JANUARY 8, 2009 issue
Shelter Highlights
TOURISM
Story by Sam Calhoun
“We are all in a world of hurt economically, all of us. Now we need to galvanize and put our brain trusts together to explore marketing and promotional strategies for the good of the entire community,” said Karin Moss, executive director of High Country Host, in October 2008. Sustaining High Country tourism during the economic downtown was the focus of the first High Country Tourism Summit on October 23 at Tweetsie Railroad. High Country Press joined the initiative by creating a series called Tough Talk on Tourism that took an in-depth look at the reactions and initiatives produced from the High Country Tourism Summit. In addition, High Country Press created a blog at www.highcountrypress.com/tourism to collect feedback from readers on what the High Country brand should be in relation to tourism. The series and blog discussion continue in 2009, but here’s a look back at what we covered in 2008.
Rethinking Our Approach To Tourism—Together
Published October 16, 2008
High Country Host, Tweetsie Railroad, An Appalachian Summer Festival and Chetola Resort joined forces in October 2008 to sponsor the first High Country Tourism Summit at Tweetsie Railroad. The event was free, open to the public and featured seven speakers with expertise in various areas of tourism.
“We want the summit to promote an open flow of dialogue and information sharing between our members,” said Moss. “Right now there is a need for regionalism and a need for collaborative marketing campaigns [between our members]. It’s not a ‘woe is me’ kind of thing; we want to open dialogue. We have to get more creative with how we create a clear definition of the High Country brand. This is not a situation where you just can throw money at it and it will get better—you have to get creative. High Country Host—we want to be the conduit for that change and activity.”
The idea for the High Country Tourism Summit came up in summer 2008 during a meeting of High Country businesspeople who gathered to discuss ways to maintain tourism revenues in the face of a struggling economy. The group included representatives from Chetola Resort, Tweetsie Railroad, Mast General Store, Appalachian Ski Mountain, Grandfather Mountain, Appalachian Hospitality Management and High Country Host.
According to Moss, the idea behind the summit was to consider ways to pool resources so High Country businesses can follow current trends, utilize media buying experts in the area, conduct more market research and craft a cohesive marketing effort. Another emphasis was strengthening the High Country brand.
Leading the discussion on how to get creative was North Carolina Division of Tourism Executive Director Lynn Minges, who was joined by other tourism experts including Scott Gilmore, vice president of Loeffler Ketchum Mountjoy Marketing Communications in Charlotte; Betty Huskins, senior vice president of AdvantageWest in Asheville; Chris Cavanaugh, president of Magellan Strategy Group in Asheville; Kelly Miller, executive director of the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau; Moss; and Kent Tarbutton, owner of Chetola Resort.
“We are bringing in these experts to say, ‘Hey, listen to the people in your community.’ They’re here to substantiate what we are saying—we need to partner; we need to collaborate; we are not in competition with each other; we need to market ourselves regionally, thematically and seasonally. We need to constantly stay in touch with our regular visitors and keep reinforcing those attributes to those people,” said Moss. “We are repositioning the value of High Country Host—now I’m your one-stop shop for marketing and public relations. By collaborating with us, by taking advantage of marketing expertise, we can help members achieve success.”
High Country Tourism Summit Identifies Crucial Need To Collaborate
Published October 30, 2008
“I’m a firm believer in the fact that tough times do things that are good; we hold hands better, play together better,” said Kent Tarbutton, master of ceremonies for the High Country Tourism Summit and proprietor and developer of Chetola Resort and the Bob Timberlake Inn, as he opened the summit. “I believe that the whole is better than the sum of its parts.”
A crowd of more than 150 residents and business owners attended the summit, listening to presentations from seven tourism experts. The majority of the talking points at the summit dealt with the current state of tourism in North Carolina in relation to the struggling economy. Speakers discussed aspects of tourism in North Carolina, as well as collaborative partnerships that have worked in the past and could work in the future.
Presenters discussed advancements in North Carolina’s in-state marketing program, the state’s revamped tourism website and what demographics are most interested in vacationing in North Carolina. Attendees heard a wealth of tourism statistics, as well as marketing techniques that have worked in other areas of the state.
“I was delighted with the stellar turnout,” said Moss. “The whole point was to bring in experts who have experienced success in good economies and bad. The tourism summit was a building block to open dialogue to start thinking ‘we’ instead of just ‘me’ in my corner of the world. It got us to start thinking about us.”
The story included reactions to the summit from Bill Leonard, owner of Ski Country Sports in Banner Elk; Karyn Herterich, owner of Serves You Right in Blowing Rock; and Chris Robbins, general manager of Tweetsie Railroad in Boone.
