THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605250512
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 73 lines
Virginia Beach has pumped up and sauced up its advertising as competitors like Disney and Myrtle Beach spend wads of cash to lure summer tourists.
``There's a lot at stake,'' said Jim Ricketts, director of the Virginia Beach Department of Convention and Visitor Development.
This spring, Virginia Beach began rolling out The New Virginia Beach, a sassy advertising campaign that's appearing on the nation's biggest cable television stations and in magazines and newspapers. The promotion is fueled by a bigger advertising media budget, which doubled to $2.7 million this year.
And this time, the city isn't afraid to bare its teeth.
``The world's best swimmers and divers won't be in Atlanta this summer,'' says one Virginia Beach advertisement. ``For sheer beauty and absolutely perfect form in the water, you really need to see the dolphins off the Virginia Beach coast.''
The New Virginia Beach campaign promotes a spruced-up Oceanfront, a new, 20,000-seat amphitheater and revitalized Virginia Marine Science Museum, among others. The messages is: ``You've never seen anything like it, even if you've been here before.''
Virginia Beach also has continued its alliances with other regional attractions. A second group promotes Peninsula-area tourist hot spots. The goal is to give families a one-stop shopping experience for their vacations.
Advertising dollars are more important this year, because the competition is stronger and well-financed, tourism officials say. The Summer Olympics in Atlanta could divert some tourists. Myrtle Beach, S.C., is shining after mammoth capital investments. And Disney has launched a $160 million promotion of its theme parks.
``All of our competitors have expanded their advertising budgets,'' said David Schulte, executive director of the Williamsburg Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
After last year's success, Schulte and other tourism officials are optimistic about the turnout this year. The forecasts, however, are mixed.
Early signals show the tourist season could be anything from ho-hum to hot.
Overall, people plan to go on slightly longer vacations, taking more people along with them, a survey by the Travel Industry Association of America shows.
But tourists won't necessarily spend more money. Even though the economy is fine, they're still concerned about corporate downsizing and, to a much smaller extent, higher gas prices.
``We do think that they'll be taking the same amount of money and stretching it,'' said Shawn Flaherty, a spokeswoman with the travel group. ``Overall, the spending for everybody will be about the same as last year.''
Local tourism officials say it will be difficult to beat last season's results - the best in years. Plus, attractions and resorts may get a slow start due to the number of school children making up snow days.
``We'll probably see from the Northeastern markets a bit later,'' said Cindy Sarco, spokeswoman for Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA.
But Sarco and others said the delay in vacationing families won't necessarily translate into less revenues. They said vacation inquiries are up - one sign that the summer may be a resounding success.
Calls have dramatically increased for information on the Peninsula's Revolutionary Fund vacation package, which includes unlimited admission to five of the area's attractions and lodging for a family of four.
The Williamsburg Area Convention and Visitors Bureau tracked 135,000 inquiries from April to mid-May. That compared with 55,000 calls during the same period last year. Queries and sales for the Family Fun Package, another regional campaign, also have soared.
The Family Fun Package, formerly called the Kids Corner, includes lodging and unlimited admission to Nauticus, the Virginia Marine Science Museum (except the new IMAX 3-D theater), the Virginia Air & Space Center, Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
The New Virginia Beach ads are part of a print campaign to launch
the 1996 tourist season.
KEYWORDS: TOURISM VIRGINIA BEACH ADVERTISING by CNB