Caveland Exploration Celebration

 

 

By Mary Beth Sallee

Jobe Publishing, Inc.

 

The Caveland Marketing Association (CMA) recently held its Caveland Exploration Celebration on April 23 at the Cave Area Conference Center in Cave City.

The celebration served as an educational event exclusively for hospitality industry frontline staff in attractions, lodging, restaurants, gas stations, and retail stores in Barren, Hart, and Edmonson Counties, all of which share Mammoth Cave National Park.

Vanessa Ulm is the Executive Director of the Edmonson County Tourism Commission and also serves as the President of the Caveland Marketing Association for 2025. Ulm stressed the importance of the Caveland Exploration Celebration, stating that the event is vital for business to business networking and to educate hospitality industry frontline staff on the attractions, lodging, retail stores, restaurants, and more within the tri-county area.

 

 

“This is a wonderfully beneficial event if you encounter tourists regularly in your job, as visitors tend to have questions and want recommendations, and after this event the frontline staff will have the answers,” Ulm said. “Highly engaged employees make the customer experience while disengaged employees break it, and with frontline staff being the face of your business, their engagement directly impacts customer satisfaction.

” Over 200 individuals attended this year’s event, coming from a wide variety of hospitality businesses across the tri-county area. Attendees who completed the event, which also included a short customer service training, received a coveted Caveland Fast Pass full of discounts and incentives at local businesses.

“Ideally, we could gather all of our front-line hospitality workers and spend an entire day showing them up-close what attractions are in the area, let them try every eatery, and browse every shop that is part of the Mammoth Cave National Park area, but since that’s not feasible, the Caveland Marketing Association created this event to bring all of those restaurants, boutiques, and attractions to one central location for a vendor style event that all of the area’s front-line workers can experience,” Ulm explained.

Ulm said the event is important not only for local businesses and the counties involved, but also the area in general.

 

 

“The Caveland Marketing Association is the collective voice for tourism in South Central Kentucky’s cave country, so our hospitality industry businesses are key to the continued success of the tricounties’ economic impacts,” Ulm said. “With Mammoth Cave National Park bringing in upwards of 700,000 visitors a year and generating $89.6 million to the local economy, there is plenty of opportunity to promote the activities, adventures, lodging, dining, etc. that surrounds the park to draw those visitors into the local communities. The local tourism commission stakeholders and CMA Board of Directors are delighted when local businesses and community stakeholders support our endeavors to showcase our counties through events like this that aim to educate frontline staff in our area, allow for networking, and to tout the wonderful activities and events in our area to all who are interested.”

Ulm shared that the celebration is a success each year because of the many businesses and individuals involved. “A big thank you to all of the businesses that set up a booth and devoted an entire day to the event, ensuring that every frontline attendee received the same education and attention,” Ulm said. “With recent flooding and staff shortages some businesses were unable to attend this year, but sent their regrets and we look forward to having them next year. The CMA Board of Directors that volunteered their time to assist with the event are priceless and we appreciate their dedication. Lastly, the employers that send their frontline staff see the value in this event and will better their business because of their participation. We hope for a bigger and better event next year and will keep growing and evolving this event as the demand for the Mammoth Cave National Park area to be a vacation destination continues.”

 

 

The Caveland Marketing Association (CMA) is comprised of attractions, lodging, dining, and tourism related businesses located in Hart, Barren, and Edmonson Counties. CMA’s mission is to promote the tri-county area in and around Mammoth Cave National Park as a tourist destination.

This mission aims to attract more visitors to the area, encourage them to stay longer, and ultimately leave them with the desire to make repeat visits. Stakeholders in CMA include Cave City Tourism, GlasgowBarren County Tourism, Edmonson County Tourism, Horse Cave/Hart County Tourism, and Munfordville Tourism.