Stone Bridge Farms owner Ron Foust has been named the 2018 Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center’s Tourism Professional of the Year.

In an award ceremony held at Foust’s venue Thursday morning, he and several other events, businesses and individuals were recognized for their hard work and contributions to the Cullman tourism industry.

After receiving the award, Foust made sure to thank the rest of his team at Stone Bridge Farms for helping the 75-acre event venue achieve the success that it has over the past few years.

“They’ve been a great team,” he said. “They are amazing and it takes all of us to pull it off.”

Along with the awards ceremony, Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce Tourism Director Roger Steele spoke about tourism in Cullman County and how the Chamber is working with local people and businesses to create a plan to attract more people to the area.

He said the plan is focusing on four areas that the Chamber can concentrate on and develop goals that can be implemented next year: sports tourism, agritourism, religious tourism and Smith Lake tourism.

For sports tourism, Steele said he is in the process of working with both Cullman Parks and Recreation and Cullman County Parks and Recreation to market the area as a destination place for outdoor recreation and a place to host tournaments.

This area has plenty of hiking areas and other places for recreation, and parks like Heritage Park can host large tournaments, so the cooperation between the parks departments and the chamber can help bring more people to Cullman County.

Agritourism is a rising market among younger people, and the development of partnerships between farms and restaurants to serve local food can be marketed, as well as farmers markets that can let people get a taste of the food provided by local farms, Steele said. 

“That has tremendous potential,” he said. “If we can do that, we can bring folks in.”

The presence of the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman and the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville make Cullman County a popular spot for religious tourism, Steele said. 

“Cullman is a really unique place if you think about it,” he said.

He said representatives from the Shrine, Grotto and other areas will soon be meeting to build itineraries that will show people the religious sites in the area along with restaurants, shopping and other attractions. 

Steele said Smith Lake is one of the areas biggest attractions, but its potential for tourism has not been realized.

“It’s absolutely magnificent,” he said. “It’s our greatest tourism draw, but it’s our most underutilized.”

The tourism board is putting together a plan and is building a roundtable of local people and businesses from around Smith Lake who can get together to share ideas, Steele said.

He said the new expansion at Smith Lake Park that saw the number of boat ramp lanes increase from two to six also increased the potential of events that can be hosted there.

There is already one new tournament coming to the park, Fishers of Men Tournament that will bring around 100 boats and 200 anglers over five nights, and the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series is in talks to come to Smith Lake in 2019, which would bring 500 anglers over a three-day tournament, Steele said.

After bringing people in for a visit to a religious site or for a fishing tournament, the idea is to show people what Cullman is like so they will want to return and see more of it, he said.

“What we want to do is use Smith Lake, use the Shrine as a means to help them, but also help all of us,” Steele said.

Awards presented at the ceremony included:

Exceptional Festival or Event – Cullman Oktoberfest

Best Attraction – Skydive Alabama

Rockin’ Retailer – Werner’s Trading Company

Extraordinary Everyday Eatery – Rumors Deli

The White Glove Award – Tonia Duke from La Quinta Inn & Suites

The Silver Spoon Award – Zach Chanin from Strada di Napoli

Savvy Retail Sales Associate – Phillip Hicks from Mr. Hicks Menswear