We’re changing to a NEW Blog format - Visit us here:

WilsonHotel.blogspot.com

Yesterday we posted about the eight main reasons “why” tourists shop.  There are seven reasons “why” they don’t shop as well. 

1.  Can’t Take it With Them ~ Travelers have concerns about transporting their purchases or having to deal with difficult shipping issues. 

SOLUTION: Make shipping easy and display prominent signage that states, “We ship anywhere!”

2.  It’s Not Unique or Special ~ Visitors don’t want to shop for things they can find at Wal Mart.

SOLUTION: Merchandise with a clear point of view and share the unique stories of your merchandise via your sales staff or visual merchandising.

3.  Assortment Issues ~ Sales will be lost if the visitor can’t find the right size, style, quantity or color desired. 

SOLUTION: Make it clear that you run special orders and that you ship anywhere.

4.  Stress ~ When shopping with family or friends at the end of their visit, sometimes others in the party are tired or eager to leave.

SOLUTION: Provide options for purchasing once they leave your institution, i.e., catalog or online store.  Additionally, consider adding seating to your store where the non-shoppers can stay with magazines so the primary shoppers have time to browse. 

5.  Access ~ If visitors don’t see your store, they don’t know you exist or what you carry. 

SOLUTION:  If the store’s location makes it hard to find, provide signage or merchandise displays at central locations.  Sandwich boards are very effective advertising in historic districts.

6.  Poor Customer Service ~ Inattentive sales staff and long lines at the register will cause visitors to leave your store without making a purchase.

SOLUTION: Continually train your staff on key customer service principles and reward them well for excellent service.

7.  Weak Visual Merchandising ~ Uninteresting displays and poor lighting will not entice customers into your store, let alone help them shop and make a purchase.

SOLUTION:  Tell a story with the merchandise. 

Tourism is a key business segment that can and will drive incremental sales at your store.  The shift needs to be to increase the number of visitors coming as tourists and attract more local folks into the downtown sector to participate in the shopping “experience.”  

 Overall in the information we have gathered, one theme continues to emerge - - historic areas rely on their retail establishments to set the trend for the overall experience of the traveler.  In particular, the heritage tourist because the average heritage tourist spends over 5 days in the destination they have traveled to visit verses just over 3 days for a traveler that is not heritage travel motivated.  Shopping is a definite expectation of the heritage tourist. 

We have posted extensively about heritage traveler demographics on our blog.  We continue to be amazed at the statistics we find about the traveler who is interested in heritage tourism.  As the Centralia Downtown Association becomes more established this month and the creation of committees to implement the 2008 work plan, we will see new efforts coming forth to market the downtown extensively to communities outside the immediate area.  This is an exciting time to be a part of the downtown emergence as the revitalization continues!  

  In our last post we shared that we have been collecting extensive data to support the developing trend of Centralia being promoted as great heritage tourist destination.  Here is some more information from the recent study published by the Shop America Alliance.   

The SAA focuses on implementing marketing strategies to bring shoppers to tourism related areas.  The SAA report indicates that most tourists are motivated to shop by a combination of the following factors:  

1. Unique ~ Tourists are looking for merchandise that can’t be found “back home,” merchandise that evokes a sense of place, is part of a special event or experience, or is simply something that they do not have access to elsewhere, i.e. artwork, books on a favorite topic of interest, jewelry, etc…
2. Value / Price ~ “A better deal than back home” is a very strong motivator for international visitors, especially when the exchange rate is in favor of the visitor.
3. Time to Shop ~ Visitors on vacation will buy items they can find back home, simply because they are in a more relaxed, stress-free vacation mode with time to indulge in recreational shopping.
4.  Planned Expenditure ~ Many tourists budget for souvenirs or allow for extra money to treat themselves while on vacation.
5. Shop with Family & Friends ~ A shopping entourage provides encouragement to buy, i.e., “Honey, that looks good on you.”
6. Extend the Experience ~ Tourists like to shop for mementos from the destination or event.
7. Obligation ~ Traveling offers a unique opportunity to find a gift or souvenir for a loved one left behind, or as a thank you gift for the baby sitter, pet sitter, etc…
8. Our #8 is one we added ourselves and was not included in the official research document.

