THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040512
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 74 lines
State and local tourism officials hope to get exposure for their outdoor travel initiatives as Virginia Beach hosts 125 journalists this week from publications like Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Sports Afield.
The city worked for four years to reel in the ``big one'' - the annual conference of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association.
``This is our chance to really show off the state to the guys who make the noise about outdoor adventure,'' said Patrick A. McMahon, president of the Virginia Tourism Corporation, which is co-sponsoring the event with Virginia Beach.
Hosting the journalists helps advance Virginia Beach's objective to build awareness for the city and the region as an outdoor sports and nature-based travel destination.
Ecotourism is the fastest growing segment of the travel industry. A U.S. Travel Data Center survey in 1992 indicated that 7 percent of U.S. travelers, or about 8 million people, had taken at least one ecotourism trip. About 35 million, 30 percent, said in the 1992 survey that they would take one in the next three years.
Many of the writers and editors at this week's four-day conference have planned fishing, hunting, camping, boating, hiking, and nature-watching excursions around the event.
Tourism officials hope the journalists will return home to pitch stories to their magazines, newspapers, and television and radio stations about outdoor recreational opportunities in Virginia.
One conference writer is already working on a story about golf in Virginia Beach for Golf Illustrated. A Cincinnati Inquirer writer is doing a piece about outdoor-themed museums in the region.
``When you expose this membership to the opportunities you have here, we put that in our catalog of places to go and see,'' said Cliff Shelby, the outdoor press association's president.
Shelby said the group's members typically produce a number of stories about the host state in the year or two following the conference. Many of these pieces, he said, also include information about other attractions in the region - such as historical, cultural and shopping - for family members of the outdoor enthusiast.
``This exposure will ultimately be tremendous for both Virginia Beach and the state as these journalists generate articles that will be read over the next several years,'' said Ron Kuhlman, sales and marketing director for Virginia Beach tourism.
The conference was kicked off Wednesday night by Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton Dunlop at the Virginia Marine Science Museum.
``We have an abundance of story ideas,'' Dunlop told the group.
She said the state monitors 29,000 miles of rivers and streams for water quality. Ninety-eight percent are fishable and swimmable, whereas the national average is 68 percent.
There have been record deer harvests in the last two years, Dunlop said. And after suffering a severe setback, the juvenile rockfish population in the Chesapeake Bay is setting records.
Virginia Beach recently published a nature-based travel brochure, highlighting the city's ecological treasures. And on Oct. 12, the city is hosting the Southeastern Virginia Ecotourism Symposium at the Virginia Marine Science Museum.
The symposium will explore ways to create successful nature-based travel programs while maintaining a balance between the ecological areas and the visitors they attract. MEMO: To register for the Oct. 12 Southeastern Virginia Ecotourism
Symposium, call the Virginia Beach Information Center at 437-4919 or
1-800-446-8038. The fee is $25. ILLUSTRATION: FILE color photo\
Virginia Beach wants to build awareness for the city and region as
an outdoor sports and nature-based travel destination.
KEYWORDS: TOURISM by CNB