Officer Dennis Tumlin told the Livingston Board of Aldermen that each county brings different resources to the table. When combined, it could be similar to visiting the Smokies, where tourists really do not consider which county they are in.

Dale Hollow Lake includes some 27,000 acres of water with some 24,000 acres of adjacent land. The majority of the lake sits in Clay and Pickett Counties, where marinas are located. Pickett County is being considered for a Bill Dance Signature Lake upgrade to enhance the visitor experience.