The man hired to promote, and grow, tourism in North Augusta outlined some of the city’s strengths during the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce’s May 12 breakfast meeting.
North Augusta hired Randy DuTeau about six months ago as part of a three-member team in the city’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism department. DuTeau was well-known in the Augusta-Aiken area, primarily from his involvement with large scale sporting events and as former executive director of the Columbia County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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He said rebuilding the Columbia County CVB gave him a template to help create expanded interest in tourism in North Augusta.
“In terms of mechanics of our tourism plan, we are currently building a tourism specific website, we’re developing print collateral, we’re also working on developing video and then also looking at digital campaigns, anything that we can do to basically get the message out,” he said. “We’re also developing a tourism specific logo for a new brand that will be launched as visit ‘North Augusta, South Carolina.’”
DuTeau said living in and around North Augusta it is easy to see what the city has to offer in terms of tourist attractions. But being in a state that includes Charleston and Greenville creates the challenge to get tourists to look at North Augusta as a destination spot.
“What I think is most important for us is we recognize who we are, we don’t try to be anything that we aren’t. And we basically sell a good authentic experience,” he said, adding “When you live in a community that has an area like Riverside Village, when you have the quaint Americana downtown, when you have Living History Park, when you have all of these assets, it’s a really easy sell.”
He also said sporting events have already gotten people from everywhere familiar with the city. He pointed specifically to the Nike Peach Jam, which has made North Augusta its home for 25 years and now rivals the $4.7 million in economic impact generated by the IRONMAN 70.3.
North Augusta is now a member of the South Carolina Sports Alliance, a collection of community sports commission and CVBs from around the state.
“I think it’s going to provide us a lot of leads that we may not have had otherwise,” said DuTeau. “And also, it’s going to provide us some room nights as we’ll be hosting this summer meeting for South Carolina Sports Alliance in August and so we’ll bring in approximately 50 to 60 folks, for the event and it’s a great opportunity for us to show off. It’s a great opportunity for them to understand what we have, so that when they look at events that may not be good for their community, maybe they’ll think about us first.”
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North Augusta is well known for the Jack O Lantern Jubilee, which started small more than 30 years ago and is now one of the top draws for visitors from the southeast.
DuTeau said the hope is the inaugural “Rockin’ and Raftin’” event, set for June 4, will be the start of the next big thing for North Augusta.
“The plan is to have 250-meter rafting races or kayak races on the Savannah.” “We’re also going to have kayaks out for people just to jump into the water,” he said. “You all probably noticed that kayaking has gotten really huge in this community. We’ll have rafting, we’ll have kayaking, we’ll have vendors, we’re going to have food, and then live entertainment at the Sharon Jones amphitheater. It’s our hope that we can use this as a springboard to develop something much larger.”
DuTeau told the assembled business leaders they can play a part in the success of the task to raise North Augusta’s profile by communicating with his office. He urged them to call him with ideas and join in the discussions of how best to turn the city into a destination spot on the tourism map.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
