Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Preparing for Summer Visitors

Part 1
By Kate McAlister

It is hard to believe Lost in the 50’s is three weeks away. In addition to being a fabulous event, it’s the economic ‘boost’ we look forward to in the shoulder season, and we are thankful.  Thank you Carolyn and crew for all you do and all the visitors you bring to town year after year.

As we prepare for Lost in the 50’s and other visitors this summer I wanted to give you a brief overview of tourism in our area in my April and May articles.

How do visitors decide to vacation in our area? The number one reason for overnight visitation was our recreational opportunities with the lake and camping.  Those of us who live here love it and we talk about it to all our friends, relatives and anyone who will listen and we are so good at painting the picture of what a paradise we live in, people are compelled to visit.  This along with the advertising we do outside of the area to entice visitors helps create economic vitality for those businesses who rely on tourism. Once visitors are here they want to stay, or definitely come back.  When they go home and tell others about us we get even more people wanting to come and see what we are all about.  We have a reputation for being a very friendly and welcoming town. I’ve heard comments from visitors about how nice it is to come to a town where people still have manners. Our biggest selling point, after the natural beauty, is our people.  We are fabulous people.

According to the state commissioned Longwoods study in 2008, we have a snapshot of what the Idaho visitor represents and what they like to do. Demographically speaking visitors to Idaho in general are more likely to come from the Mountain and Pacific regions of the United States. In our area, especially over the last several years, we are seeing a lot of visitors from drought ridden states. Our abundance of water is very compelling.  In a recent poll done by Rand McNally when asked ‘what states would you visit for adventure’?  Idaho was listed as the number two state for adventure right after Utah.  Other statistics from the state study; more visitors are female; 74% are couples; 58% do not have children; 81% have gone to college and 40% are retired.  For our area the statistics are comparable to the overall state. In addition, we also have a larger share of Gen Xer’s and Millennial visitors due to our variety of outdoor activities from the mountains to the lakes. Families love our area as well since we always offer a great family experience.

Some of the other key findings from the state:
       Market share: Overall travel to Idaho grew 3.9%, higher than the national average of 2.9%. The biggest gains were in leisure travel and day trips.
       Party size: While data showed some slippage in Idaho’s average travel party size (2.74 in 2000-2002 to 2.59 in 2003-2005), it still rates slightly higher than both the U.S. (2.43) and competitive western states (2.53) average party size.
       Spending: Travel spending in Idaho is growing faster than in the U.S. and competitive states.
       Motivations: Visiting friends and families, enjoying a getaway weekend, or attending special events.

Our visitors come from everywhere with the highest concentration being from other parts of Idaho, Washington, Texas, California, Oregon and internationally, our friends to the North in Canada. Here at the Visitors Center we have seen a rise in those visitors coming from Texas.

Next month we’ll talk about the spending habits of our visitors, jobs created and the process for the state grant Visit Sandpoint applies for each year to promote tourism in our area. 


See you around town!  Remember your manners, we have visitors coming!