Seven Surefire Ways to Boost Tourism

Your small business, Chamber of Commerce and state tourism office have invested considerable time and money to attract some of the nation's multi-billion dollar tourism industry. Events have been planned, advertising is in place, the stores are stocked and people have been hired. But when it's time to reap the benefits, things don't go as well as hoped.

If that's the case determine whether some basic rules of hospitality are being overlooked. It's not that people in your town are unfriendly but they may be suffering from a bout of inside-out thinking. That means people are thinking about themselves more than the visitors they'd like to entice. Here is one sure-fire way to identify the afflication. Scan your promotional flyers and Web copy for the word 'our'. If you see something like this, read on for the cure: "We really hope you come to our town to visit our lovely park, stay in our cozy inns and swim in our public pool, and when you're done giving us your money, get the heck out of tour town." Well, you get the idea. Make promotional materials about the prospective visitors, not you.

An Urgent Reality

Your town is poised to be the next tourist haven. You've got the most spectacular scenery, amazing historical attraction or biggest ball of rubber bands, but get over it, the main reason for passers-by to stop is to use the toilet. If you've invested in glossy ads and spiffy brochures but overlooked a couple of big, well-placed signs that say "public restrooms" you're missing an 'urgent' opportunity.

This Isn't Catch and Release

People have stopped for one reason or another. Maybe it's to use the restrooms or just because your town is cute. Perhaps they read an article or brochure, or they're hungry and saw a restaurant sign. The last thing you want to do now is chase them away before they're done spending money. But that's just what inside-out towns do by installing parking meters or signs that limit parking times. It's like saying, 'You can stay for two hours, but then you've got to get out of here.' Your goal should be to keep visitors separated from their cars as long as possible, not fixated on moving them.

Of course if there isn't a whole lot to do or see, parking won't be a problem. The overall concern should be to correct that as soon as possible. According to Destination Development Inc. of Olympia, Wash., as a rule, people will expect four hours of blissful activity for every hour it took to get to a locale. So, if you're two hours from a metropolitan area, you'd better be able to keep them happy all day.

Put Your Signs Out and Make Sure They Say 'Open.'

So, did they see that sign on the restaurant or the one announcing your business or was it overlooked? You know it's there -- you beam at it proudly every day. All your friends have complimented you on it, but if it's not perpendicular to the building, potential customers are more likely to pass it by. Before you get the sign properly oriented, look at what it says to people. If the place sells pizza and it's called Al's -- what do you think should be emphasized?

There may be all kinds of neat things to see and do around town, but you can bet new arrivals have no idea what they are. Is there a centrally-located person available to answer questions? Probably not in a small town because visitor promotions are likely run by volunteers. So instead you've invested in handy pamphlets, flyers and maps, but they are absolutely useless locked inside a building that's closed evenings and weekends when a lot of travel happens. So how about putting the information where people can get it any time?

Here is another symptom of inside-out thinking: Downtown shop owners lock up and leave at 5 p.m. and they don't open on Sunday. A whopping seventy percent of all consumer spending happens after 6:00 pm and the top two tourism activities are shopping and dining in a pedestrian setting, DD Inc. says. So does it make sense for stores near restaurants to stay open as long as people are in the area eating? I have actually witnessed packs of tourists wandering aimlessly, rattling locked doors of stores they'd like to visit. And this in towns that swear they want to capture more tourist dollars.

If you want to invite visitors, keep them around as long as possible and entice them to come back, get in the habit of thinking about your place as though you're looking from the outside in.