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Tourists Fearing ‘Boss Hogg’ Skirt Mississippi Sights

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from Associated Press

Many people are scared to vacation in Mississippi because they believe the Magnolia State has long stretches of unpaved highways and a “Boss Hogg” legal system, a study found.

“I was shocked that people actually feared for their safety,” said J. Mac Holladay, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development.

“They think that Boss Hogg is around every corner,” Holladay said, referring to a corrupt character in the television series “Dukes of Hazzard,” set in the rural South. “There is a pervasive fear of Southern justice,” he said at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism here.

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The results of the study, commissioned by the development agency to guide tourism planning, did not surprise Ann Woods, owner of the Mt. Holly Bed and Breakfast on Lake Washington near Greenville.

She told of a New York lawyer and his wife who visited the Delta. “She was frightened the whole time, and she was from New York City,” Woods said.

Holladay said that although he expected the study to reveal negatives, “the problems are certainly different than what I thought.” Other problems included fear of widespread poverty and of unfriendly people and no knowledge of the state’s tourism resources.

A common attitude toward traveling in Mississippi is: “Get through that state as fast as you can,” Holladay told about 200 representatives of the state’s tourism industry. All state roads and highways in the state are paved.

Northerners feel especially unwelcome, the study showed. “Some visitors will not give where they’re from out of fear,” Holladay said.

The project was the second part of a $78,500 study of the state’s tourism industry conducted by Davidson-Peterson Associates. The company conducted in-depth discussions with groups of people in Memphis and Chicago who “had no intention of traveling to Mississippi,” company president Tom Davidson said.

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Armed with the study and a $1-million advertising budget, the development agency plans a series of regional print ads to emphasize outdoor recreation facilities and the state’s historical attractions.

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