Tazewell County Tourism
200 Sanders Lane
Bluefield, Virginia 24605
www.visittazewellcounty.org 800-588-9401
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Addtional Details on the Governor's Release on 2/21 Regarding Tourism Grants can be found:
https://governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/newsarticle?articleId=19437
Tazewell County Tourism is pleased to be announced as a recipient of a Marketing Leverage Partnership Grant issued by the Governor's Office and Virginia Tourism Corporation. This five-thousand dollar grant will be matched with funds from the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors to be used in marketing the Back of the Dragon and The Dragon Roars event June 9 - 11.
Tazewell County Tourism, with the Town of Tazewell, has undertaken the task of spotlighting the thirty two mile ribbon across three mountain ranges spanning between Marion and Tazewell. The Back of the Dragon is the only state named route in Virginia for Motorcycle and Sports cars of its kind. With elevation changes of over 1,500 feet and over four hundred curves, the Dragon offers technical difficulty found nowhere else on the east coast. Riders from all parts of the globe are finding a favorite place to visit when riding the Dragon. The event, which in years past has had attendance of up to twelve - thousand people, is expected to set record crowds this year. Monster Energy Freestyle FX Team and Bill Dixon, five time world champion stunt rider, will headline this year's event at the Tazewell County Fairgrounds. The event will feature vendors of all kinds, specifically featuring motorcycle and exotic sports car dealers. New to this year's event will be a Friday night Demolition Derby and Saturday concerts will feature rising country stars Kaitlyn Baker and the band Outshyne. Both of whom have multiple hits in the charts currently.
The marketing funds will be used to showcase Tazewell and Marion at three International Motorcycle Shows in Washington DC, Cleveland, OH and Chicago, IL, as well as in many motorcycle publications and media outlets.
"Being able to spotlight Tazewell is a great thing," said David Woodard, Tazewell County Tourism Coordinator, "When we bring motorcycles into the area from out of town, they spend money. Spent money equals economic development."
Tazewell Town Manager, Todd Day, said "The Town of Tazewell is experiencing an economic renewal that largely involves motorcycles. We've had several new businesses open and several more who are in the process of starting up. It is an exciting time to be involved and see the Town of Tazewell grow like it is."
According to Woodard, motorcyclists need places to sleep, eat and shop while visiting. "Those needs are being met, but we are not yet where we want to be. We saw fifty-thousand motorcycles on the road last year. We want to double that, or more, this year. When we start talking about motorcycles in the hundreds of thousand s- which is our goal - we are talking about the reality of being a destination of priority." Woodard says
