Abra Kanabra

The Magic of the West

Camille Johnson Taylor is a seventh-generation Kane County resident, and she could not be more proud. As director of the Kane County Office of Tourism, Taylor works tirelessly to promote the area’s attractions to tourists and locals while preserving the magic of an authentic, western community.

Taylor grew up in Kanab, graduated from Kanab High School, and then left town. She lived primarily on the Wasatch Front for nearly 18 years before moving back home to Kanab in 2011.

“This place has a gravitational pull. I think it’s the iron in the soil. It must be magnetic and pulls its own back home,” Taylor said jokingly.

Things fell into place for Taylor professionally, and she considers herself fortunate to be Kanab and Kane County’s number one paid cheerleader. According to Taylor, the tagline ‘Abra Kanabra’ resurfaced every few years for several generations until the Kane County Office of Tourism made it one of its official taglines after she joined the tourism office.

“The brand is ‘Kanab-Magically Unspoiled,’ but the ‘Abra Kanabra’ tagline has almost trumped our brand,” said Taylor. “It’s catchy, memorable, and no one else can use it.”

Since joining the office over six years ago, Taylor has focused on attracting quality visitors who stay longer, spend more money, and are more culturally connected. Recent advertising campaigns center around culture as well as promoting the county’s jawdropping landscape.

“Kanab and Kane County offer an authentic, connective traveler experience. It may be the scenery that brings visitors here initially, but it’s our people and our culture that bring them back,” Taylor said. “As people explore areas closer to home since the COVID-19 pandemic, Kane County is wellpositioned because of its central location.”

When John Wesley Powell created the system for mapping the United States as the U.S. Geological Survey director back in 1869, Powell designated Kanab as the actual “Center of the West.”

“Kanab is a great basecamp for exploration because it offers incredible hiking, world-class dining, and friendly locals that make you feel at home,” said Taylor.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the community spirit of Kane County helped limit the spread of coronavirus. Taylor led an ad-hoc committee, under the Kane County Commission’s direction, to safely re-open the economy when the time came. The tourism office, hospital, health department, Chamber of Commerce leadership, and local businesses created the first community-led initiative in the state, called the “Above and Beyond Promise” initiative.

This collaborative and multi-faceted approach included encouraging residents to wear masks, wash their hands, social distance, and follow other Centers for Disease Control public health measures. When businesses “opted-in” to this initiative, staff were required to attend a class on hospitality training. Upon completing the training, each company was given a kit that included “Abra Kanabra” branded masks, posters, tent cards, and a decal of the “Above and Beyond Promise” to put on the establishment’s front door or window.

Kane County was the first county to achieve green under the state’s previous color-coded system for assessing coronavirus spread and subsequently maintained the equivalent “low” designation. While Utah experiences a rise in cases, Kane County is still the lowest risk county in the region.

T H I N K MOAB

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