 In hopes of promoting tourism, Lake Bowen Baptist Church from South Carolina visited Pikeville during the Labor Day holiday. Monday we spoke with motor coach operator Bob Crocker about why maintaining tourism is important. I think it's important because what a lot of people don't feel like is the cost. You take a bus company with 12 to 20, but we even have bus companies with 40 bus buses that look at the overhead and that we can't afford to park those busses and things. So it just creates a lot of expense, a lot of overhead. But I think it's important that even though that we cannot go overseas or do a lot of traveling overseas is that there's so much of God's creation that's right in here within four and a half hours of our local community. Here at Pikeville Medical Center's Heart and Vascular Institute we have assembled a comprehensive team of cardiac specialists bringing expertise from all regions of the nation and the world. We have coupled that with cutting edge technology providing them the best equipment and operating rooms available. The result is comprehensive cardiac care for the people of our region that is second to none. The Heart and Vascular Institute at Pikeville Medical Center. And while Pikeville continues to invest itself into the motor coach industry we spoke with Pike County Tourism Executive Director Tony Tackett about Pike County's advancement into the tourism space. You know tourism is more important today than it has ever been. You can take me purchasing something in my own community and that dollar will go around one time. You take a visitor, a guest who is visiting their dollar will go around five to seven times so every dollar they spend will go around five to seven times. And that's the incredible part about tourism is enabling that economy and that region of an area especially ours that needs it so well. You know people from the South Carolina and North Carolina they're used to tourism and they come here and they find a totally different aspect of tourism. They find hospitality, they find great historic sites, great places to eat. It's a new adventure for them and although while they're having their experience they're spending dollars in our community so that makes tourism even more of a valuable component in any community. For Mountain Top News, I'm Joel Hodgell.