DATE: Friday, May 16, 1997                  TAG: 9705160671

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  105 lines

FESTIVAL BOOSTS LOCAL BUSINESS RESTAURANTS, HOTELS, STORES REPORT BUSY CASH REGISTERS

Sydney Meers stepped out of his downtown Norfolk eatery, the Dumbwaiter, close to midnight on a weeknight during the Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival. He was struck by the number of people on the streets.

They were not the typical after-hours street folks in tattered garb with nowhere to go.

Instead, they were decked out in tailored suits and designer dresses. They were going to restaurants and coffeehouses after arts festival performances.

To Meers and other business owners, more people out on the town means more customers - and more money.

Meers didn't catch the bustling weekend street scenes. He was inside, feverishly dishing up food for hungry arts patrons who waited as long as two hours for a table. Other restaurants had similar waits.

``Now we have become a city,'' Meers said. ``A city is more than just restaurants, shops and hotels. It has arts things and concerts.''

It's that kind of vitality that often translates into economic prosperity.

For 18 days ending last Sunday, 64 performances - from the symphony to the circus, from dance to drama - were staged across Hampton Roads in the premiere International Arts Festival.

While festival officials are not releasing ticket sales yet, they say attendance surpassed projections. Many performances were sold out.

One show in Williamsburg, ``A Tchaikovsky Spectacular'' with the Virginia Symphony, is believed to have been attended by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was in town for the commencement at the College of William and Mary. Ten tickets were bought for Thatcher and her aides. However, there is no confirmation that she showed up for the crowded, outdoor performance.

While there was some grumbling about ticket prices, festival organizers said they were competitive with other arts performances in the region.

And pricing apparently did not affect ticket sales. Festival director Robert W. Cross said the first shows and the first seats to sell out were also the most pricey.

``With 64 performances in 18 days, we know people had to pick and choose because they didn't have the time or money to go to them all,'' Cross said.

The festival was a hit not only with audiences but also with business owners. Many merchants in downtown Norfolk, where the bulk of the shows were held, report a significant impact on their business during the festival.

Cross said it was difficult to get performers into crowded restaurants after shows for meals and to find additional hotel rooms for unexpectedly large entourages.

``We were scrambling,'' Cross said. ``But it was exciting to see.''

Occupancies at the Omni Waterside Hotel are typically flat in April and May, but Manager Harvey Moore said, ``We were sold out during the whole period. . . . I think it was a fantastic success.''

Many artists stayed at the Omni, a festival sponsor.

``I wish this could happen all the time,'' said Heather Whitehead, owner of Maude's House restaurant in Freemason.

Whitehead was encouraged not only by the increased traffic at her establishment, but also the general excitement and activity the festival generated.

``It helps the attitude of people,'' Whitehead said. ``People like the arts. People were talking about it. They'd come in here, pull out their brochures and talk about what's left to see and what's going on.''

Likewise, festival sponsors said the office coffee klatsch often discussed what shows were seen the night before.

For an inaugural festival, that's remarkable, Cross said.

``There was more of a buzz in the community than I expected for the first year,'' Cross said.

Restaurants and hotels were not the only businesses that benefited. Shops, too, were busier than usual.

At Waterside, retail shops reported greater sales increases than restaurants, said Lee Belote, marketing director. ``The majority said it was a measurable difference from last year,'' she said.

A couple of merchants even noted that the festival attracted a higher-income clientele. ``They were people with money to spend,'' Belote said.

In other cities, such as Virginia Beach and Williamsburg, where there were just a handful of performances, the effects were not as clear.

It's also not clear yet how many tourists were drawn here by the festival. For a first-year festival, organizers didn't expect that more than 10 percent of tickets would be purchased by visitors.

``We were out there circling nationally,'' said Sam Rogers, Norfolk's marketing director, who oversees a regional Virginia Waterfront tourism campaign.

The festival was noted in a number of national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Boston Herald and Philadelphia Inquirer. It was on the front page of The New York Times' business section on opening day in a story about developing cultural events to attract tourists.

News of the festival reached an English couple vacationing in Washington. They made a side trip to Norfolk for a show or two.

A West Virginia couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary here with tickets to three performances. They were treated to backstage passes for musician Steve Reich.

For future festivals, Rogers said, an effort will be made to book arts- related conventions during the festival to attract more visitors to the shows.

Word of mouth by local people will also be a powerful tool for helping the festival grow.

``In a couple of years, the community will feel an ownership in the event and will start telling their friends out of town,'' Cross said.

Cultural tourism is a big segment of the tourism industry. According to the Travel Industry Association of America, 27 percent of Americans last year traveled 100 miles or more for a festival, cultural event, museum or historic site. KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA WATERFRONT INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL

CULTURAL TOURISM

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