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!
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