Just before the Christmas break, Mississippi Arts Commission director, Malcolm White spoke at Delta State to a group consisting of those in our region who are directly involved or interested in tourism. One of the most intriguing points he made was that in some way or another, Mississippians touch the lives of most people on the planet on a daily basis. To illustrate his point, White went on to say that a boy from Tupelo, Mississippi named Elvis, produced music that is played somewhere on earth every minute of every day. He also noted that Meridian native, Hartley Peavey who founded Peavey Inc., has produced music and sound equipment that is used by people worldwide every day. Peavey’s musical instruments—guitars, guitar amplifiers—are used by many famous musicians such as the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd and other well-known bands and entertainers to create music that touches all of us. Then, there are the authors—John Grisham, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, and so many more, whose works have entertained and inspired us through their writings and films. There are other examples, more than I could possibly mention here.

White referred to this phenomena  as Mississippi’s “Creative Economy”—a term I discussed in this column a year ago. This term refers to the sector of our economy that is formed by those who are involved with the arts and other creative endeavors.  Not only do we export our creativity...it also draws people to us. A great example of this, but on a smaller scale is Oxford, Mississippi. Back in the early eighties, Oxford was a sleepy college town in the hills. Then, the creative types moved in around their downtown Square. There was a place called The Hoka—a dive that showed independent films and served some unique food. It  was also a late night coffee house. Then, Square Books opened their doors downtown. The people of Neilson’s Department Store took a chance and opened the first fine dining restaurant on the Square. Not long after that, the Square became active with art galleries, modern retail stores, and other food places moved in. Thus, a creative cluster of interesting places on the Square began to take shape and the, “If you build it, they will come” idea exploded in Oxford. Today, downtown Oxford is so overflowing with “visitors” (tourists is what I call them) that it is difficult to find a parking spot.

As we look for ways to grow the Delta economically, tourism seems to be our best hope. We offer the world an extremely unique place to visit full of music, history, art, and great food.

White said there are several tips in growing a Creative Economy through tourism:

• Look at your community and view your offerings as a visitor/consumer.

• Educate the community and leaders on these offerings and the value of these to the area.

• Package your offerings with others in your community (bring it all together for the experience).

• Work and market regionally (look far beyond city and county lines).

• Utilize your local and State Tourism offices.

Ward Emling, director of the Mississippi Film Commission and Joy Foy from the Mississippi Development Authority also attended the DSU meeting and shared these tourism figures in Mississippi:

• Travel and tourism expenditures now exceed $5.8 billion a year.

• Broken down, this means that Mississippi is bringing in over $1 million a day in tourism dollars.

• Travel and tourism general fund revenues are $370 million.

• Over 80,000 people are now directly employed by tourism.

• Annual payroll for travel and tourism direct jobs exceeds $1.72 billion each year.

Mississippi has a wealth of creative talent and many opportunities for creative businesses. This can be a very positive force in the Delta’s economy, particularly through collaborative tourism initiatives throughout the entire state.

There are many possibilities for the Delta in this “Creative Economy.” We at the DBJ pledge to start a dialog in 2012 as to how our region of the state can take advantage of this Creative Economy.

Stay tuned! DBJ