Sullivan County commissioners debate outsourcing tourism services

BLOUNTVILLE— Sullivan County commissioners spent much of Thursday's meeting debating whether to contract out tourism services.The move would would take responsibility away from the Sullivan County Department of Archives and Tourism, led by Matthew Johnson.Commissioners got their first look at the resolution, sponsored by commissioner Zane Vanover, which would allow the county's purchasing agent, Kris Davis, to send out requests for qualifications for firms to provide tourism promotion and development services.The proposal follows the county's implementation of a hotel occupancy tax in 2023, which has generated more than $1.6 million. State law requires those revenues to be used for tourism purposes.In November 2024, commissioners approved a resolution splitting the money, with half given annually to the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association and the other half to the county's department of tourism."I want to thank Matthew Johnson for wearing two hats for many years and taking care of both of these departments," Vanover said. "This was an office that were combined several years ago, and it's time to update, modernize some and try to make the best of our occupancy tax."Commissioner David Akard said he wanted clarification on whether the county was creating a new tourism department and questioned how qualifications for contractors would be set.Purchasing agent Kris Davis explained that her office would draft the RFQ specifications, score submissions and negotiate terms, similar to how the county handles building projects. She also said the requests would be sent to corporations or firms, not individuals."If we cannot negotiate a price with the highest-ranked firm, we'll move on to the next," Davis said.Commissioner Hershel Glover argued the plan could reduce commission control over how the funds are spent."I think County Commission should decide how that money is spent and we should vote on it," Glover said.Glover also questioned whether a hired firm might duplicate services already provided by groups including NETTA. He said the county should instead invest directly in facilities, like a farmers market in Blountville, rather than hire outside contractors.Sullivan County Mayor Richard Venable said tourism services done for the county currently are often passive. He said he envisioned a "more aggressive approach" if marketing services were to be outsourced."I think this is the best way to make use of this money," Venable said. "Whichever firm we end up going with will be able to figure out our exact customer base and bring them into the county.""Tourism is more than just a pamphlet, an advertisement, a magazine, and tourism and it originates outside this county," Venable added.Ideally, the contractor/firm would report to the commission every three months, providing updates on their efforts and service.Commissioner Vanover clarified that the resolution presented Thursday just sends out requests for qualifications, it does not issue or allocate funding.Commissioner Dwight King said it did not make sense to ask for requests from firms without providing a funding range. Mayor Venable said he agreed."This is just step one of the process," Vanover said. "There will be a lot of decisions that will have to be made after we review the requests, but we have to start somewhere."