#8 – FUN ~ Pure entertainment and fun of the shopping experience.  We think that tourists shop because it is FUN and entertaining.  Many tourists visit a location with the sole intention of shopping and enjoying the shopping experience as they travel. 

Just as important as understanding the primary behavioral motivators is removing the barriers to buying.  We will explore those barriers in our next post. 

We find it interesting that the #1 focus of tourist shoppers is the “unique” merchandise factor in shopping trends.  One of the feedback comments shared most often about historic downtown areas is the fact that they often comprise a distinguished collection of unique shops that offer “really neat stuff” they can’t seem to find at home.   This collection of unique retail shops is what helps to create the character and charm of a historic city center area.  So much of the personality of a downtown area is determined by the mix of businesses that make up the central downtown district.  The retail venue is ever changing as new merchandise is always rotating through the retail pipeline. 

Building a quality base of retail merchants can prove the major drawing card for visitors both local and out of towners. The new Centralia Downtown Association is focused on attracting new businesses to fill the empty first floor retail space in the historic downtown.  Careful consideration is being given to create a list of businesses that the CDA membership sees as valuable additions to the historic downtown.  The National Historic Trust Main Street Program approach has wonderful resources for ideas on how to create a synergistic business climate downtown with a balance of businesses that create harmony between locals and tourists alike.  The Main Street focus is to create a downtown that is a destination that people will travel to – whether it be 1 mile or 1001 miles.  Downtown Centralia is well on the way to becoming that bright Shinning Shopping Star ½ way between Seattle and Portland!     

One of the aspects of the Wilson Hotel rehabilitation that we have recently been developing through our business plan model in order to secure infrastructure financing, is the element of the project that addresses the future value of Centralia being a “tourist destination.”  We have been collecting data to support that end, primarily in the area of heritage tourism and the draw that historic districts bring to the traveling public at large.     

Through the process of building our data bank of research for our project, we sometimes stumble across interesting information that is related to the greater picture of historic Centralia.  One recent resource we discovered was the Shop America Alliance web site. 

  The Shop America Alliance represents hundreds of the nations premier shopping & dining destinations, which offer tourism programs specifically designed for travelers from both domestic and international ports of origin.  This organization partners to offer a wide variety of entertainment options for travelers of all ages from coast to coast.  

The SAA founded a study called, “Tourism 101: Basic Information for Selling to Tourists.”  We have included several noteworthy discoveries documented in this study in our business Performa for the Wilson Hotel project.  We wanted to take the opportunity to share a few highlights here on the blog since we found this information helpful in understanding the importance of the retail sales community in tourist destinations both historic and modern day.

$703 billion is spent annually in both domestic and international markets on tourism

$1.3 TRILLION in direct, indirect and induced travel expenditures, including international travelers’ spending in the United States alone

  This spending accounts for $105 billion in tax revenue for local, state and federal governments

Direct spending averages $1.8 billion per day in the United States; $75 million per hour; $1.2 million per minute; and $21,000 per second

Shopping & dining are the top two travel activities in the United States

  Cultural and heritage tourism is # 3 !!! *wow*

  Travelers who engage in shopping and cultural or heritage tourism spend more, stay longer and have better travel experiences overall  Who is the demographic of the Cultural & Heritage Tourism Traveler?          

 Baby Boomers born 1946-1964 -         

Trips are longer, allowing for in-depth exploration at a leisurely pace

Trips are often themed or educational

    As grandparents, boomers are now the force behind multi-generational travel experiences         

Boomers spend an average of $2,995 on 4.2 trips each year  

Tourists are defined as visitors traveling over 100 miles and staying overnight.  These visitors are different from your local visitors.  Marketing to both segments is critical.  Development of a strategic marketing plan that addresses these elements is currently under way within the Centralia Downtown Association.  The CDA is following the Main Street Program approach through this process. 

