Pros and Cons of the Tourism Boom in Newton County : a Conversation with Ken Malcom, Director of Tourism and Downtown Development - Episode 6
Is tourism a good thing for local residents and downtown businesses?
Is there a way to balance the influx of tourism with the needs/wants of the local citizens?
It all depends on who you ask.
There are certainly pros and cons to a local tourism boom in any town, but Newton County has seen a rapid explosion of visitors with the incredible success of the Vampire Diaries tv series which was filmed almost exclusively in Newton County and using the Covington Square as a backdrop for the mystical town of Mystic Falls. Originally airing on CW network, then picked up by Netflix and streamed by tens of thousands during COVID, and now running rampant on The Peacock app, the popularity of the show continues to grow.
But vampires don't have exclusivity in Covington, GA; the most recent hit Netflix series, Sweet Magnolias, just wrapped up filming its fourth series in Newton County. And a host of other films and tv series are using our community to make their stories come to life: a new FX series called The English Teacher, a program named Hysteria, and a big budget movie tentatively called Maybrook, starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, all call Covington home.
So, Gabriel and Trey catch up with Ken Malcom, the Director of Tourism and Downtown Development, to pepper him with questions to better understand what his department does to add value to Covington residents.
Ken is gracious, as always, and gives us great perspective and supporting data to show the incredible benefits we receive as citizens from the millions of tourism dollars spent in our town. But he doesn't shy away from the harder questions about how the larger crowds and numerous specialty stores might deter local citizens from visiting downtown.
And we couldn't interview Ken without asking him about the issues of concern at the recent Independence in the Park celebration. He is transparent, honest, and quite vulnerable during that section of the interview. You must listen to the end to catch all of the important conversation.
Welcome to The Hollywood of the South!
Newton County and Covington, Georgia are simply hot spots right now for tourism. It might not last forever and our community, businesses, and government must be ready to pivot when the wind changes. But we also must be mindful of the local citizens who call Covington, not Mystic Falls, home.
This conversation with Ken will help us better understand the immense benefits of the tourism industry RIGHT NOW for Covington, how that data prepares us for growth that we can manage tomorrow, and how we can be ready for the next phase of life in Newton County while maintaining that "small town charm" that makes this community the best place to live east of Atlanta.
Links:
Contact Ken and his staff: info@discovercovingtonga.com
Visit the Covington Welcome Center (and museum):
1143 Oak St NE
Covington, GA 30014
770-385-2077
Mon-Fri : 9am - 5pm
Sat : 10am - 4pm
(And don't forget to check out the new and expanded local history section of the museum.)
