WV Executive

The business of tourism is more than just providing what people desire when it comes to vacations-it is helping people realize they want to come to West Virginia for that vacation. That, in many ways, means more than just having the activity a traveler wants to experience.

Beyond the opportunity to operate an outdoor recreation business, a ski resort, a bed and breakfast inn or a successful shopping venue, business leaders in the tourism industry realize they must have the right combination of research, marketing, hospitality, ingenuity and commitment to make their businesses work.

The tourism industry in West Virginia is a four-season business with many small and mid-sized entrepreneurial businesses, mixed with large resorts, state parks and forests, gaming facilities, historic sites, fairs and festivals. Not just relegated to one travel activity, like outdoor recreation, our industry offers a combination of the travel options that are most wanted by national and international travelers.

But it is doing the research-knowing what travelers want and when they would like to travel-that starts the engine for the tourism business in West Virginia. Nationally, the Tourism Industry Association of America (TIA) reports that, in 2003, more than 1.14 billion citizens traveled in the United States. Of that number, more than 80 percent traveled for leisure, 6 percent combined leisure and business in their trips and 12 percent traveled solely for business. Approximately 78 percent traveled by automobile, truck or recreational vehicle, 16 percent traveled by air and the remainder traveled by motor coaches, tour buses, trains and ships.

The three top activities of this national travel market were shopping, attending a family or social event and outdoor activities. Those major activities were followed by sightseeing, beach activities, historic sites/museums, gaming, theme parks and national/state park visits. Summer and fall are the top seasons for travel in the United States, followed by spring and then winter.

How Does West Virginia Fit into the Picture?

In 2002, the most recent year West Virginia Division of Tourism completed a visitor study, almost 24 million travelers came to the state. Of those, about 77 percent were leisure travelers-close to the national 80 percent reported by TIA. West Virginia's research shows that more than 90 percent of its visitors travel by car, truck or recreational vehicle, which is higher than the national average but is also an indication that West Virginia is a good venue for close-to-home, getaway and long weekend travel. The activities travelers enjoyed are sightseeing, national/state park visits, outdoor recreation, historic sightseeing and attending fairs and festivals were all popular. Shopping, dining and visiting friends/family all finished high as well.

Beyond the numbers and statistics, research provides additional information that helps the tourism industry build its businesses. Reports, for instance, on adventure travelers, bird-watchers, cultural travelers and others provide the Division of Tourism and industry leaders with information about how these travelers plan their trips, what they want to do, how much they are willing to spend and what they expect out of a vacation or getaway trip.

With that in mind, the state and the tourism industry continually look at how they market the businesses, where they market and whom they should reach in their marketing efforts. In 2004, the Division of Tourism commissioned Longwoods International to complete an accountability and image study. The results of the study are being used to confirm or redirect the strategies for advertising, marketing and public information activities.

The accountability portion of the study showed that for the annual $3 million the Division of Tourism spends on advertising, the tourism industry benefits with 2.65 million trips and $450 million in traveler spending. Those travelers generate about $27 million in taxes. This is a nine to one return on the investment of advertising dollars.

The image portion of the study, which measures potential visitors' awareness of the state as a tourism destination and their perception of the state as a place to take a vacation, provided valuable insights as well. That study showed that people who are aware of the state's tourism advertising rate the state's image higher than those who have not seen the advertising. Visitors said West Virginia is a great place for adults and couples to vacation and that it offers a unique vacation experience and real adventure.

Located within 500 miles of more than half of the United States population, West Virginia is a popular drive destination for travelers looking for a weekend or getaway vacation. Because the state is more than 80 percent forested, it is a peaceful, green destination with plenty of places to relax. In several studies, visitors say that attribute is extremely important. They say a relaxing vacation includes spending quality time with family and friends, being away from work and resting. Visitors to West Virginia say outdoor recreational activities exceed their expectation, and they like the quality of shopping and the friendliness of the state's travel industry employees.

Finally, using research and records that identify travelers' places of origin, the state and industry know that West Virginia's most important travel markets include the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Southeast out-of-state regions.

Making the best use of this research, the Division of Tourism annually reviews and revises its marketing plan and redirects or emphasizes staff activities that capitalize on opportunities that best fit targeted markets. Within the state, the Division of Tourism has several initiatives that are designed to provide support to the tourism industry. The West Virginia Tourism Commission advises the division. This 13-member panel is composed of travel and tourism business leaders from around the state that consist of: Chairperson David Arnold, Class VI River Runners; William Bright, Bright Enterprises; Oshel Craigo, Better Foods, Inc.; Dave Dickirson, Dickirson Corporation; Ed Hamrick, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources; Michelle Holl, Holl's Swiss Chocolatier; Dale Maurer, Mountaineer Race Track & Gaming Center; Connie New, Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau; Bruce Pittet, Snowshoe Mountain; Sharon Rowe, The Greenbrier; Barry Warhoftig, West Virginia Department of Transportation; Steve White, Goodwin & Goodwin; and Randy Worls, Oglebay Park. This commission meets monthly and works closely with the tourism staff to ensure that the agency's activities make the most of budget and staff resources.

Within the Division of Tourism, its advertising, marketing, public information, research and information sections are responsible for activities that reach out to potential travelers as well as to industry members for cooperative efforts.

As an example, the advertising section develops cooperative print advertising projects that allow state and industry partners to reach targeted audiences in specific print publications at reduced costs. These publications are selected based on the returns they have provided in past years and the opportunities they provide to reach new markets. Each year, the advertising section hosts a cooperative partnership meeting, inviting industry members statewide to learn about the cooperative advertising plans and discuss where their tourism properties fit into the plan.

A cooperative advertising program may be a Sunday edition newspaper insert featuring state parks and festivals or a cooperative advertisement focusing on heritage in a heritage or travel publication. Each advertising project is developed to appeal to the interests of the readers of those publications.

