By Gage Wilson
For Glasgow News 1
As Barren County officials continue weighing whether to separate from the joint Glasgow-Barren County Tourist and Convention Commission, Executive Director Maclean Lessenberry has offered a detailed explanation of how the organization uses its funding and what she sees as its central purpose – bringing visitors, and their money, into the county.
Lessenberry released the statement following what she described as “recent, very public dialogue around the organization.” She said the information was originally prepared in response to a media inquiry regarding the commission’s budget and individual line items but chose to make the explanation public.
The statement comes amid an ongoing discussion surrounding Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd’s proposal to establish a separate county tourism commission, ending a joint arrangement between Glasgow and Barren County that has existed for nearly three decades.
Byrd has framed the proposal as part of a longer-term effort to generate tourism revenue capable of supporting future county projects, including the planned Barren County Ag Expo Center, rather than relying heavily on property-tax dollars.
Lessenberry’s statement does not directly address the proposed separation. Instead, it offers perhaps her most extensive public explanation to date of how the existing commission views its mission and evaluates where the tourism commission dollars are spent.
“The role of our organization is not to market to the community, but to market the community,” Lessenberry wrote. “We operate as a destination marketing and economic-development organization.”
According to Lessenberry, Glasgow-Barren County tourism is funded almost entirely through the local lodging tax, aside from grants secured by the organization. Those dollars are spread across several areas, including digital marketing, event sponsorships, research, public relations, memberships, property improvements, travel and operating expenses.
Lessenberry said the distinction between local activity and tourism is particularly important when considering event sponsorships.
“We absolutely value local participation in community events, and we are excited when our community turns out,” she wrote. “However, that is not the true purpose of the DMO. Our mandate is to attract people from outside the area and generate new economic activity.”
She illustrated that distinction by comparing $50 spent at an event by a Barren County resident with the same amount spent by someone visiting from outside the area.
“If someone who already lives here spends $50 at a local event, that money is re-circulating within our existing local economy,” Lessenberry wrote. “If we bring someone from outside the area who spends $50 on a hotel, restaurant, gas, shopping or entertainment, that represents new money entering our economy.”
That philosophy, she said, is central to how the organization determines where to invest its money.
Event sponsorship requests go through an application process and are evaluated based on their anticipated economic return. Lessenberry pointed to KY Bass Nation fishing tournaments as an example, saying participants often arrive nearly a week before an event to pre-fish and may bring family members, resulting in spending on lodging, fuel, restaurants and other local businesses.
Other recent sponsorships have included Entertain Glasgow’s Summer Concert Series and the Friends of Barren River Lake and State Park’s July 4 fireworks show.
Digital marketing, meanwhile, includes search-engine marketing, website and social media content, photography, travel guides, itineraries and partnerships with content creators.
Lessenberry cited a campaign with KY Bucket List that included a reel featuring The Grove, which she said generated more than 1 million views and thousands of shares.
“The goal is not simply to generate views or likes, but to put our destination in front of potential visitors and inspire them to travel here,” she wrote.
Research dollars have also been used to study visitor demographics and behavior and contributed to the feasibility study for Glasgow’s proposed sports complex. Lessenberry said that information is used to determine where the organization’s resources could have the greatest impact.
She also addressed several less visible portions of the budget.
Membership dues, she said, connect the organization with regional and statewide tourism groups, including the Caveland Marketing Association and Kentucky Travel Industry Association. Through Caveland, tourism agencies support staffing at visitor information locations at Mammoth Cave National Park and Interstate 65 rest areas.
Funds designated for property upgrades are being reserved for improvements to the organization’s historic Visitors Center. Lessenberry said the commission is working with the Barren River Area Development District on potential grant opportunities, with some of the money being held to provide a local match if required.
Travel and lodging expenses include staff mileage as well as trips to conferences, trade shows, training and film markets, which Lessenberry characterized as opportunities to market the area and recruit events and other business.
A significant portion of Lessenberry’s statement focused on the commission’s involvement in film recruitment through the Southern Kentucky Film Commission, a collaboration between several tourism organizations in the region.
Lessenberry said Glasgow-Barren County tourism pays a membership fee to participate in the film commission but does not offer local monetary incentives or pay production expenses. Instead, the organization assists productions with location scouting, background casting, local contacts and logistics.
“These productions do not simply find their way to Glasgow-Barren County on their own,” Lessenberry wrote. “We actively go after them.”
According to Lessenberry, tourism representatives attend film markets, festivals and other industry events to meet with producers, writers, studios, directors and production companies in an effort to recruit projects to Southern Kentucky.
She said a roughly $7 million production filmed in Barren County last summer, though final economic-impact figures from that project have not yet been received through the Kentucky Film Office’s incentive documentation.
Lessenberry also said three film projects have been in the area this summer. Two have wrapped, while a third is underway but has not been publicly announced.
Those productions, she said, bring spending that extends beyond the production itself, including hotel stays, short-term rentals, local purchases, location rentals, paid work for residents and contracts with service providers.
The broader tourism economy generated more than $117 million in visitor spending in Barren County in 2025, a figure Lessenberry cited in arguing that the commission’s work should ultimately be judged by its ability to attract outside spending.
“That is not an abstract benefit to the community,” she wrote. “It is over $117 million in economic activity generated by people who came here from somewhere else.”
While the statement does not settle the larger question of whether Barren County should remain part of the joint commission, it further defines Lessenberry’s position on what the existing organization is designed to accomplish as county officials consider a different model for tourism.
“Our work puts heads in beds, customers in restaurants and stores, guests in local attractions, business into local venues, and dollars into the hands of our local businesses and workers,” Lessenberry wrote. “That is our role, and it is a substantial one.”
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