Tupelo CVB prepares for big opening weekend

The Tupelo CVB is hosting its first set of tournaments for the summer and are taking the necessary precautions to ensure everyone is safe.

Virus.

And as more restrictions are lessened under governor tate reeves' safer at home order, the tupelo convention and visitors bureau is reopening their fields for summer recreation programs. wtva's matt st.

Jean is live in ballard park as officials prepare for a very busy weekend.

The tupelo cvb is not just reopening, they are reopening with a bang.

The city of tupelo is hosting several events this weekend including an 87 team little league tournament right here at ballard park.

Ever since governor reeves opened the door for activities, the cvb has been focused on creating a safe environment for players and fans, but is also excited to provide a spark to the local economy.

Back to tupelo ."

The promotion of the travel and tourism industry has been hit as hard as any other industry during this pandemic.

(track) neal mccoy is the executive director of the tupelo convention and visitation bureau.

The cvb just received their numbers for march.they're down 25 percent from march of 2019 and he anticipates an even bigger decrease for april and may, when the shutdowns were in full effect.

He said he hopes that in the next two months, the cvb is hoping to book as many events as possible to make up for the losses and help out local businesses in the process.

They've had this weekend circled on the calendar since the shutdown and they're going all in with the 87 team baseball tournament, a swim camp, and a three on three soccer tournament.

(mccoy) when you talk about just bringing in 87 baseball teams alone, some of them will be staying overnight in our hotels that desperately need visitors staying again that means people will be eating in restaurants, buying gas at the gas station.

So we need that, we need that return to normalcy.

(track) but with so many people flocking to tupelo, and to ballard park in particular, the primary concern is keeping people safe during the pandemic.

Mccoy works closely with tupelo parks and recreation deputy director alex farned to ensure there are policies in place to avoid the spread of the virus.

(alex farned) we're doing a lot of social distancing, a lot of signage telling people where to stand, whether they're coming through the gate or whether they're coming to our concession stand, spreading out, we're even putting extensions on the dugouts, so the players inside the dugout, so they don't have-or they can social distance if they want to (track) farned also echoed mccoy's sentiment that while they are being cautious, they're excited to see players, families, and fans come back to the birthplace of elvis.

(farned) we are so happy, us and the convention and business bureau literally work hand in hand on this so it's so nice to be able to have a safe event but to also to start bringing people back to tupelo.

Farned also said that he will have staff on hand to remind people of the social distancing markers... but he did emphasize that while the signs are up, it is up to the individuals to adhere to the polices and make these events a true success.

Shifting gears, the first round of the