The Tourism Development Authority is looking into working with local students and the Anson County Historical Society to create virtual tours of museums in Anson.

The difficulty of arranging tours at sites like the Boggan-Hammond house has long been a topic of discussion at TDA meetings. From the small staff of the ACHS and its small budget to the problem of finding reliable volunteers as well as scheduling visits ahead of time, having these sites open has not been feasible for a long time.

However, New Tech Principal Chris Stinson and Vice-Chair Jeff Boothby expressed enthusiasm over Stinson’s idea of recording information about the sites for anyone interested to download to their smart phones or home computers for a price through services like PayPal, with all of the money going to the ACHS.

“We could get together and talk about it,” John Dunlap, the President of the ACHS, said.

“We’re looking for relevant things to do with the kids,” Stinson said, adding the students and school would be willing to take care of the technological side and asking only for Dunlap’s “wealth of knowledge.”

“We will work around your schedule,” Stinson said. “There are a lot of ways technology can enhance the Historical Society.”

Boothby encouraged members of the TDA to ask anyone they thought might be willing to participate to volunteer to lead physical tours of the local museums.

Stinson also talked about the possibility of setting up geocache sites around the county for those interested in the hobby. He encouraged the TDA to contact New Tech when looking for volunteers or interns as 100 hours of community service and an internship are required from students for graduation.

Tourism Director Dave Smith gave a report on the impact of tourism in Anson. He offered numbers from www.nccommerce.com showing that tourism in Anson generated a $15.6 million impact in 2011, up 10.25 percent from the previous year. The report also said that more than 100 jobs in Anson were directly attributable to travel and tourism.