Wetumpka Chamber Exec to Visit & Share Experiences with HGTV’s Home Town Takeover
SEBRING, Fla. (Sept. 9, 2024) – Shellie Phelps, executive director of the Wetumpka Area Chamber of Commerce, will serve as the Keynote Speaker at the 2024 Highlands County Tourism Insights and Awards Luncheon on Sept. 25. She will also be involved with several stakeholder meetings throughout Highlands County Sept. 24-25. These meetings are being coordinated by Visit Sebring/Highlands County Tourist Development Council (TDC).
Wetumpka, Alabama was the first city chosen for HGTV’s Home Town Takeover, and their episodes aired several years ago. Phelps is a wealth of information and excited to help Highlands County prepare for the attention that will be generated by HGTV after Season 3 (Sebring) airs.
According to statistics provided by the Wetumpka Area Chamber of Commerce, there’s been a remarkable increase in tourism in their area — with Wetumpka serving as a full-fledged destination — since the HGTV docuseries first premiered in 2020.
“What we’ve found is that people are not only coming to visit, but they’re coming back and have been here two or three times, “Phelps said. “They’ve fallen in love with the town since the show aired.”
Wetumpka’s Shellie Phelps – Keynote Speaker at Tourism Lunch
The 2024 Tourism Lunch will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at the Circle Theater in downtown Sebring. Doors will open at 11:00 AM and the buffet lunch will start at 11:30 AM. Tickets are $25/person; seats are limited so we encourage everyone to register soon. You can secure your seats by calling the Sebring Chamber (863) 385-8448 or online at tinyurl.com/TourismLunch2024.
In addition to the guest speaker, the luncheon will also include the presentation of Visit Sebring’s annual tourism awards and tourism updates. This luncheon is co-hosted by Visit Sebring, Greater Sebring Chamber of Commerce, Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce, Avon Park Chamber of Commerce and the Highlands County Economic Development Council (EDC) with support from the Sebring Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) this year.
Wetumpka’s Shellie Phelps – Highlands County Stakeholder Meetings
Phelps will spend a few days in Highlands County getting familiar with Sebring, Avon Park and Lake Placid. There are plans for her to tour each city and host a stakeholder meeting at each location to chat about concerns and issues directly related to that stakeholder group. These meetings are free for anyone to attend, and the meeting details are listed below.
- Sept. 24 at 6:00 PM – Avon Park stakeholder meeting at the Jacaranda Hotel
- Avon Park leaders, businesses and anyone interested in getting advice and suggestions that Shellie Phelps has specifically for Avon Park should attend.
- Sept. 25 at 9:00 AM – Downtown Sebring stakeholders meeting at Sebring Civic Center
- Sebring leaders, downtown businesses and anyone interested getting in advice and suggestions that Shellie Phelps has specifically for downtown Sebring should attend.
- Sept. 25 at 2:00 PM – Tourism stakeholder meeting at Sebring Civic Center
- Shellie will share ideas with tourism stakeholders (hotels, restaurants, attractions) so they can maximize the HGTV opportunity and amplify light that Highlands County will experience once the TV shows airs in 2025. Highlands County hotels/accommodations, restaurants, tourism attractions, downtown businesses and anyone interested in advice and suggestions that Shellie Phelps has regarding how Highlands County’s tourism partners can leverage the tourism aspect of HGTV should attend.
- Sept. 25 at 6:00 PM – Lake Placid stakeholder meeting at Lake Placid Town Hall
- Lake Placid leaders, businesses and anyone interested in getting advice and suggestions that Shellie Phelps has specifically for Lake Placid should attend.
Local leaders know that the impact of HGTV’s Home Town Takeover airing in early 2025 will significantly impact all of Highlands County.
HGTV revisited the now thriving small town of Wetumpka, AL in December 2023. There are now multiple bus tours available that take visitors to prime historic spots and newly restored spaces around Wetumpka. The town’s Hampton Inn has been booked at full capacity every single weekend and the town is looking to add more hotels in the future. Buildings downtown, many of which were empty pre-Takeover, have filled up with businesses.
Perhaps most importantly, a slew of new residents, many of younger age demographics, have moved to Wetumpka from all over the country. As Ben and Erin Napier have pointed out many times on their show Home Town, that’s a tremendously positive life sign for a remote or aging small town.
“The change in Wetumpka has been so incredible since Ben and Erin were here,” said Phelps. “There’s been like this crazy tidal wave of awesomeness.”
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Visit Sebring is the destination marketing organization managed by the Highlands County Tourist Development Council (TDC). The mission of the TDC is to contribute to a positive quality of life for the residents of Highlands County through destination promotion, tourism development, advocacy, and resource management – which are foundation pieces for future economic growth. For more information, visit https://www.VisitSebring.com or find us on social media @VisitSebring.
