THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504200209
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DARA McLEOD
CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
As National Tourism Week approaches, Dare County tourism officials are encouraging residents and businesses to recognize the role tourism plays in the local economy, and to put forth a special effort to make the Outer Banks' six million annual visitors feel welcome.
``National Tourism Week is part of a local, state and national effort to focus attention on what tourism really means,'' says Gene O'Bleness, executive director of the Dare County Tourist Bureau.
``It's Dare County's main industry. It fuels a $625 million economy a year. I just think that tourism as an industry has really brought the Outer Banks to a point where it's second to none in North Carolina.
``I look at the infrastructure, the schools, the shopping, and the population that is highly educated. The tourism industry has provided the impetus for that type of development within Dare County.''
According to Robert Middlebrooks, chairman of the Dare County Tourism Board, a little over half of Dare County's economy is directly generated by tourism, and a large portion of the remaining half is indirectly related. Commercial fishing is the only other independent industry.
National Tourism Week will be May 7-14. Wednesday, May 10, has been designated ``Visitor Appreciation Day.'' And tourism officials are asking local citizens to change the way they think and talk about those who vacation here.
``We really don't have tourists here anymore. We have visitors,'' says Rebecca Moore, director of marketing at the Dare County Tourist Bureau. ``Visitor is just a friendlier word.''
O'Bleness says the easiest way to ensure that people who visit the Outer Banks return year after year is to make sure they have a delightful time while they're here.
``Not only are we charged with bringing people here, we're charged with welcoming them,'' he said. ``We're the lead organization in making sure they have a good experience.''
As part of National Tourism Week, more than 30 Canadian travel writers will begin their two-week stay on the Outer Banks.
The Tourist Bureau announced its Cooperative Canadian Promotion in August and has been working closely with Canadian tour operators, travel agents and travel writers. The goal is to capitalize on an already-strong Canadian travel market.
More than 50 Outer Banks hotels and restaurants are partners in the program and will be celebrating Canadian Appreciation Days from May 14 to 22. They will receive promotional packs that include a Canadian flag, and buttons and signs with the Tourist Bureau's new Canadian logo: a Maple leaf, a windsurfer and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
The Tourist Bureau sees great opportunity for expanding its base of Canadian visitors because the country's retirees often have high disposable incomes, and because Canadians typically enjoy traveling in the spring, one of the shoulder seasons which the Tourist Bureau has undertaken new efforts to promote.
Tourism officials also have established a successful campaign with Coles Bookstore, the largest bookstore chain in Canada. Outer Banks mobiles are hanging in all stores, and customers can register to win a free Outer Banks vacation. The contest is expected to generate 50,000 to 75,000 entries, giving the Tourist Bureau a healthy pool of potential visitors.
Last year, the Tourist Bureau received about 1,000 Canadian inquiries for travel information, and that number has already been exceeded in the first four months of this year, Moore says.
O'Bleness and Moore also say their efforts to bolster overall shoulder season visitation are paying off. The campaign has targeted those within a five-hour drive from the Outer Banks, weekday travelers, and fishing and windsurfing enthusiasts.
Fall revenue collections indicate steady growth in fall visitation. Revenue generated by the meals tax was ahead 21 percent for September, 6 percent for October and 19 percent for November. Revenues also were up 4 percent for December and 19 percent for January, although there is a one-month reporting delay, O'Bleness says.
And for the 1994 calendar year, occupancy tax revenues were up 10 percent and meals tax revenues rose 13 percent.
``We attribute a lot of that increase to our `Peace on Earth' shoulder season campaign, and the fact that the weather was good,'' O'Bleness says. ``That's the underpinning of all our efforts. If the weather is good, we're going to be successful.''
The Tourist Bureau also has been aggressive in the tour market for the last four or five years, and those efforts are paying off as well. O'Bleness says one busload of visitors, staying overnight, can contribute about $7,000 to the local economy.
The Tourist Bureau has operated as a public authority since 1992, and it has an annual budget of about $2 million. The bulk of its revenues come from its 1 percent share of the 4 percent occupancy tax levied in the county and the 1 percent meals tax revenue.
Of the revenue received by the Tourism Board, 25 percent goes into a restricted fund, from which expenditures require the approval of the Dare County Board of Commissioners. The remaining revenue is directed to the general fund.
The restricted fund is used to finance short-term projects, such as beach accesses and bike paths, that benefit local citizens and visitors. It also is used for long-term projects, including the beach nourishment study now being conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, and for reserves for future projects.
The general fund is used for costs associated with operations, including promotion and advertising, salaries and capital outlays, as well as for reserves.
``Our largest expenditure is obviously promotional,'' Middlebrooks says. ``That will account for about 60 percent of the budget.''
The Tourism Board also has a long-term goal of setting aside 60 percent of its annual budget as a reserve fund to meet the unusual demands of a crisis situation, such as a major storm or hurricane, O'Bleness says. Tourism revenues are extremely vulnerable to hurricanes, and following such an event, larger-than-usual promotional expenditures would be needed to make the public aware that the area is again accessible and open for business.
In its first 30 months of operation, the board has set aside more than $570,000, 27 percent of its budget. Another $125,000 to $150,000 will be allocated in the coming year, Middlebrooks says.
But he adds, ``We hope we don't have to spend it.''
O'Bleness says recent successful projects sponsored by the Tourist Bureau include the cooperative effort with the National Park Service to establish and operate the Whalebone Junction Information Station, and the establishment of the state's only drive-through window at a tourist facility.
Future priorities include studies to determine what percentage of tourist bureau inquiries result in visitation, and an expansion of the information kiosk on the northern end of Roanoke Island. ILLUSTRATION: File photo
With the trappings of summer in hand, a vacationing family heads to
the beach at Duck during 1994.
by CNB