Tourism promoters in north Alabama are blessed by having a lot to work with.
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is one of the state’s most popular attractions every year. Shimmering waterfalls and mountain vistas entice hikers. Music fans can see where the Rolling Stones recorded. Local festivals celebrate cranes, strawberries, gourds, covered bridges, fiddlers, caves and more.
For 60 years, the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association, or AMLA, has united tourism professionals in the top tier of the state in their marketing efforts.
The organization began in 1964 to develop the travel industry and promote a 16-county region stretching from Georgia to Mississippi and south to Gadsden. Members include convention bureaus, attractions, businesses and government representatives.
The area offers seven state parks, 11 trails exploring themes like barbecue and waterfalls, the home of deaf-blind activist Helen Keller and shopping bargains that came from somebody’s lost luggage.
Promoting travel and attractions is fun, but it’s also big business.
In 2023, travelers spent more than $4.7 billion while visiting the 16 counties of north Alabama, a 10.1% increase over 2022, according to an Alabama Tourism Department report.
Every tourism-related dollar spent drops 33 cents into the state piggybank.
“In 10 years, tourists’ expenditures in North Alabama have doubled, from $2.1 billion in 2013 to $4.7 billion in 2023,” says Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association President and CEO Tami Reist. “We continue to see our tourism industry grow as new hotels, RV parks and tiny home developments are popping up all across the region.”
More than 46,000 people work directly or indirectly in travel-related jobs in the AMLA region.
Regional travel promotion is common today, but it was something new when AMLA began.
In 1960, Decatur Chamber of Commerce Director Dick Ordway suggested that groups in Huntsville, the Shoals, Cullman, Scottsboro and nearby combine efforts and pool their money.
“It kind of grew from there,” says Karen Beasley, AMLA vice president of marketing and communications, and chambers of commerce began to join. “I think initially it was seven and later they had 16.”
Four years later, representatives met to formally establish AMLA as a non-profit organization focused on stimulating the economic and cultural development of north Alabama through tourism and travel.
In its early years, AMLA created brochures and slideshows, exhibited at consumer travel shows and distributed press releases to local newspapers and television stations.
An idea that would cement the association’s legacy came in 1978 when AMLA Director Gil Langley proposed a clever funding model now used by regional tourism agencies across the country. Half of a 1% lodging tax on hotels and motels goes to county commissions in the tourist area and the rest to support the association itself.
“That’s when things really took off because we had all that additional funding coming in,” says Beasley. “We’re able to do so much more with that funding set in place for us.”
“The Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association helped forge this sensible approach decades ago to the benefit of the state’s travel economy,” says Greg Staley, head of media relations with the U.S. Travel Association in Washington. “Numerous other destinations nationwide have since followed suit with a regional approach to travel marketing.
“A visitor wouldn’t necessarily see a municipal border, so banding together to present the best of a region is a smart strategy to reach travelers and extend stay,” Staley adds.
When visitors stay for days and visit multiple locations, it benefits the entire region. A Saturday afternoon at Scottsboro’s Unclaimed Baggage might turn into a three-day weekend with a side trip to recording studios in the northwest corner of the state.
“You can have the nightlife entertainment in Huntsville, and if you just go up to Monte Sano you can have the beautiful views and hiking and all the great outdoors,” says Beasley.
“If you make a quick drive over to the Shoals area, we have all that rich musical heritage from the ’60s and the ’70s with Fame and Muscle Shoals Sound studios. Both of those are open and you can get a guided tour and hear about famous artists and musicians who have come here.”
AMLA promotes tourist-friendly “trails,” or geographic routes linking related attractions.
“Themed trails like our wine, mural, hallelujah (church), waterfall and patriot trails can attract niche audiences and showcase regional diversity,” Reist says. The Alabama Bass Trail stretches from the northern mountains to the Gulf coast.
The Waterfall Trail ranks among the most popular, especially since expanding to 27 locations.
“We thought, there’s more out there,” says Beasley. “Why are we settling for 13? We found these other ones that are just as easily accessible and just as beautiful.”
From a political perspective, a unified voice makes it easier to advocate for funding, infrastructure and policy support at the state or federal level. A united front can help with preserving cultural, natural and historical assets, too.
Besides advertising on the web and in magazines and newspapers, AMLA can mail or offer downloaded versions of brochures on birding, fishing, golf, wedding destinations, motorcycle routes and more. North Alabama Travel magazine highlights regional attractions.
North Alabama travel “ambassadors” go to attractions and talk about their own perspective.
Staff members manage the office in Decatur, stuff racks with promotional brochures and travel extensively. They spread the word through social media, online and print publications, travel and trade shows and television and syndicated radio shows. The Unexpected Adventures Podcast launched in 2021.
For member groups, AMLA hosts workshops and seminars and offers workforce training and advocacy. Hospitality workers learn soft skills to enhance the visitor experience.
Tourism issues continue to evolve. The latest push is for accessibility for those with disabilities.
“We want to make sure everyone can see the beauty of our region and find the resources to meet their needs,” says Beasley.
A funding issue sprang from an unlikely source – short term vacation rentals. Airbnb locations and the like weren’t always collecting the right taxes.
AMLA mailed letters to the 2,500 rental locations in north Alabama explaining that they still needed to collect the 5% lodging tax. Collections went up 21% in a month. Lobbying efforts resulted in the Alabama Tourism Tax Protection Act of 2024.
“We worked seven years to put short-term rentals on a level playing field with our hotel partners,” says Reist.
Staffers really mean it when they say they want to make the area attractive to visitors. During National Tourism Week in May, AMLA employees collect trash on lakes and trails that they promote.
“We want to preserve the beauty of our north Alabama region,” says Reist.
Deborah Storey and David Higginbotham are freelance contributors to Business Alabama. She is based in Huntsville and he in Decatur.
This article appears in the March 2025 issue of Business Alabama.
