Taking Money From Visitors to Attract Ourselves?
The news today that Grant Griffin is resigning as the director of the Kitsap Visitors and Convention bureau raises an interesting question, one I’d like to hear your opinions about.
The Visitors and Convention Bureau is established to market Kitsap as a tourist destination. For the most part, aside from membership dues, It uses hotel/motel tax money to promote Kitsap County.
Hotel/motel taxes are paid by people who stay overnight in the county in a commercial accommodation. There would be three main groups of people who pay hotel/motel taxes. Visitors to Kitsap doing business here, including with the Navy; relatives of local residents who are visiting family; or visitors who live outside the area who are here for a while or passing through on their way to other places. Occasionally a Kitsap resident will stay in a Kitsap hotel or B&B for a get away weekend, but I’d have to guess that’s a rare hotel stay, not the typical one.
The reason for Griffin’s departure is a split between him and the board of the VCB over how to focus the promotional campaign that VCB is responsible for. Griffin believes the target should be the 4-5 million people who live in the I-5 corridor and who may be attracted to be spending vacation time closer to home during this time of economic downturn. The board thinks VCB should be promoting Kitsap to Kitsap, trying to convince Kitsap residents to spend their vacation dollars here.
I’ll admit I haven’t studied this issue, and I’d like to hear your opinions. But my question is this. Why would an organization that is trying to generate bodies in hotel beds decide to market an area to residents who already live there? The whole concept of tourism as an economic driver is to bring new money into the community. A focus on attracting Kitsapers to visit Kitsap doesn’t seem to make sense in that context. Money spent by a daily visitor is much less than money spent by an overnight visitor. And money spent by a Kitsap resident on tourism in Kitsap is money recycling in our community, not new money coming in.
If VCB convinces Kitsap residents to stay home to vacation, they sure won’t be renting hotel or motel rooms, and they won’t be paying hotel/motel tax.
I don’t think it makes any sense for our VCB to spend money to sell Kitsap as a national or international tourist destination. But it seems to me that the regional focus on I-5 corridor residents makes a lot more sense than focusing on getting Kitsap residents to stay here on their days off. Any thoughts?
— Jeff
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Tags: tourism
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
July 3rd, 2009 at 9:46 am
What would attract me to make a hotel reservation in Kitsap County (any point of which is less than a 40 minute drive). Not much.
What would attract me to make a hotel reservation in any of several places along the I-5 corridor? Many things… tournament weekends for sports, multi-day conferences, a get-away from the routine, destination shopping opportunities (not often, but it happens), to name a few. In fact, I spend between 10-20 nights a year at hotels in Western Washington, but never in Kitsap County.
So, I tend to agree that attracting folks to Kitsap from the I-5 corridor is a far more lucrative potential than attracting Kitsap folks to spend the night at a local hotel.
For what it is worth, I wish Kitsap County would do more in building first class recreation complexes to attract regular youth and adult sports tournaments. Take the math on a good soccer tournament that could attract 100 teams at various levels… 100 teams x 16 kids (and their families) = 1600 kids. Say 50% are local and 50% are teams from other regional areas. 50 teams x 16 families x $300 spent locally over the weekend per family = $240,000 coming into the local economy over the weekend and then going home. At 8% tax, that is $19,200 going into local tax coffers and $220,800 going into the local economy. Fifty such tournaments a year (at various venues across Kitsap County) would bring in $12,000,000 to the local economy.
My kids participate in three sports. Soccer, basketball, and baseball. $300 in a weekend, for a tournament, is a low-end figure.
Just my thoughts.
Regards,
Kathryn Simpson
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Under the circumstances maybe the Visitors Bureau should disband and Mr. Griffin should start his own for profit, Welcome to Kitsap County.
The hotels and motels would probably pay him well to get visitors to visit and rent a room.
Residents live here and most of us have our own beds.
Soccer and sport complex is a great idea and it should encompass bike and trike racing as well as a venue for a horse jumping competition…and biking/walking paths throughout Kitsap County.
Cyclists would make such a place prime vacation spots and most stay in hotels/motels…not tents.
The “Taking Money From Visitors to Attract Ourselves?” can only come from a organization without purpose…if tax dollars go toward it… they shouldn’t. We won’t get our money’s worth.
Sharon O’Hara
July 4th, 2009 at 6:24 am
I wonder which politicians are responsible for the make-up of this committee. Someone deserves the ‘credit’. These people don’t just annoint themselves and gain power over where tax dollars are spent.
July 4th, 2009 at 7:12 am
The debate about whether or not marketing to the I-5 corridor is the right approach or not aside, there is WAY more to this story than the local media is pursuing.
And while he has done some good things, Griffin has been a lightening rod for controversy for years. His management of the organization along with his arrogant unwillingness to respond to the needs of his members and the directives of his board have been the focus of criticism for years, and have a lot to do with the lack of funding support for the group in recent years.
In my view, it was way past time for a change. With the right leadership, the VCB canl go to the next level in terms of effectiveness and financial support. Had Griffin stayed, things would have gotten progressively worse, not better.
July 4th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
biznews, If memory serves, PO didn’t contribute a dime toward the Visitor’s Bureau last year…and that was their right.
Does PO have a motel or hotel room to offer?
Griffin had the right idea but no back-up from his committee. I hope he starts his own PR firm – hotels and motels in Kitsap need his help. The company he left should not be supported with tax dollars.
Sharon O’Hara
July 5th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Sharon:
Yes, Port Orchard has hotel rooms that collect the hotel motel tax.
Biznews:
I don’t know Grant Griffin and don’t know if in fact he’s a lightning rod for controversy, as you said. It may well have been a good thing if the board asked for his resignation. And maybe that’s what happened, with the story created to give Griffin an out.
But the real question still is this: What sense does it make to market Kitsap tourism in Kitsap to Kitsap residents? Is that the next level of effectiveness? Market Kitsap to Kitsap residents and stop trying to bring tourism dollars in from outside the boundary of the county?
I don’t see the brilliance in that move.
— Jeff Brody
July 5th, 2009 at 11:14 am
We agree once again Kathy! Years ago my husband and I spent every weekend traveling the I-5 to include Oregon for basketball tournaments. I don’t recall one tournament in Kitsap County.
It does take alot of planning for the tournaments and those involved in the sports world should be at the forefront of the planning.
As for us now-we are in a a new direction of the youth sports world that also includes promotional advertising. We have a home-based business who offer team jersey’s at a far reduced cost from that of larger apparel/screenprinting based business.
We can still give back to the community while we approach our “Senior” years and keep the business in Kitsap County and Washington State.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Thanks, Judi.
Biznews, I think I hear you saying that Griffin is right about this issue, but may not be the right person for the job at the VCB. That sounds reasonable. But will whomever is hired at the VCB be directed by the VCB Board to take the direction of marketing to Kitsap vice marketing to those on the I-5 corridor?
Regards,
Kathryn Simpson
July 5th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
“Taking Money From Visitors to Attract Ourselves?”
Thank you, Jeff, for the funniest headline I’ve seen in a long time – I can’t help laughing every time I see it.
Thanks. Sharon O’Hara