Tourism: A 'first date' that can lead to more

Hallelujah! Public officials rejoiced. Tourism produced revenue with few strings attached.

Visitors rarely demanded pricey public services (aside, perhaps, from an occasional search and rescue operation along the hiking trail to Dragon's Tooth).

Enter 'destination marketing,' a strategy that knits together tourism and economic development into what some marketing experts have described as the perfect combination.

In a nutshell, communities that people want to visit are places where people want to live and work. These same communities become places businesses have to be. Tourism becomes like a 'first date,' with marketing campaigns by tourism bureaus as matchmaker and jobs and economic growth as offspring.

It seems clear that the Roanoke Valley's appeal as a destination is gathering momentum as the region prepares to welcome back passenger rail service sometime in 2017. Tourism-related stats for 2014 continued a record-breaking trend that began five years ago.

Enter 'It All Starts with a Visit.' That's the concept at the heart of an ambitious endeavor, launched in June 2014, that has been shepherded by the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The bureau hired a destination marketing consulting firm to help guide the effort. The process has included 'secret shopper' visits by destination development experts, 'community visioning' sessions with hundreds of participants and, most recently, public sessions held to solicit tweaks to the emerging plan.

As envisioned, the effort will deliver in early 2016 what the bureau describes as a 15-year strategy known as 'Destination Vision 2030.'

Bureau President Landon Howard, 53, said the intent is to build on trends and attributes that have made the Roanoke Valley an appealing destination and to identify and establish new lures — referred to as 'product' in some circles.

Going to the 'dawgs'

One serendipitous example of the former: the reality TV show 'Salvage Dawgs,' which focuses on the quirky exploits of folks at Black Dog Salvage.

Larry Landolt, founder and president of Tour Roanoke, said some out-of-town clients are in Roanoke for 'a Big Dog Getaway,' a package wrapped around shopping at the salvage store off 13th Street Southwest in Roanoke.

Others tell Landolt they've been drawn by the Roanoke Valley's growing reputation for first-class opportunities for outdoor recreation, including mountain biking.

Kristine McCormick seconded the commotion. She should know.

McCormick handles marketing and public relations for Black Dog and also happens to be president of the Roanoke Chapter of the International Mountain Biking Association.

She said the Roanoke Valley chapter hopes to obtain designation from the association as a 'Ride Center.' She said mountain biking trails at Carvins Cove, Explore Park and elsewhere should help the region gain that recognition, which, in turn, should attract more visitors.

Ride Center rankings can be bronze, silver or gold. McCormick said she believes existing mountain biking opportunities could snag at least a silver.

James Revercomb, co-owner of Roanoke Mountain Adventures, an outfitter housed near Wasena Park, agreed.

'We think Roanoke is the mountain biking capital of the East, and I think you'll start hearing that more and more in the future,' he said.

Landolt's business started with offering a food and culture tour of downtown Roanoke. It has since added a craft brew tour and a winery tour. He said the craft brew tour appeals, in particular, to young professionals — the demographic that makes many economic developers swoon.

'In years past, we've not seen ourselves as a destination,' Landolt said.

Revercomb, 28, a Roanoke Valley native, and his wife, Ainsley, 29, a native of Rocky Mount, moved back to the region in October 2014 from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a world-renowned outdoor recreation destination where even wild elk gather in winter.

Since 2010, the convention and visitors bureau has hosted numerous travel writers in an effort to boost the region's profile. The bureau estimates that the resulting publicity would be equivalent to spending about $5.9 million on advertising.

An Oct. 31 story in The Boston Globe struck a host of positive notes: 'This former railroad town has been undergoing a renaissance, with the openings of new museums and hotels, craft breweries, and a wave of millennials and retirees moving downtown into stylish condos in refurbished old buildings.'

So, what sort of lure might qualify as new product?

Perhaps a facility or shuttle near the rail station where Amtrak passengers will disembark that would provide easy access to rental cars, bicycles, kayaks, outfitters and the like.

'This would be huge for us,' Revercomb said.

Visitor options would include biking, floating, hiking, running and more, he said.

'People could come down here and do just fine without a car,' Revercomb said.

Vision quest

The convention and visitors bureau markets a region branded since 2013 as Virginia's Blue Ridge. Member jurisdictions include the cities of Roanoke and Salem and the counties of Botetourt, Franklin and Roanoke.

