BamaJam attendees leave plenty of money behind

Entertainer after entertainer took the stage over the weekend at the BamaJam Music & Arts Festival, and thanked the people for spending their hard-earned money to see them.

“We know times are hard,” Brooks & Dunn said –- but not hard enough to keep 121,000 people away from the country duo’s show Saturday.

Aside from the money spent and taxes raised at BamaJam, local hotels, car washes, and convenience stores were among the businesses outside of the festival grounds which benefited from the numerous locals and visitors passing this way over the weekend.

Dothan hotels were booked solid and local convenience store clerks reported steady traffic from campers who purchased extra gasoline to power generators for the three-day festival. Grocery store workers said they saw a shift in sales from traditional meals to increased beverages sales.

Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver gave kudos to everyone involved with the festival, adding that the Thursday night and nearly all-day Friday rain didn’t damper anything.
“It was a great event and shows you the kind of economic stimulus something like that can provide. It was obviously something people want.”

Heather Beeker, general manager of the Sleep Inn & Suites in Dothan, said the hotel has been booked for about a month. Many were BamaJam vendors and music lovers, but there was also a youth baseball tournament in town over the weekend.

“When it looked like it was going to rain, a lot of people called and changed their plans about BamaJam,” Beeker said. “Most of them just changed their reservations, not canceled them.”
Those rooms that came available sold almost immediately, she said. “I could have sold my hotel two or three times.”

Beeker said the hotel’s reservation center is not yet set up to book a year in advance, but within two weeks, BamaJam fans can make reservations for next year.

“BamaJam has really benefited us,” she said, “and I am thumbs up for Country Crossing. It will enhance Dothan more than people realize, especially with the big tour bus market.”

Dothan Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Bob Hendrix said the overall economic impact of an event like BamaJam is hard to measure. It is certainly attended by thousands of locals, but it also brings in people from across the United States.

“It being a second-year event also makes it hard to measure,” he said, “but any time our hotels are totally booked out, it is wonderful. Across the state a lot of cities have down occupancy. We are actually up a little bit.

“That is great news in a bad economy. It is like adding another big sporting event that brings people to our hotels during the weekends. Dothan pretty much stays full with business, medical and transient travelers during the week. Any extra event like this is a great addition. We welcome it and hope it continues.”

Because gates at BamaJam didn’t open until noon, he estimates a lot of people ate in area restaurants and spent other money while in town.

Dothan’s most automated car washes, United Express Car Wash and Blue Water Express, saw good business Sunday and Monday from BamaJam fans. Last year’s festival brought cars and trucks covered in dust; this year, it was mud.

“We had some customers who said they had been to BamaJam,” said United Express worker Aaron Dempsey. “After BamaJam it brings business, but during BamaJam, it slows us down.”

A manager with Winn Dixie in Dothan said while the store did not see an increase in sales, there was a shift. Store sales increased in beer, water and Gatorade. While many fired up grills at BamaJam, store managers said these purchases didn’t show up as increases at the cash register.