During this National Travel and Tourism Week May 7-13, we wanted to tell you some little-known facts about the three attractions Northern Kentucky's Chamber showcased at its Eggs 'N Issues event Tuesday.
Staffing shortage solutions
The Ark Encounter was thinking outside the box when it built an apartment building on-site for its interns and out-of-town staff to live in while they work there. At the Creation Museum, interns live in nearby houses.
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Employees at the Newport Aquarium receive full tuition from Day One. Parent company Herschend Enterprises (which also owns Dollywood and Kentucky Kingdom) covers 100% of tuition, fees and books for the 11,000 employees who decide to further their education.
Real science at the Newport Aquarium
Behind the scenes, Newport Aquarium biologists are gathering data that are helping species around the world. Director of Sales and Marketing Matt Duda gave a couple of examples during the Eggs 'N Issues event.
- Taiwan reached out to bolster its shark ray species. "This is somebody on the other side of the world to people who work at Newport Aquarium for their expertise," says Duda.
- Newport Aquarium is protecting African penguins in South Africa. And an Aquarium biologist is the head of operations for Gentoo penguins at every single aquarium around the world.
Where do Florence Y’alls players come from?
Owner and CEO of the Florence Y’alls professional independent baseball team David DelBello and a couple of partners bought the former Florence Freedom in 2019.
He hyped Fireworks Fridays, Band Saturdays and Family Sundays at Tuesday's Chamber event. Somebody in the audience wanted to know where DelBello gets his players.
"These guys are still chasing the dream and trying to improve their skill set, and get their contract bought out by an MLB organization," says DelBello.
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The Florence Y'alls get their players from all over the world. Last year there were three from Latin America. Many come from college who maybe weren't drafted in the first 20 rounds or were drafted but didn't make it out of the minor leagues.
DelBello admits his players don't make that much — $1,600 a month — but housing and food are provided.
MeetNKY’s Julie Kirkpatrick says the economic impact of Northern Kentucky tourism is in the billions and it keeps growing.
