In June, Gov. Andy Beshear announced 2025 as the state’s fourth year of record-breaking tourism. Officials in Prestonsburg, Hazard and Evarts are excited about the budding potential Eastern Kentucky’s great outdoors offer.
Jennifer Horsley is the sales and finance coordinator for Prestonsburg Tourism. She said the area offers a lot of hiking, boating and camping.
“What they're looking for is authentic local culture,” Horsley said. “They're looking for the live Appalachian music and storytelling and artisan demonstrations. They want to see historic sites, and just the opportunities to meet local people.”
She said Prestonsburg is working to introduce more offerings, like paddle boats and wildlife experiences. The community already has guides and outfitters for outdoor recreation.
According to the state’s tourism report, Floyd County saw more than $38 million in visitor spending in 2025, the fourth highest in the East Highlands North region. Across the state, tourism pumped $14.6 billion into the economy.
Across the East Highlands North region, there was slightly less tourism spending than in 2024. However, Floyd County saw 2.2% more spending that the previous year and makes up almost 10% of the 15-county region’s overall 2025 visitor spending.
Part of the nearby Red River Gorge is in Menifee County, which saw more than $6.4 million in visitor spending, up from 2024.
“(The tourists are) saying, ‘We're gonna go see the Kentucky Opry at the Mountain Arts Center or we have this fantastic artisan where we're making a new door hanger,’” Horsley said. “They have physical, tangible objects that they can take home with them to show others what they've been doing as far as hands-on experiences.”
Horsley said Prestonsburg Tourism expects increased visitor spending this year, as well.
Farther south, Hazard Perry County Tourism Director John Epperson said there’s been a big push for adventure tourism.
Recently, the community hosted a large all-terrain vehicles event, and there’s an off-road race scheduled for October. In the Leatherwood and Buckhorn communities, entrepreneurs have opened off-road parks and equipment rentals.
“We have a side-by-side park that opened in the north end of the county – Leatherwood Off-Road Park, 50,000 acres, one of the largest parks east of the Mississippi – it's doing quite well,” Epperson said. “There's a lot of cabins being built, cabin rentals. We were way behind a lot of areas, but we're moving in the right direction.”
According to the county-by-county breakdown of the 2025 Tourism Economic Impact report, visitors spent more than $43 million in Perry County, the third highest in the region. Overall in the East Highlands South region, raked in more than $410 million.
Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge are also in the region in parts of Powell, Wolfe and Lee counties. These three counties belong to the East Highlands South region also. Overall visitor spending fell in two of the three Kentucky counties that include parts of the popular gorge and Natural Bridge.
Epperson said there have been a lot of challenges to helping Perry County’s tourism industry grow. Floods have damaged infrastructure and delayed repairs. Population loss, fewer job opportunities and limited local funding have also presented challenges.
“It's just been like a series of bad things that fell upon us, but we're moving forward though, looking forward and working hard to rebuild our industry,” Epperson said.
He said the Hazard Perry County Tourism office has seen more visitors so far this year compared to early summer last year, and a lot are from out of state.
In Evarts, an enclave of Harlan County, adventure tourism is also growing. Burl Fee Jr. is the tourism director for the city of Evarts and the chairman of the Harlan County Outdoor Recreation Board Authority. He said the season starts in March, and the area has already seen an increase in visitors this year.
“What draws them to Harlan County is its beauty,” Fee said. “They love the mountains, they love being able to see the changing in the trees from springtime up until fall time.”
Harlan County saw more than $29 million in tourism spending in 2025. Of the 18 counties in the region, Harlan made up more than 7% of overall visitor spending last year.
Fee said the jump is due to off-road vehicles and the growing community and culture around it. He describes Harlan County as a “one-stop shop” for vacation groups. There’s local stores, modern conveniences, a nearby state park and coal mining exhibits among other things.
“Once they get here, they just love the hospitality of the people,” Fee said. “Everyone is so nice, they care about them being here, they're appreciative of what they do for our local economy, and they just feel like they're at home.”