Grandfather Mountain and Tweetsie Railroad Representatives React To Tourism Summit
Published November 6, 2008
The third story in the series focused on Catherine Morton, marketing director of Grandfather Mountain, and Cathy Robbins, marketing director of Tweetsie Railroad, and their reactions to the High Country Tourism Summit.
Both Morton and Robbins were pleased with the turnout and the positive outlook adopted by the summit’s speakers. The two marketing directors provided thoughts on the next steps in the process.
“I don’t know if others are willing to work as a team—county lines are pretty strong,” said Morton. “The duplication of effort is ridiculous when you look at how many visitor centers, visitor guides and visitor maps are in the High Country,” continued Morton, who also pointed out the high number of tourism development authorities in the region.
“We have just too much brick and mortar. I believe in a virtual visitors’ center that will save us a lot of money on brick and mortar. High Country Host could become a virtual visitors’ center and we could put all that money [from building brick and mortar TDAs] into the website,” added Morton. “We need to start responding to customers’ needs and desires, and they want trip planning features on their own time. Maybe they want to do it all at 3:00 a.m. at home, booking hotels, restaurants, activities. We need to make it easy for people to make the decision to visit you.”
Morton also said she believes in collaborative marketing efforts, pointing out that Grandfather Mountain and Tweetsie Railroad played a large role in establishing High County Host more than two decades ago.
“The next step is to set up a series of workshops to bring everyone together again to decide how to properly market the area and promote tourism,” said Robbins, who added that the summit speakers agreed to come back to the High Country in 90 days to check progress and lend a hand if necessary. “Chambers, TDAs, hotels—we all have the same goal to get heads in the beds, but not only that. We need to get people to stay longer in the area so they’ll spend money at more places. It will trickle down and increase revenues in all areas,” said Robbins.
Robbins said she hoped to work with High Country Host closely throughout the entire process.
“I see them as the venue,” said Robbins. “High Country Host started during the 1970s gas crisis and now we’ve come full circle.”
High Country Host Announces County Town Hall Meetings, Asks For Community Input
Published November 13, 2008
The High Country Host Executive Board met on November 6, 2008, to review the talking points of the High Country Tourism Summit and develop a plan of action for future collaborative efforts.
According to High Country Host Executive Director Karin Moss, the board decided during the meeting to set up committees in each of the five High Country counties—Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga and Wilkes—chaired by a board member or advocate of High Country Host. The committee chair will then host a town hall-type meeting that is open to the public and the media to discuss tourism marketing locally and regionally, as well as how to best use the resources of High Country Host. The meeting will also address concerns or resistance about working with High Country Host. In the article, the board voiced a desire for all the county meetings to take place by early January 2009.
At each meeting, Moss will provide background about High Country Host, including member benefits, recent marketing accomplishments and strategies for upcoming cooperative opportunities. Participants will be encouraged to suggest cooperative marketing programs.
Each county will appoint a Regional Brand Ambassador to attend meetings of the newly formed Regional Tourism Committee. In the article, the board said the committee’s first quarterly meeting will be scheduled for late January 2009.
“That way, it’s not just the big players who have a say,” said Moss.
In the article, readers learned how to throw their two cents into the discussion by clicking to www.highcountrypress.com/tourism, a new High Country Press blog created to compile residents’ thoughts on what the High Country brand should be in relation to tourism.
What Are Regional Christmas Tree Growers Doing To Boost Sales During the Economic Downturn?
Published November 20, 2008
The fifth article in the series asked what the Watauga County Christmas Tree Association and the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association are doing differently in 2008 to boost or maintain sales.
According to North Carolina Christmas Tree Association Executive Director Linda H. Gragg, the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association tweaked advertising placement and improved its website in 2008 to help with sales. In 2008, the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association decided to purchase banner advertisements on www.goasu.com, the official website for ASU athletics, in hopes of reaching ASU football fans traveling to the High Country for games. The association also improved its website, updating directions to Christmas tree farms and providing directions to wholesale distributor retail outlets.
“We’re trying to make it easy for consumers to get trees that are grown in the High Country,” said Gragg.
Traffic to the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association website more than doubled—almost tripled—in 2008 in comparison to the number of visitors in 2007, said Gragg.
“These tactics have paid off on our website,” added Gragg.
In 2008, the association also bought more classified advertisements and used free PSAs, such as on RaysWeather.com, to advertise. According to Gragg, this method is also effective and saves the association money. The association, however, is still buying some print advertising in niche markets, said Gragg, such as in Blue Ridge Country Magazine.
Watauga County Cooperative Extension Agent Meghan Baker said the Watauga County Christmas Tree Association took many steps to bulk up marketing in 2008 in light of the economic downturn.