"West Virginia - Wild and Wonderful" is the state's official annual travel guide. Under the direction of the advertising section, a private firm produces this important guide and prints more than half a million copies annually. In addition to the state travel description and feature articles, the travel guide provides advertising space for tourism industry partners throughout the state, offering these businesses another venue for promotion. The guide is distributed at the welcome centers, trade and consumer travel shows and sent to anyone interested in visiting the state.

To further enhance the state's image and bring cohesion to Tourism's advertising efforts, the Division of Tourism brands the state with the "West Virginia - Wild and Wonderful" logo and graphic design elements that are carried throughout all advertising and marketing materials. This unifies the efforts and reinforces the state's exciting travel image for potential travelers whether they are reading magazines or newspapers, watching television or listening to the radio.

Marketing efforts emphasize the same concepts. Whether the marketing staff is attending trade or consumer travel shows for groups as diverse as senior citizens, ethnic and heritage travelers or group tour businesses, they develop materials and information that will entice those groups to consider-and choose-West Virginia for future travel opportunities. The marketing efforts are enhanced by cooperative efforts with national and regional organizations that promote travel and tourism. The Division of Tourism participates in domestic and international travel shows and projects with the Tourism Industry Association of America, Travel South USA (a cooperative of 13 southern states), Southeast Tourism Society (an 11-state cooperative) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Tourism Council.

The public information staff brings targeted media into the state for travel and tourism related features. As a member of the Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance and the State Tourism Organization of Public Relations Officers, the public information staff participates in media programs designed to inform travel journalists about the state's travel opportunities. Those partnerships are producing positive stories in major publications and travel Web sites that highlight West Virginia destinations.

The staff reinforces its relationships with travel writers in national and international travel writers and outdoor writers' organizations. The public information section handles multiple media requests for information daily and provides agency support ranging from speechwriting to events planning and public appearances.

These activities focus on regional, national and international marketing, the Division of Tourism promotes to the important in-state audiences as well. With broadcast and print advertising, news releases, speeches and presentations and special events, the Division of Tourism reaches state residents to ensure they know about the travel opportunities.

The Division's Cooperative Tourism Promotion Fund is a strong component of the state's efforts to promote travel and tourism. Begun in 1995 by the Legislature, this fund provides a share of video lottery revenues to a matching grants program the industry uses for direct promotion and advertising. The funds are divided into three categories-small grants (matching up to $2,500), fair and festival grants (matching up to $5,000) and large grants (matching $10,000 plus).

This program allows the state to support tourism businesses that promote travel through partnerships with other tourism businesses. The concept of partnership brings together statewide groups such as the Mountain State Association of Bed & Breakfasts and the West Virginia Ski Association or regional groups of local travel and tourism-related businesses to promote travel to their areas or places of business.

To ensure that the tourism and travel-related businesses in the state understand the guidelines and rules for the cooperative program, members of that section's staff travel around the state to make presentations on the program's application and reimbursement processes.

Finally, the Division of Tourism provides invaluable customer service to travelers and potential travelers through its welcome centers, call center and fulfillment center. Each year, 4 million travelers stop at the welcome centers along the state's interstate system and the visitor centers along the West Virginia Turnpike. At these centers, travelers talk with knowledgeable staff that help with directions, provide road and weather condition reports and make reservations for lodging.

The call center, located in the Division of Tourism's South Charleston office, serves the public with personal responses to telephone calls and Internet requests for materials, information and reservation help. These staff members take orders for literature and provide information by phone, fax, Internet or mail. In July 2004, the call center staff responded to 11,000 Internet requests and 34,742 telephone calls.

As a service to the tourism industry, the call center staff also maintains and helps industry members update thousands of entries into the Tourism database. This database is used by the call center staff to respond to requests and can be accessed through www.callwva.com. A user-friendly industry program allows tourism businesses to access and update the information pertaining to their business 24 hours a day.

The fulfillment center is responsible for warehousing and mailing thousands of official state travel guides, state highway maps and other travel and tourism literature from around the state.

Yet, this is not the only network for tourism communications. Around the state, more than 30 convention and visitors bureaus provide similar services for their regional tourism businesses. These centers, too, provide marketing, advertising and public relations outreach as well as service and fulfillment services. In many cases, the Division of Tourism office and these bureaus work together to build relationships that will help improve travel growth to the state.

Individual businesses in the tourism industry are responsible for these services as well. They continually look for new ways to add vitality and diversity to their travel options. They must look at the research they have done and using research from their local convention and visitors bureaus and the Division of Tourism, determine what they need to do to keep their business fresh and exciting for repeat customers and new guests.

Strategic partnership opportunities are a key to industry development and growth. Another important aspect is economic development partnerships. In recent years, new legislation allows the West Virginia Development Office to offer development programs to the tourism industry.

Finally, the business of tourism is based on a strong commitment to hospitality and service. Throughout the industry, businesses work to ensure that their employees are providing the best quality services, with attention to customer safety, quality experiences and good communications skills. This attention to service is supported by the West Virginia Department of Education through the West Virginia Hospitality Education and Training Office. With staff dedicated to providing training and customized programs regarding frontline services, management services, culinary and food service programs and education programs for West Virginia high schools, this office is an invaluable resource for the industry.

Since 1990, the tourism industry has seen continued growth. A survey in that year showed that tourism's contribution to the state's economy was $3.2 billion and about 67,000 jobs were generated by the industry. The 2001 figures show an economic impact of $4.86 billion and total employment at 105,500.

The business of tourism in West Virginia will continue to grow as long as private and public organizations build partnerships that rely on solid research to provide the foundation for development and that recognize the importance of hospitality and service as the cornerstones of travel.