How one Alabama hotel helped transform a community into a must-see tourist destination

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June 18, 2015

FLORENCE, Ala. — The Marriott Shoals celebrates its 10th birthday this week, wrapping up a decade of bringing economic growth and tourism to an area most known for its contributions to the nation’s musical culture.

“Since opening in 2005, we have consistently been one of the top Marriott hotels in North America for guest satisfaction and I credit this to the commitment of the Retirement Systems of Alabama to our hotel and to the caring attitude of our 232 associates,” said Larry Bower, general manager.

According to the hotel, visitor expenditures in Lauderdale County over the last 10 years have increased 230 percent—more than double that of the rest of the Yellowhammer State.

“I’m not aware of any other hotel built in the state in the last decade that has generated such a dramatic increase in visitor expenditures,” said Alabama Tourism Department director Lee Sentell.

The success of the Marriott Shoals has also spilled over into the tourism industry of the surrounding area—prompting seven additional hotels to set up shop.

“Today the leisure and hospitality industry employs nearly 1,000 more people than 10 years ago and the dollar value of hospitality is greater by tens of millions of dollars,” said Shoals Chamber of Commerce president Steve Holt. “The Marriott Shoals has been a driving force to develop and enhance our Shoals image throughout the southeast, the United States and around the world. People have now visited here that would probably never have found us before.”

Last month the Americana Music Triangle announced promotion of the “Gold Record Road,” which will run straight through Muscle Shoals.

Officials in the area say they get thousands of tourists a year, including many international tourists, there to soak up the musical history.

The Marriott Shoals is credited with not only bringing more visitors to the region, but with giving them a reason to stick around. In addition to the 232 associates directly employed for the hotel, Marriott Shoals has spent $665,000 booking local musicians. The Four Diamond Award-ranked rotating 360 Grille, luxury spa, and Robert Trent Jones golf courses probably don’t hurt either.