JANUARY 15, 2009 ISSUE
Tough Talk On Tourism
A Look at Local Tourism Development Authority Expenditures—Watauga County Tourism Development Authority
Editor’s Note: High Country Press is taking an in-depth look at the reactions and initiatives produced from the High Country Tourism Summit that took place at Tweetsie Railroad on October 23, 2008, as well as taking a look at the current state of tourism in the High Country. This story is the tenth in the series.
For more than two months, High Country Press has reported on the various reactions and initiatives produced from the High Country Tourism Summit. The mission of the High Country Tourism Summit was to collaborate marketing efforts to sustain tourism in the High Country during the country’s economic downturn.
This week, we continue the series with another look at how local tourism development authorities are spending their annual budgets. The focus is the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority.
The authority recently hired Wright Tilley as its new executive director. Tilley began on January 5. He comes to Watauga County from Macon, Ga., where he was the executive director of the Cherry Blossom Festival, a 10-day annual festival in Macon that celebrates the cherry harvest. Tilley was selected out of 50 applicants for his extensive background in tourism, recreation and event promotion. Those attributes are coming in handy as Tilley begins to work with Watauga County Tourism Development Authority Chair Rob Holton, who believes that the mission of the authority is to let locals and visitors know of outdoor recreation and family-oriented activities available in the High Country. Holton and Tilley see the authority’s new website, www.exploreboonearea.com, as the catalyst for this activity, so most of their promotion budget is spent on updating and improving the site. The overall goal of the authority, said Holton, is to make Watauga County one of the top two outdoor recreation areas east of the Mississippi.
Background
Compared to the other tourism development authorities in the High Country, the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority is relatively new. Watauga County established the authority 2.5 years ago and the organization is in the middle of its third year of collecting funds.
The Watauga County Tourism Development Authority derives its funds from a 6 percent occupancy tax collected at hotels, inns, spas, rental cabins, rental cottages and bed and breakfasts within Watauga County, yet outside of town limits.
Budget
As stipulated by state law, two-thirds of the authority’s budget is spent on promotion and one-third of the budget is spent on infrastructure improvements, or projects that will promote tourism, said Holton.
When the authority was established, initial projections estimated that the authority’s annual revenues would be approximately $350,000. According to Holton, the authority’s revenue in 2006-07 was $707,458 and $803,577 in 2007-08. The projection for fiscal year 2008-09 is $1,511,036.
Infrastructure Improvements—One-Third of the Budget
Whereas other local tourism development authorities spend one-third of their budget on fixing sidewalks, buying new street furniture and landscaping, the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority is putting its money behind much larger projects.
In 2008, the authority provided money for the new Ted Mackorell Memorial Soccer Complex in hopes that future competitions and tournaments at the facility will bring more tourists into Watauga County, shopping, eating and paying for lodging.
The authority also spent more than $200,000 on an economic development incentives package for Tweetsie Railroad. With other towns in Western North Carolina bidding on a relocation of Tweetsie Railroad, the authority gathered together, said Holton, and asked themselves, “Where are we at as a region if Tweetsie is not here?”
“We decided that the economic impact of Tweetsie not being here was tremendous, and we didn’t want to imagine that,” said Holton.
To solve the issue and solidify Tweetsie’s presence in the High Country, the authority and Watauga County bought out two minority landowners who did not want to negotiate a new lease with Tweetsie. The authority provided $200,000 and Watauga County provided $2.9 million. In turn, Watauga County and the authority leased their land interest back to Tweetsie for $1 per year under the understanding that Tweetsie would buy the land back in about a decade, said Holton.
“Whereas so many communities throw money at things like this with no monetary return, we will get paid back and get a return on our investment,” explained Holton.
But the help for Tweetsie doesn’t end there. The Watauga County Tourism Development Authority agreed to give Tweetsie $150,000 in marketing funds over the next six years to help keep the attraction in the High Country. The theory behind this action, said Holton, is that Tweetsie embodies the two attributes that the authority wants to spotlight in the region—outdoor recreation and family-oriented activities.
