Calhoun County tourism, hospitality workers recognized at chamber event

[Guest Kurt]

Olga Banuelos begins her days well before dawn, arriving at Oxford’s Fairfield Inn & Suites by 5 a.m. or earlier to make coffee and scrambled eggs.

As she welcomes guests to the hotel’s breakfast, the 39-year-old Banuelos, who is a Jehovah’s Witness, keeps in mind a biblical command: the golden rule.

“If I want people to treat me right and welcome me, I have to do the same thing,” she said Tuesday at Oxford Civic Center.

 

For that welcoming spirit, Banuelos was one of nine area tourism and hospitality workers who were honored at a Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce event at the center.

The nine were nominated by their bosses and the public they serve for “recognition of service excellence,” or ROSE, awards, given by chamber chairman Barry Robertson. With promoting tourism a key focus of the chamber for the value out-of-town dollars bring, Robertson said, men and women like Banuelos are vital for giving a good first impression.

For all the time and effort spent by the chamber promoting the county’s big-ticket events and attractions, from bike races to Anniston’s museums, Robertson said, “people make our tourism work.”

2017 ROSE Awards  (Olga Banuelos)

Pursuing and accommodating tourism factors into a sizeable chunk of Calhoun County’s economy, economic data shows.

The county earned more than $23 million directly or indirectly from that pursuit in 2015, according to the latest report from the Alabama Tourism Department. About 930 people had jobs because of tourism, the report notes.

And last fiscal year, lodging taxes brought in just over $1 million, according to a Jacksonville State University report released in February.

Tuesday’s honorees included several who work in Oxford’s hotels, at its performing arts center and golf course.

Staff at Anniston’s museum complex and the Hotel Finial — including co-owner Ginger Marsh — and Piedmont’s Eubanks Welcome Center rounded out the list of nine.

 

“The recognition came from the people, so that means I’m doing my work right,” Banuelos, an Anniston resident with two teenaged children, said after the ceremony. “It feels nice to have people say positive things about me.”

Banuelos and the others honored often make the best advocates for Calhoun County tourism, said Emily Duncan, who is the chamber’s director of tourism and marketing.

By offering friendly service and recommending fun things to do, such workers give visitors “a reason to come back and back again,” she said.

Tourism and hospitality have a big impact on the state’s economy, too — to the tune of more than $4.5 billion in 2015, the ceremony’s guest speaker, Trisa Collier, told the audience after the awards had been given.

Collier, the state tourism department’s administrator of North Alabama welcome centers, brought with her the staff of Cleburne County’s center.

Cheaha State Park and the annual NASCAR races at Talladega Superspeedway remain the top draws there, center manager Kathy Freeman said. But even folks in town for those attractions often end up in Calhoun County.

“Most visitors want restaurants and shopping, so we’re constantly recommending Oxford and Anniston,” Freeman said. “It’s all right here.” 

The Anniston Star