Ark Encounter and Creation Museum Fueling Hotel Growth

Our region now boasts a 72% hotel occupancy rate—that’s a growth of over 7% from the previous year and 6% higher than the national average.

Our region now boasts a 72% hotel occupancy rate—that’s a growth of over 7% from the previous year and 6% higher than the national average. More hotels are still needed in the area, and that’s why this year’s Star of Tourism award went to the City of Florence, Kentucky. This city, halfway between the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum, has been working with hotel developers to meet the high demand for hotel rooms caused by Ark and museum visitors, and by the recent growth experienced in the Hebron Amazon warehouse. Seven hotels—just in Florence alone—are being constructed right now, and five more are in the planning stages with city officials.

We want to extend our congratulations to Florence for receiving that award. We desperately need additional hotels in this region—you see, one complaint we hear from guests visiting the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter is how difficult it can be to find available hotel rooms during the busy seasons—and we’re thankful the city is working hard to solve that problem to meet the needs of our future guests. By the way, someone joked that the Star of Tourism award should have been cut in half, with one part given to the Ark!

One article reporting on tourism in the region stated,

Several diverse factors contributed to the record-setting performance.

The region’s group tour business, led by the faith-based market, continues to boost hotel occupancy.

“The Creation Museum in Boone County and the Ark Encounter in nearby Grant County drive significant numbers to our destination,” stated Tim Bray, the meetNKY board chair.

“It seems that every month, we receive an inquiry from a hotel developer exploring new construction in Northern Kentucky.”

When Josh Hunt, the director of business development for the City of Florence, picked up the award he said,

When I tell people that [hotels are coming because of the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum], a lot of people don’t really believe it. I would advise you to look at Trip Advisor . . . .

There was no question in anyone’s mind that AiG’s attractions are the primary regional driver for tourism in the region.

Two of our AiG staff members who attended the meeting said we received several mentions from the stage from the presenters. There was no question in anyone’s mind that AiG’s attractions are the primary regional driver for tourism in the region.

Despite the tired claim some atheist groups -who are prejudiced against our attractions because they disseminate a biblical message- are still making regardless the massive evidence to the contrary, the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum are being flooded with visitors and filling hotels. They are making a substantial economic impact on this region (90% of our guests are coming from outside the tri-state area of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio) but, more importantly, they are making a huge spiritual impact on millions of people.

See why millions have visited our two world-class Christian themed attractions by planning your visit. Go to ArkEncounter.com or CreationMuseum.org to get started.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.