By A.J. Kaufman, Managing Editor
Tri-Cities Airport (TRI) utilized the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino venue in Bristol for an important economic announcement in December.
The facility in Blountville is efforting the addition of new direct flights between the Tri-Cities and two major markets, as well as acquiring a new airline to serve the Appalachian Highlands.
While it was not specified which airline or markets TRI hopes to add to the region, BRIDGE leadership stated that a $2 million minimum revenue guarantee incentive over two years will be given to the airline.
Sullivan County began the funding efforts over a month ago by committing $240,000 over two years. BRIDGE is requesting that organizations, businesses and local residents participate and bring more air traffic to TRI.
“It’s a long-term investment that supports every aspect of our community,” BRIDGE executive director John Rose said.
Speakers from academia, business, tourism and elsewhere noted that more flights – and more airlines competing here – mean lower fares for outbound travelers. More direct destinations and lower fares in turn make travel from TRI easier and cheaper.
TRI reportedly loses 60% of current air travelers across the region to other airports, mainly because of ticket prices. Specifically, TRI’s fares are over 80% higher on average than Asheville and nearly 30% higher than Knoxville.
Air service consultant Kirk Lovell traveled from South Carolina and explained within his presentation that airlines will now only launch new service if they are guaranteed a minimum amount of revenue during the first few years.
Businesses in the region can also benefit from tourism, officials claimed. As the area becomes a more attractive destination, it’s expected that revenues will rise. Moreover, tourist dollars shrink the tax burden on everyone who lives here. In 2023, visitors to Northeast Tennessee generated $404 per household in tax saving through tax collections.
Rose added that every time someone spends the night in our region, it’s a $150 impact per person.
Bristol, Va. Vice Mayor Jake Holmes is enthusiastic about the potential.
“It’s exciting to hear a new prospect coming to the airport, as anything we can do to grow the tourism industry in the region is a benefit to everybody,” Holmes told the Business Journal after the meeting concluded. “It’s great to see BRIDGE working so hard with both Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. At the city level, I know we’re gonna be able to have a conversation with BRIDGE to just get more details and try to find out what we could do to be supportive. Anything that helps part of the region helps the whole region.”
BMS president Jerry Caldwell, ETSU President Brian Noland, and Tri-Cities Airport Authority CEO Gene Cossey also presented to the approximately 80 attendees.
Caldwell specifically touched upon improving the quality of life with new access to major markets, and the importance of communities across the region working together on this opportunity.
“With our perspective as business leaders, as members of the community, this is an opportunity for us to make a long-term investment,” Noland, who is a member of the BRIDGE board of directors, added. “Sometimes those long-term investments require the ability to dream bigger dreams. We’re standing in a space that if we were to say a decade ago that we would have this asset here, many would have thought that would have been impossible; but leaders in this community had a big dream that came to life, and we are seeing that around us, a regional tourism asset that’s going to benefit all of us.”
Cossey said he knows there are no guarantees, but having airlines interested in the possibility excites him, and he trusts our region.
“One of the things when I first got here six years ago that I realized right away — and I love about this region — is it has a very strong underlying culture of what I call rugged individualism. We do things, we do it on our own, and we’re going to make it happen one way or the other, whether or not anybody else is on board or not.”
