THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 6, 1996 TAG: 9609060494
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 67 lines
The Southeast is embarking on a unified marketing effort to lure international travelers to the region with a home-spun campaign called The Heart and Soul of America.
At the annual meeting of the Southeast Tourism Society Thursday at the Cavalier Hotel, the united approach was unveiled to an enthusiastic gathering of tourism leaders from 10 states, including Virginia.
The campaign would be targeted to international tourists, which has the greatest potential for growth in the travel industry. The society's promotional campaigns have always been aimed domestically.
``It's a new day,'' said Spurgeon Richardson, president of the Atlanta Convention and VisitorBureau. ``This has never been done before. This can become our unified vision of what the Southeastern United States has to offer.''
Jeff Nixon, president of Austin Kelley Advertising Inc. in Atlanta which structured the campaign, said, ``We can position the Southeast as a worldwide destination of choice and generate a significant increase in revenue.''
The Southeast Tourism Society is considering a $5 million to $10 million a year advertising blitz to secure an identity for the region with foreign travelers. There are several reasons:
First, the United States has slipped a notch to No. 3 behind France and Spain as the most frequently visited country.
Also, with the elimination of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration there are no agencies promoting the nation as a travel destination.
And the timing is right because there is a new interest in the Southeast thanks to the worldwide exposure of the Atlanta Olympics.
``We have to strike when the iron is hot,'' Richardson said. ``The timing has never been better.''
The advertising consultant suggested that the group move fast and start placing the ads in the spring of 1997 or risk losing the Olympic momentum.
Spain, which hosted the 1992 Olympics at Barcelona, has enjoyed more than a 14 percent increase in international travel in the past three years, sparking its move to the second largest tourist destination in the world.
The campaign will particularly target the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada, which the advertising agency said are the countries that hold the most promise for increasing their visits.
The primary focus, however, will be on the Germans and British as they spend about six times more money on their vacations than Canadians.
``Even though international travel is a small percentage, that area has the most potential for growth,'' said James B. Ricketts, Virginia Beach Convention and Visitor Development director and chairman of the Southeast Tourism Society. The Southeast is most heavily traveled region in the country, Ricketts said, adding that it generates $100 billion a year in tourism revenue.
Nixon estimated that if the proposed campaign attracts 10 percent more visits from the three targeted countries, the economic impact would jump by more than $400 million.
To launch the campaign, funding must be raised from public and private sources.
Ricketts said the group will turn to private sponsors as well as the association's member cities, states and organizations. It will also seek grants from the new United States Tourism Organization, which is an industry-directed, privately funded group to promote a national tourism strategy. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Reasons the Southeast tourism Society is considering a $5 million-
to -$10-million-a-year campaign.
KEYWORDS: TOURISM VIRGINIA by CNB