Leah Ingram Eagle
Carrie Coleman
Carrie Coleman of the Bruno Event Team speaks to the audience at the Shelby Chamber Luncheon on June 26.
Tourism and recreation throughout Shelby County was the highlight of Wednesday’s Chamber Community Luncheon presented by the Shelby County Chamber’s Tourism and Recreation Group.
The group, which is in its second year, serves to provide assistance in promotion and development of tourism-related events and recreational activities throughout the county by encouraging the use of Shelby County hotels, campgrounds, parks and other participating lodging facilities when visitors come to the communities.
They have launched several initiatives to promote and develop tourism and events throughout the county including an email highlighting events that is distributed to hotels and restaurants to share with visitors, a tear off attractions map placed in hotels and other visitor locations and a promotion on social media outlets using #discovershelbyal.
Carrie Coleman, Assistant Vice President of Collegiate & Amateur Sports for the Bruno Event Team spoke specifically about the impact that the sports industry and events they work with have impacted Shelby County and surrounding areas.
The company, formed in 1995, is headquartered off U.S. 280 in Grandview. They began presenting golfing events, and have expanded to include motorsports, collegiate and amateur sports. The Bruno Event Team currently works with the SEC, NCAA, UTSA, Fed Cup and Davis Cup, Indy Car Series, as well as handles gameday events at UAB, the University of Alabama and Alabama State University. Other notable events presented by the Bruno Event Team include the Honda Indy Grand Prix, U.S. Senior Open, Barber Vintage Festival, The Magic City Classic and the upcoming 2021 World Games that will be held in Birmingham,
Measured by visitor spending, Coleman said that sports tourism is a $15 billion industry. Some of their largest events in the area include the Women’s Golf Championship, Regions Tradition and the SEC Baseball Tournament.
“The SEC Baseball Tournament held at the Hoover Met has a $12 million economic impact and recently broke an attendance record of over 162,000 over Memorial Day weekend,” Coleman said. “Adding the SEC Fanfest at the Finley Center adjacent to the stadium allowed us to enhance the fan experience.”
Coleman said that thanks to the Regions Tradition, they’ve been able to give over $17 million to Alabama charities, primarily benefiting Children’s Hospital.
To find out more about the Shelby County Tourism and Recreation Group, visit https://shelbychamber.org/benefits/work-groups/
The next Chamber Community Luncheon will take place on July 31 at 11:30 a.m. at the Pelham Civic Complex and feature an update on the schools throughout Shelby County and feature presentations by Superintendents from Alabaster City Schools, Hoover City Schools, Pelham City Schools and Shelby County Schools.
