THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509160263
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By JENNIFER CHRISTMAN, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
The Outer Banks has only two major roads in and out. But there is a new ``route'' that makes travel from the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center to Australia possible in seconds: the information superhighway.
That is what the center's general manager, Satch Smith, discovered three months ago when he added the recreational fishing marina to the ever-growing Internet, the global web of computers networks.
The center's homepage on the World Wide Web, part of the Internet that uses text and graphics, caught the eye of an Australian family planning a trip to coastal North Carolina.
The family became one of more than a dozen bookings the fishing center has made simply by having a presence on the Internet. Another 60 people have sought more information about the center through electronic mail.
``I think the Internet is a very valuable tool for businesses,'' Smith says. ``We are very pleased with the results so far. In our case, fishing is an industry with worldwide interest, and the Internet provides worldwide access. It's the wave of the future.''
Smith is not alone in his thinking.
From real estate agents to retailers and local artists to conservancy groups, several Outer Banks businesses have turned to the Internet to showcase and promote their services.
Russell Lay, a local banker and co-founder of an Outer Banks Internet consulting group, says the far-reaching capability of the Internet, which is used by an estimated 30 million people, is especially helpful to businesses on the out-of-the-way barrier islands.
``If you look at Virginia Beach, for example, they have a very large advertising budget,'' Lay says. ``Just the size of Virginia Beach and their budget makes that area able to do things we can't do down here. The Internet levels the playing field because no one can look to be bigger than anyone else. The Internet will expose the Outer Banks to more people at a very low cost compared to TV ads that the other beaches can pump out.''
There are at least three consultant companies that have created Outer Banks homepages that reside on the Internet. Homepages are advertisements with text and illustrations that feature icons that access information and other homepages when ``clicked'' by a computer mouse.
One such page is designed by Ruffin Associates. A color illustration of a lighthouse greets users. From the opening homepage, users can click on several options that connect them to more pages. One page is a collection of Outer Banks post cards from the past. The digitized photos of early Manteo, sand dunes and the U.S. Life Saving Station at Oregon Inlet pop up crisp and clear on users' computer screens.
Another feature of the homepage allows users to see pictures and read information about North Carolina lighthouses. Friends of Hatteras Island, a conservation group, has a page that describes the organization and gives an address for contributions.
One of the more intricate pages that can be reached through the Ruffin homepage belongs to Kitty Hawk Kites. The page features color pictures of hang gliders and a bulletin board in which glider enthusiasts can leave messages for one another.
The Kitty Hawk Kites page also contains an on-line shopping catalog, from which people can view and order stunt kites, wind socks, Hackey Sacks, clothing and other items from the store's inventory.
Because of security concerns on the Internet, Kitty Hawk Kites asks people who want to buy things to leave their names and phone numbers. Then, a sales representative calls the shopper. That keeps customers from putting credit-card numbers on the network.
The page also lets consumers make on-line reservations for hang gliding and tours.
``We've had a lot of people respond to the on-line bulletin board, and there has been a lot of interest in mail-order,'' says Barbara Fanning, advertising coordinator for Kitty Hawk Kites. ``People from Germany and California have looked at the page. It's been very helpful.''
Fanning estimated that the company's presence on the Internet has generated about 2,000 purchases and reservations.
The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce also holds a site on the Ruffin homepage. The site contains information about the center, on-line order forms for brochures, weather updates, an events calendar and a map.
Several Outer Banks real estate companies - including Real Escapes, Sun Realty and Resort Realty - have Internet sites.
Corolla's famous wild horses have even trotted onto the Internet. The Corolla Wild Horse Fund site, available through a homepage created by Aesir Computing Inc., tells the history of the Outer Banks Spanish Mustangs and promotes the organization's adopt-a-horse program.
The Outer Banks' surf also is up on the Internet. WebMasters International has created a surfing homepage that updates weather and surf conditions, and includes user-authored surfing reports from around the world.
As the information superhighway continues to grow, could the increased dependence on computers threaten the Outer Banks' community flavor?
Lay, the banker and Internet consultant, says no.
``A good comparison is television,'' he says. ``You can be connected to the entire world with a TV set, but you can also turn it off. If you want to get together with someone and have a beer, you're not going to do that in cyberspace.
``There is still the off button like any technology.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW WILSON/Staff
Satch Smith, general manager of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, has
added the recreational fishing marina to the Internet.
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[Glossary of terms]
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB