{"id":665456,"date":"2019-01-04T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-04T19:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=665456"},"modified":"2019-01-08T05:42:56","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T12:42:56","slug":"southern-nms-tourism-economy-looks-promising-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2019\/01\/southern-nms-tourism-economy-looks-promising-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern NM\u2019s tourism economy looks promising in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Turtle

Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>

The New Year’s Eve turtle ascension in Truth or Consequences.<\/p><\/div>\n

COMMENTARY:\u00a0<\/strong>You haven\u2019t needed to make reservations in the Truth or Consequences I\u2019ve been visiting for the past several years. So my girlfriend and I arrived in town on New Year\u2019s Eve with plans to attend an event at the downtown brewery \u2014 but without having yet purchased tickets.<\/p>\n

We were surprised to learn that the event sold out earlier that day and we needed new plans. We ended up dining at billionaire Ted Turner\u2019s Sierra Grande Lodge & Spa.<\/p>\n

The restaurant was full. Sarah and I ate bison and antelope harvested from Turner\u2019s nearby ranches. Our meals were on par with food you\u2019d expect at high-end restaurants in Santa Fe and Taos.<\/p>\n

\"Heath

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

Then we joined dozens of people at the downtown plaza to raise a turtle into the sky while steam rose from a hot springs fountain nearby. True to T or C, the turtle ascended at 10 p.m. \u201cIt\u2019s midnight eastern time,\u201d somebody pointed out.<\/p>\n

T or C is changing, in part because the new brewery has filled an important hole downtown<\/span><\/a>. The most popular places to stay regularly fill up. The number of available beds on Airbnb<\/span><\/a> has exploded. We saw license plates from many different states around town.<\/p>\n

This offbeat town is no longer one of New Mexico\u2019s best-kept secrets. And while the entire state has seen increased tourism in recent years<\/span><\/a>, our trip to T or C had me thinking about the recent public and private investments in southern New Mexico that add to the potential here.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the outdoors economy. Anyone who regularly visits the Organ Mountains has witnessed the increase in visitors since former President Barack Obama made them a national monument in 2014. The designation has meant improved roads and other infrastructure. I\u2019ve visited with folks from as far away as Alabama who came to see the monument.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the film industry. Netflix<\/span><\/a> and Disney<\/span><\/a> have recently filmed television shows in T or C. Clint Eastwood\u2019s film The Mule reportedly had an economic impact of $1.3 million<\/span><\/a> during the six days filming took place around Las Cruces.<\/p>\n

Las Cruces\u2019 downtown, like T or C\u2019s, is on the upswing. A new brewery\/distillery, some good restaurants and other businesses draw people. The plaza has become a prime gathering space. More businesses are under construction.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Spaceport America<\/span><\/a>. The public spending on this project has been hefty and the insistence on secrecy has been controversial<\/span><\/a> \u2014 and we\u2019re about to learn whether our investment will pay off. Last month, Virgin Galactic\u2019s spaceship finally reached suborbital space<\/span><\/a> (by the definition used by the U.S. Air Force) during a test flight in California.<\/p>\n

Virgin Galactic has more than doubled its staff in Las Cruces in the past two years. The company plans to move dozens more workers here this year as it prepares to launch paying customers from Spaceport America.<\/p>\n

Our public spending on the spaceport has already spurred private investments that boost tourism. Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces underwent dramatic renovations<\/span><\/a> to prepare for Virgin Galactic\u2019s high-dollar space tourists and their entourages. In T or C, Turner\u2019s Sierra Grande Lodge has made improvements too.<\/p>\n

To top it all off, New Mexico will likely soon legalize recreational marijuana<\/span><\/a>. That will add to southern New Mexico\u2019s draw, especially for tourists from nearby El Paso, Texas and travelers along Interstate 10. Recreational marijuana seems a natural fit for T or C and its quirky reputation, hot springs and lakes.<\/p>\n

At the start of 2019, things are looking up for southern New Mexico\u2019s tourism economy.<\/p>\n

Heath Haussamen<\/a>\u00a0is NMPolitics.net\u2019s editor and publisher.\u00a0Agree with his opinion? Disagree? NMPolitics.net welcomes your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My New Year’s Eve trip to Truth or Consequences had me thinking about the recent public and private investments in southern New Mexico that add to the potential here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":665486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[118,145,3720,3719,141,245,3581],"class_list":["post-665456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-economy","tag-las-cruces","tag-organ-mountains","tag-southern-new-mexico","tag-spaceport-america","tag-tourism","tag-truth-or-consequences"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665456"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":666465,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665456\/revisions\/666465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}