The bureau's budget for the current fiscal year is $3.1 million. Key funding sources include lodging tax money collected in Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke County. Franklin and Botetourt counties contribute out of their general funds. Businesses within the Virginia's Blue Ridge core area can participate for free.

In May 2014, the bureau hired a consultant whose company says he pushes the envelope, challenges the status quo and calls out sacred cows. The business card for Bill Geist, a principal in Wisconsin-based Zeitgeist Consulting, describes him as the company's chief instigator.

Hired for $52,000, Geist and Zeitgeist Consulting are helping the bureau craft 'Destination Vision 2030.'

Businessman Lee Wilhelm is board chairman for the bureau. In a recent op-ed, Wilhelm said that 'the primary function of the plan is to assist our region in assessing its attributes and determining what is needed to attract more visitors.'

He added, 'What makes the region more attractive to visitors improves our quality of life.'

Geist, a middle-aged man sporting a soul patch, describes the goal of destination marketing in a video on Zeitgeist Consulting's website.

With the exception of Orlando, Florida, and Las Vegas, he says, 'you do not build a destination for visitors. You build a destination for yourselves but you build it smartly and sophisticatedly enough that visitors are attracted to it.'

Geist adds, 'It has to work for you. It has to work for your culture. But with the right tweaks, visitors will beat a path to your door.'

In early December, Wilhelm, Geist and staff from the convention and visitors bureau asked the public to suggest such tweaks. They held five meetings throughout the territory covered by Virginia's Blue Ridge.

The visioning process had begun in June 2014 with visits by a group of 'secret shoppers' (aka destination development experts from outside the region), who were asked to share impressions as first-time visitors to Virginia's Blue Ridge.

Zeitgeist Consulting also reviewed existing plans, such as Livable Roanoke Valley, in the spirit of not reinventing the wheel. The Livable Roanoke Valley plan resulted from three years of work by the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission and partners — work supported by an award of $625,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and about $248,000 in in-kind support.

'Destination Vision 2030' gained ground in late 2014 and early 2015 during more than 30 'community visioning sessions' involving more than 250 people.

Participants were asked to describe opportunities that had not yet been identified. Those sessions yielded four major areas of focus: arts, culture and heritage; infrastructure; meetings, conventions and events; and outdoor recreation.

In a Dec. 18 email, Geist said Virginia's Blue Ridge already boasts assets that make the region an attractive destination.

'Outdoor recreation, arts and culture and stunning scenery are what we see as the primary drivers for Virginia's Blue Ridge, supported and augmented by the plethora of educational institutions in the area, a growing culinary scene and a strong music and festival culture,' Geist said.

'All these attributes make Virginia's Blue Ridge a compelling choice for visitors and future investors alike,' he said.

Geist said tweaks could include enhancing and promoting these assets and offering visitors 'wayfinding signage' to make the assets easier to find and enjoy. He said a 'thoughtful build out' of Explore Park could help, as could continuing efforts to make downtown Roanoke 'a walkable district of unique experiences.'

Other tweaks identified during brainstorming included continued work to expand greenways and blueways, creation of an 'outdoor university,' hosting 'blockbuster exhibits' at regional museums and centralizing a calendar of events.

And, of course, participants said the region needs more flights and more carriers serving the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport.

George Zimmermann, a marketing and branding expert, noted that in the second decade of the 21st century 'virtually everyone is devoting time, energy and resources to attract entrepreneurs, new businesses and skilled knowledge workers.' Affluent retirees are another target group, he said.

'It's time for tourism marketing to be acknowledged as the primary branding for states, cities and regions, and for tourism marketers to take the lead in promoting their destinations for all purposes,' observed Zimmermann, chairman of Longwoods International, a strategic market research firm, in a paper published in July.

The Roanoke Regional Partnership, a regional economic development organization, has vigorously promoted outdoor recreation and other quality-of-life amenities as part of the partnership's strategy to attract or retain entrepreneurs and businesses.

Beth Doughty, the partnership's executive director, said the organization works to add the sort of product that appeals to visitors and businesses alike. She cited the partnership's work with the Blue Ridge Marathon as one such draw.

'A visit can be a first step toward introducing someone to a community and could lead to someone starting to think about moving here to live or work,' Doughty said.

But that 'top-of-mind awareness' typically requires concerted follow-up to yield economic development, she said.

'Actual recruitment is most often a complex and lengthy process that depends on many factors,' Doughty said.

For more information about 'Destination Vision 2030,' go to VBRDestinationVision.com. Regional outdoor recreation information is at RoanokeOutside.com.