Tweetsie Railroad is providing some incentives in return, though. Tweetsie is including plugs for Watauga County in its advertising; the authority is letting Tweetsie do what it does best with its advertising—attract families to the region. Also, Tweetsie agreed to deed easements for the Middlefork Greenway and build the sections on its property, working with the Middlefork Greenway Association. The Watauga County Tourism Development Authority is in the middle of a feasibility study to determine if the culvert under Highway 321 near Tweetsie Railroad and Mystery Hill is safe for foot traffic. The greenway crosses the highway at that point, and the authority is hoping to provide a solution for connecting the path. The authority is pursuing this study because of the increase in tourism expected when the greenway connects Boone and Blowing Rock.
The authority also is requiring that Tweetsie Railroad permit the installation of a kiosk inside the attraction that promotes activities and businesses in Watauga County. The kiosk, said Holton, will feature a touch screen where customers can look for restaurants, shops, outdoor recreation and lodging throughout the region.
Currently, the authority has $429,640 in its infrastructure improvement budget. Holton said the goal for this money is to take it and leverage it as a 20 percent match grant for projects that improve local hiking trail access and for projects that create river access points and parking. Holton hopes to use some of the money to support the completion of the Mountains to Sea Trail in the High Country.
Promotion—Two-Thirds of the Budget
What the authority does not spent out of the promotion budget for overhead it spends on the authority’s new website, www.exploreboonearea.com.
“We are trying to create a website that drives tourism to Watauga County,” said Holton.
Holton and Tilley explained that the website’s name doesn’t include “Watauga” because people have trouble understanding where the area is, and some may be unsure how to pronounce the name at all. Instead, Holton and Tilley believe that “Boone Area” reaches a broader base of tourists and has a better name recognition that “Watauga.” The cost of trying to raise awareness to “Watauga” was too great, said Holton, so they are attempting to co-brand the names through the new website.
ExploreBooneArea.com launched on July 4, 2008. CC Communications of Charlotte spent one year working with the authority on the site. Former Watauga County Tourism Development Authority Executive Director Jared Everett and two ASU graduate students collected information for the website.
Since the launch, the authority has been inputting new information, tweaking the site’s navigation, analyzing secondary web pages and integrating keywords into the site’s copy. The authority is also linking the site to tourism partners, and vice versa. This activity marks the end to phase 1 of the site, and on Tuesday the authority agreed to fund phase 2 of the website. Confirmation of funding for phase 3 is expected to come in February, said Holton.
Phase 2 of the website is expected to be completed by this summer and involves the hiring of a senior outdoor recreation planner. The planner will be charged with developing and/or enhancing existing and new outdoor recreation opportunities that appeal to tourists and residents, as well as enhancing the website with in-depth descriptions of all the outdoor activities available. The planner will catalog all the recreational activities on the website, including GPS coordinates, parking, degree of difficulty, demographics of who would enjoy the activity, lodging opportunities and more.
During Phase 2, Tilley and the planner will add website features that allow local restaurants and resorts to post specials, or coupon codes, daily. Phase 2 will also introduce newsletter email marketing, web videos that can be uploaded by visitors and locals and a Google Maps feature. Widgets will also make their debut on the new site by this summer. The widgets will be a generic template that people can download to their own computer. ExploreBooneArea.com will send information daily to the widgets to keep people informed of goings on in the region.
Phase 2 also includes a new community calendar that Holton hopes will be a joint effort between the authority and local media.
“We want this website to have the very best calendar of events,” said Holton.
Phase 3 of the website, said Holton, will include updated widgets, updated mobile capabilities and a travel planner, where visitors can customize a personal travel plan using generic travel plans from the website.
For more information, click to www.exploreboonearea.com.
We Want To Hear From You!
High Country Press Introduces Talking Tourism Online Interactive Blog
High Country Press invites readers to click to www.highcountrypress.com/tourism and provide their thoughts on what the High Country’s brand should be in regards to tourism.
The most important part of boosting tourism during the current economic downturn, according to High Country Host Executive Director Karin Moss, is to create a more specific brand for the High Country, “or something that a resident of Gastonia can read and see and then say, ‘I want to go there,’” said Moss, who is hoping to receive feedback from the community on what the region’s brand should be.
By clicking to www.highcountrypress.com/tourism, readers can complete a form with their thoughts on how to best describe the High Country. Answers should include responses to the following questions: What could be the slogan of the High Country? How would you describe our area to visitors? What does the High Country conjure up in the theater of the mind?
Readers can submit responses any time until the end of the month.
For more information, call 828-264-1299.
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