The association revamped its website, www.wataugachristmastrees.org, by identifying holes in information and filling them with more informative text. For advertising Choose and Cut, said Baker, the association purchased advertising in tourist publications, such as Explore the Appalachian Mountains. The association also partnered with a direct mailing service to advertise Choose and Cut. The direct mailing service focused its efforts on the Piedmont of North Carolina, as that population accounts for the highest tourist traffic for Choose and Cut. Also, the Watauga County Christmas Tree Association partnered with Joe Shannon of Mountainhome Music to introduce Choose and Cut discount coupons for the holiday season.
What Are Local Ski Slopes Doing To Boost Attendance During the Economic Downturn?
Published November 27, 2008
In the sixth article in the series, principals at the four area winter snowsport giants—Appalachian Ski Mountain, Hawksnest Resort, Ski Beech and Sugar Mountain Resort—discussed what they are doing differently in 2008 to boost or maintain sales in light of the economic downturn.
All four resorts benefited heavily from the healthy dose of natural snow and cold temperatures at the beginning of winter, but each introduced new incentives to bring even more tourists to the resorts this season.
Appalachian Ski Mountain General Manager Brad Moretz created multiple partnerships in 2008 to boost his customer base. For instance, Appalachian season pass holders receive a 50 percent discount on lift tickets at Snowshoe Resort in West Virginia by showing their pass at the Snowshoe ticket booth. Appalachian also partnered with Hawksnest Resort for discounted tubing sessions, as well as partnered with Appalachian Evergreens Choose & Cut Farm to offer customers a Ski and Tree Package to help boost sales for both businesses. Appalachian also partnered with Burton Snowboards in 2008, becoming one of the only Burton Learn To Ride centers on the East Coast and enabling the resort to outfit and teach a wider number of customers wanting to learn how to ride a snowboard. Keeping ahead on snowmaking technology and up to date with improvements, said Moretz, also helps boost attendance during an economic downturn. Moretz has invested more than $2.5 million in snowmaking infrastructure and terrain park improvements to the mountain over the past two years.
Hawksnest Resort Co-Owner Lenny Cottom changed his marketing tactics in 2008. He discontinued skiing and snowboarding and now has a snow tubing only resort—the largest on the East Coast. Cottom’s aim is to reach families and he is using two advertising strategies—one specific and one broad. To advertise to a specific niche, Cottom bought ads in the parent-teacher magazine of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. The magazine goes home in the backpacks of students once a month, and Cottom hopes this form of advertising entices families to come up and trying tubing. As a broad advertising move, Cottom bought ad space on billboards for the first time, hoping to alert passersby to Hawksnest’s change of focus.
Ski Beech Marketing Director Gil Adams said Ski Beech took the same approach to marketing in 2008 as in prior years, buying radio ads in the markets of Charlotte, east Tennessee, Greenville/Spartanburg and the Piedmont/Winston-Salem area; buying print ads in local publications; and partnering with the North Carolina Ski Areas Association to buy television advertising through the North Carolina Division of Tourism. Ski Beech also revamped its website for 2008, knowing that most visitors use the Internet to research and book ski trips to the High Country.
Sugar Mountain Resort Marketing Director Kim Jochl said the administration of Sugar Mountain Resort was aware of the current economic situation, but didn’t tweak its marketing plan in 2008.
“Historically, the ski industry has been recession proof—not depression proof, but recession proof,” said Jochl.
Jochl’s comment is based on reports from the National Ski Areas Association and a special report from Nate Fristoe, director of RRC Associates, a market research firm that analyses the ski industry in America. To read Fristoe’s report, click to www.nsaa.org/nsaa/members/NSAA_Econ_special_report2.pdf.
A Look at Local Tourism Development Authority Expenditures
Published December 4, 2008, December 11, 2008, December 18, 2008
The seventh, eighth and ninth articles in the Tough Talk on Tourism series took an in-depth look at how local tourism development authorities were spending their annual budgets. The series included interviews with Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority Board Member Kent Tarbutton, Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority Executive Director Tracy Brown, Sugar Mountain Finance Officer Kay Suddreth, Beech Mountain Tourism Development Authority Chair Charlie Burleson and Seven Devils Tourism Development Authority Chair Bill Wilkinson.
With each TDA in the series, readers got to see a budget and a budget breakdown in an effort to shed light on where money was going. Readers learned that TDAs spend money on much more than radio, print, web and television advertisements—the money is also spent on capital improvements, such as paving sidewalks and parking lots; landscaping; purchasing stop signs, street signs, welcome signs and parking signs; and paying off the debt service on community infrastructure.
The series continues in 2009 with articles on the Boone Area Tourism Development Authority and the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority. The series will also follow actions from the High Country Host Regional Tourism Committee.
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