 Interestingly a good number of tourists stay with family or friends and go where they are taken or directed by their hosts.  That is why it is so important to market on a local scale and also to the greater tourist population outside the 100 mile radius.  This concept specifically relates to the relationship between the attitude and perception that the local community has about the downtown historic district in Centralia.  Improving the image of downtown in the eyes of the immediate community is critical to the revitalization of downtown.  In a localized market hosts typically take their guests to the venues that they feel best represent their community. If there are particular places of interest, landmark sites, historic sites of entertainment, or a “best of” location, that is where local hosts will take their guest to “show it off.”  Tourists that stay in hotels are also most interested in visiting “local favorites” or “local hot spots.”    

46% of retailers surveyed in this study indicated that more than half of their retail sales come from tourists.  75% said that 25% or more of their sales come from tourists.  It is clear that a promotion of tourism enhances retails sales in a historic downtown setting. 

 Three questions are useful in increasing the awareness of proper marketing techniques that will reach the identified target audience of tourists.        

 Who is your tourism customer?            

 How can you identify and track tourists?          

 What motivates tourists to shop and spend more? 

 We will look more into those questions in the next blog posting.  The SAA report is pretty extensive and breaking it up into “blog spots” is a great way to share the highlights with you.

One of the most wonderful assets of the community of Centralia, Washington is the existence of Centralia Community College.  Centralia College is the oldest continuously operating community college in the state of Washington. Founded in 1925, the college has a rich heritage of professional, technical, transfer, and basic skills programs serving the community. The college has an enrollment of approximately 10,444 head count with 2,580 FTEs. There are approximately 212 full-time employees. The college is located in the center of the town of Centralia on a tree-lined, 29-acre campus.   

10,444 people are involved with the college in the backyard of the downtown historic district in Centralia.  As the revitalization process of downtown continues the new Centralia Downtown Association is looking for innovative ways to connect with the college community and bring the student and faculty body downtown. 

  Currently there are discussions happening on S. Tower Avenue about creating a “breeze way” type of pathway to lead students from the campus right on to Tower Avenue.  If the pathway were to be created, this would perhaps lead to greater pedestrian foot traffic during the day patronizing the S. Tower businesses and increasing the utilization of the businesses located in the historic district.  

Currently the upper stories of the downtown area are primarily vacant or being used as warehouse/storage space.  One of the revitalization plan objectives adopted by the Centralia City Council in 2004 is to put the second story and above space back into service as living space and additional office space. 

  The need for student housing in downtown is at an all time high. As the continued efforts of building owners to rehabilitate their buildings increases, more housing space will become available.  Students living downtown will bring a new life and vitality to the downtown core.    Ultimately the proximity to downtown for student housing is prime - - living downtown needs to be a “cool” place to live to attract the student body population to move that direction.  As the CDA continues to create new focus on the maximization of the downtown resources, involvement of the Centralia College “community” will become further enhanced through this process.  Creating additional synergy between the two will make for even greater potential opportunities in the future.  

The Centralia Community College web site can be found at http://www.centralia.edu/

Washington Extends Federal Solar Tax Credits in December 2006. In its waning hours, the 109th Congress passed legislation that would extend the 30% solar energy investment tax credit for homeowners and businesses for one additional year, through the end of 2008. The bill contains the following provisions: (1) Residential Solar Tax Credit: Extends a 30-percent tax credit, created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, for the purchase of residential solar water heating, photovoltaic equipment, and fuel cell property. Expires after December 31, 2008; and (2) Business Solar Tax Credit and Fuel Cell Tax Credit; Extends a 30-percent business credit, established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, for the purchase of fuel cell power plants, solar energy property, and fiber-optic property used to illuminate the inside of a structure. After December 31, 2008, the credit reverts to a permanent 10-percent level.

The Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation web site is a phenomenal resource for information about how Historic & Cultural Tourism can directly impact the economic condition of a downtown sector once it is revitalized.  The following excerpt was taken from the DAHP web site – the link to the Executive Summary of this report is listed at the end of the excerpt.

 The cultural and historic resources of a community tell the story of its past and make any single community distinct from other places.  These resources provide tangible connections to the people and events that have shaped our communities and our collective histories.  Preserving the physical reminders of our past creates a sense of place and community pride.  Historic preservation also generates a wide range of economic benefits in Washington State.  Economic benefits include those associated with the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings and heritage tourism, as well as the impacts that historic designation has on neighborhood character and property values.  Other benefits include the role that historic preservation plays in economic development and downtown revitalization. 

The overall impacts documented in these reports, which are often presented in terms of jobs, income, and tax revenues, are conservative, in that they do not portray the full extent of the economic impacts that historic preservation has on the State and local communities.  The focus of our analysis is on three key aspects of historic preservation and does not capture all the economic benefits associated with preservation activities ongoing throughout the state.  In addition, our analysis focuses primarily on dollar-related impacts and jobs, income, and tax revenues.  It does not address other forms of preservation activity—such as the work of volunteers—that are less easy to quantify, but nevertheless, provide economic and other benefits to local communities and the state as a whole.

  In 2006, the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) completed its research to document the economic impact of historic preservation on Washington’s economy. This research effort focuses on three key aspects of economic impacts: rehabilitation of historic buildings, heritage tourism, and the effects of historic district designation on property values. In addition, data is presented on the economic impacts of the Washington State Main Street Program. The products of this effort is three reports: the six page Executive Summary, the 15 page Summary Report, and the 81 page Technical Report.  Of the three, only the Executive Summary is also available in hard copy format, copies of which can be obtained by contacting DAHP.  The Summary and Technical reports are only available in electronic format.

 http://www.dahp.wa.gov/pages/HistoricSites/EconomicDevelopmentStudy.htm

iped ~ The Institute for Professional and Executive Development 2008 Conference Dates Announced 

The iped 2008 calendar of events has recently been published online. 

Upcoming conferences relating to historic preservation and tax credit education are as follows:

 Feb. 7-9, 2008

Historic Tax Credit Developer’s Conference sponsored by Nixon Peabody LLP & the Reznick Group 

Don CeSar Beach Resort, St. Pete Beach, FL  

Sept. 24-26, 2008

National Historic Tax Credit Conference 

The Blackstone Hotel, Chicago, IL 

The full iped calendar and event information can be view at: http://www.ipedinc.net  

NA&RA Resources The National Housing & Rehabilitation Association also holds quarterly educational conferences relating to historic rehabilitation and the process of using historic tax credit benefits for development.

 May 14-15, 2008NH&RA Spring Forum

Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles, California 

More information about the conference details can be found at: http://www.housingonline.com  under the events section of the web site. 

“The Creative Economy is a catalyst for the creation of new jobs in Maine communities. People who create jobs want to live in places that have a diverse cultural mix and an innovative and educated workforce. Maine will be competitive economically if we continue to capitalize on the synergies between entrepreneurship, education, the arts and quality of life.”

-         Governor John Elias Baldacci

 We thought this was a quote worth sharing with regard to the renaissance taking place in historic Hub City Centralia.  Revitalization is a process of developing a “creative economy” - - creating a business district full of distinguished unique retail shops with a mix of traditional mainstream businesses like banks, insurance and law offices, coupled with artisan businesses like glass studios, art galleries and mixed media ~ those are the elements that comprise a “creative economy.”  Growing the business mix in downtown will bring new opportunities that will produce new jobs and impact the quality of the downtown district and overall community.  These advances will bring a greater quality of life for all who visit and call Centralia home.

Official news has been reported that the El Rancho tavern/bar on N. Tower Avenue across from our Wilson Hotel rehabilitation project is now closed.  The building has changed ownership.  Future plans for the building include a family style restaurant.  As more details become available we will pass the news along.  We are excited for the future prospects of the building and are looking forward to the eventual new business being located there.