Assessment Findings and Suggestions Report League City, Texas Introduction

Assessment Findings and Suggestions Report League City, Texas Introduction Community Assessment as you might in planning a trip to an unfamiliar destination. IntroduCtIon The community has five opportunities to close the In September of 2009, a Community Assessment of sale: League City, Texas, was conducted, and the findings 1) Personal contact (visitor information centers, were presented in a two-hour workshop. The trade shows, etc.) assessment provides an unbiased overview of the community - how it is seen by a visitor. It includes 2) Websites a review of local marketing efforts, signage, 3) Brochures and printed materials attractions, critical mass, retail mix, ease of getting 4) Publicity (articles) around, customer service, visitor amenities such as parking and public washrooms, overall appeal, and 5) Word of mouth - the most effective means the community’s ability to attract overnight visitors. We tested all of these methods by contacting area visitor information services and attractions, In performing the Community Assessment, we searching the internet for activities, requesting and looked at the area through the eyes of a first-time reviewing printed materials, looking for articles visitor. No prior research was facilitated, and no and third-party information, and questioning community representatives were contacted except regional contacts. We reviewed both commercial to set up the project. The town and surrounding and organizational websites promoting the area, area were “secretly shopped.” Any person looking state tourism websites, and read travel articles and to relocate their business, industry, or residence will guidebooks. come to your community as a visitor first. Tourism is the front door to all your economic development The marketing assessment determined how visible efforts. the community was during the research, and how effective the marketing was in convincing How easy is it for potential visitors to find a potential visitor that the community would be information about the community? Once they worth a special trip, a stop, or an overnight stay. find information, are the marketing materials The key to the marketing assessment is to see if you good enough to close the sale? In the Marketing have a primary lure that makes you worth a special Effectiveness Assessment, we assigned two (or trip of a two-hour drive - or from further away. The more) people to plan trips into the general region. question on most visitors’ minds is: What do you They didn’t know, in advance, who the assessment have that I can’t get closer to home? What makes was for. They used whatever resources they would you worth a special trip? typically use in planning a trip: travel books, brochures, the internet, calling visitor information Where most communities falter is when they merely centers, review of marketing materials, etc. - just provide “lists” of what the community has, whether 2 League City, Texas • September, 2009 Introduction it’s truly “unique” or not. Nearly every community information, parking), activities, overall appeal, in North America promotes the usual list of retail mix (lodging, dining, shopping), critical mass, diversions: local museums, shops and restaurants, customer service, area attractions, pedestrian plenty of lodging, golf, outdoor recreation, historic friendliness, gathering spaces, evening activities, downtowns, scenic vistas, etc. Of course, nearly and the availability of marketing materials and their every visitor can do these things closer to home. So, effectiveness. what makes your community worth the trip? The community benefits from tourism when visitors Always promote your primary lure first - what spend money, and they do that in the local gift makes you worth that special trip. THEN, promote shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. Therefore, the On- your diversionary, or “complementary” activities. site Assessment includes a candid look at private Would you go to Anaheim, California, if Disneyland businesses as much as public spaces and amenities. wasn’t there? Do you think that Universal Studios and Knotts Berry Farm mind that Disneyland gets For every shortcoming or challenge we note during all the glory? Of course not. Eighty percent of all the assessment process, we provide a low-cost tourism spending is with those secondary activities. “suggestion,” where possible, on how the challenge Disney does the heavy lifting in terms of advertising can be corrected or overcome. The suggestions and promotion, and the diversionary activities are not termed “recommendations,” as they were benefit. developed without consulting the community first about possible restraints, future plans, or reasons In a nutshell, the Marketing Effectiveness why the suggestions may not be appropriate. Assessment looks for what makes your community Hopefully this assessment process will open worth a special trip, or a great place to live, or to dialogue within the community, leading it to adopt do business. The secret shoppers look for details, some or all of the suggestions, taking them from details, details. Do you give a reason for visiting, and suggestions to recommendations. do you provide enough information to make it easy to plan a trip? Are the marketing materials good It’s important to note that to increase the enough to close the sale? community’s tourism industry, fulfilling one or two of the suggestions may have little impact, but The second part of the assessment process is implementing a number of them, if not all, can have the On-site Assessment. During this part of a profoundly successful impact on the community’s the assessment, we spent several days in the ability to tap into the tourism industry. community, looking at enticements from freeways and highways (signs, billboards, something that Implementation of these suggestions must be a would get a visitor to stop), beautification and community-wide effort, involving both privately overall curb appeal, wayfinding (ease of getting owned businesses as well as local, county, and around), visitor amenities (public restrooms, visitor state agencies, where appropriate. Every local organization plays a role in tourism, downtown League City, Texas • September, 2009 3 Introduction revitalization, or economic development efforts. SuCCESSFuL tourISM trAnSLAtES to CASH A Destination Marketing Organization (DMO, CVB, Tourism is successful when the community imports Chamber, TPA, etc.) cannot be successful if the more cash than it exports. When residents spend tourism effort is not community-wide. their hard-earned money outside the community, In many cases, issues may come up that you are the community is exporting cash – often referred already aware of and are already working on. In to as “leakage.” Tourism helps fill that gap, that case, the assessment validates those efforts. importing cash into the local economy without But more often than not, the assessment will point the necessity of having to provide extended out things that you are aware of but can’t mention social and other services. Visitors come, spend or bring up without paying a political price. Local money, then go home. When you import more politics can be a killer of the tourism industry. cash than you export, you have a positive “balance of trade.” Communities with successful tourism While marketing efforts are important, product programs easily see that the industry subsidizes the development is the most important factor of a community, whereas other communities find that successful tourism industry. Visitors want activities, they subsidize visitors – providing services visitors not just things to look at. How much time can a use without them leaving enough money behind to visitor spend enjoying activities - that cater to cover the cost of those services. their interests - in your community? Does your community have truly unique attractions the The primary goal of the tourism industry is to bring visitor can’t get closer to home? You must be able more cash into the local economy. This doesn’t to deliver on your marketing promises – otherwise happen when visitors come into the community, visitors might come once, but they won’t come get out of their cars, and take photographs. And it back. It’s much more cost effective to bring people doesn’t happen when visitors go swimming in the back, than to always need to entice new visitors lake at your city park all day, sunning, and eating into town. “Been there, done that” communities the lunch they brought from home. And it doesn’t eventually run out of visitors and find they don’t happen when visitors hike your trails, enjoy your have a sustainable tourism industry, or simply interpretive centers, or stroll through your lovely become pit stops or gateways on the way to arboretums. These are all great things to do, and, of somewhere else. course, you do want your visitors to do these – but, you also want to entice them into your shops, your After spending several days reviewing marketing cafes, espresso stands, restaurants, galleries, B&B’s, materials and assessing the community, we have and hotels, ultimately opening their wallets to make looked at all of these issues, developed some purchases. That is what helps your local economy, suggestions and ideas the community can discuss your small merchants, your hoteliers, and your tax and possibly implement to help increase tourism coffers. spending locally. 4 League City, Texas • September, 2009 Introduction To entice visitors to spend money in your 3. Leisure travel community, you need to have places for them to The third, and most lucrative of all types of visitors, spend it – you need to have the right mix of shops, is the leisure traveler. They have no personal restaurants, entertainment, and lodging facilities, connections to the community, but are coming all in an attractive setting, as well as attractions that purely to enjoy themselves. They stay in commercial make them want to visit you in the first place. lodging establishments, eat virtually all their meals in local restaurants, and their top diversionary tHE tHrEE tYPES oF tourISM activity is shopping and dining in a pedestrian- friendly setting.

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