Selling Sandusky

Sunday, 10 July 2005

By TOM JACKSON
tomjackson@sanduskyregister.com


Sandusky -- it's not just for summer anymore.

A North Coast trip never goes south.

You'll never forget the Firelands.

None of those would-be tourism slogans are likely to make the final cut when the Sandusky/Erie County Visitor & Convention Bureau begins its first branding campaign in an attempt to widen awareness of Sandusky's virtues.

But the group's executive director, Joan Van Offeren, says the group will be searching soon for a slogan to help sell the Sandusky area to people picking a vacation spot.

Tourism officials have learned that the area has "a need for more of a branding of our region," she said.

If you refer to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, for example, people know what you're talking about and have a picture of the region in their minds, she said.

The visitor and convention bureau's 21-member board, which represents many of the area's attractions and hotels, will be working in late August on developing a brand, Van Offeren said.

Another Great Lakes vacation spot, Traverse City, Mich., recently completed a branding exercise. The Traverse City Convention and Visitors Bureau this year is introducing a new slogan in its advertising spots and literature: "Traverse City, Take Me There!"

Traverse City, which like Sandusky markets itself as a family destination, is known for its beaches, scenery that includes sand dunes and forests and its National Cherry Festival. Like Erie County, Traverse City has a Great Wolf Lodge waterpark and resort.

The "Take Me There" slogan for Traverse City was originated by Chuck Kent, who owns Creative on Call, an Evanston, Ill., marketing firm.

"Most destinations tend to focus on product -- here are the things that there are to do," Kent said. "Very few focus on the overall benefit -- how does it feel to come?"

The consultant composed a song that uses the slogan, which he obligingly sang over the phone.

"Take me where I can dream," he sang. "Open an endless golden sky."

Kent said he researched the Traverse City job by vacationing there with his family and found that it took him to a different reality -- just like when he vacationed in Tahiti.

"Most people might not associate Traverse City and Tahiti," concedes Kent.

But he defended the comparison.

"I had a wonderful visit to Tahiti years ago," Kent said. "I can close my eyes and the experience still takes me there. I had a wonderful experience in Traverse City."

Traverse City began using the "Take Me There" slogan in February, said Mike Norton, media relations specialist for the local visitors bureau. The bureau began working it into press releases touting the area's charms, using it in promotional materials and logos and featuring it in radio spots airing in southern and southeast Michigan, including Detroit's WJR.

The slogan captures "that sense of yearning," Norton said. "That's the place I want you to take me, right now."

Van Offeren said the Erie County bureau wants tourists to yearn to come here, too, particularly in the off-season months when water parks such as Kalahari, Great Wolf and Castaway Bay offer a good reason to come to Sandusky.

"We've tried a few things with winter," said Van Offeren, mentioning offerings such as Jacuzzi fireplace suites and winery events. "That challenged us prior to water parks."

She said the visitors bureau also is trying to reach out to nearby areas that haven't supplied Sandusky with many tourists. The bureau teamed up with Great Wolf and Cedar Point to run spots this year touting Sandusky in Dayton, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne.

All are land-locked areas within a reasonable driving distance, Van Offeren said.

"Water is enticing," she said.

The visitors bureau is funded by a 1-percent hotel tax, and its budget has grown as the local area adds beds in locations such as Kalahari and Comfort Inn & Suites, Van Offeren said.

The bureau received $711,294 for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, and expects to get $755,000 during the current fiscal year, she said.

During 2003, the last year for which figures are available publicly, tourists spent $1.28 billion in Erie County, up from $911 million in 2001 and $844 million in 2002. Cedar Point alone draws 3.5 million people a year. Erie County tourism generates 25,000 full-time equivalent jobs, said Mort Rovelstad, owner of Rovelstad and Associates, which produces the report for Erie County. The number of people working in tourism actually is larger, because an FTE job can consist of two people working half-time, he said.

Tourism also generates 12,100 jobs indirectly and contributes $95.2 million in state and federal direct tax revenue and $91.7 million in indirect tax revenue, Rovelstad said.

Indirect expenditures are non-tourism spending that can be traced back to tourism, such as when a Cedar Point employee buys groceries, Rovelstad said.

According to that 2003 report, Erie County had 171 hotel, motel and resort properties that offered 5,786 rooms. The average length of stay was 2.7 nights.

Rovelstad said he can't release 2004 figures for Erie County yet but said total expenditures in Ohio were up in 2004.

According to a survey taken by the local visitors bureau, tourists in Erie County spend an average of $934 per visit.

It's difficult to compare Erie County's figures with other locations. Traverse City has not compiled visitor statistics since the 1990s.

Some officials have talked about making Sandusky the "Orlando of the north."

Figures from the Orlando/Orange County Visitors Bureau suggest that Sandusky still has a way to go. Tourists spent $24.9 billion in Metro Orlando in 2003, according to bureau officials.

Van Offeren said museums in the Sandusky area close at 5 p.m., and said families sometimes have to search for something to do at night.

"It's one thing we're kind of missing," she said.

Jayme Criscione, co-owner of the Ghostly Manor haunted house, said her business helps fill that gap.

"You can't just stay in a water park all day," she said. "We're one of the only things to do at night."

The haunted house expanded from three nights a week last summer to five nights a week this summer, Wednesday through Sunday. Next summer, it may be open all week, Criscione said.

The haunted house adds new features every year to encourage repeat business, she said.

"All winter they will be working on it," she said.

Fast facts

North Coast tourism by the numbers:

-- About 7 million people visit the North Coast Vacationland between Port Clinton and Vermilion every year.

-- Tourists spent $1.2 billion in 2003.

-- The top five reasons for visiting the area in 2001 (before indoor waterparks were available) were Cedar Point, Lake Erie Islands, lighthouses, historical attractions and visiting friends and family.

-- The average expenditure per group was $934.83.

-- Erie County is within one day's drive of more than 60 million people.

-- Erie County had 5,786 lodging rooms in 2003, with an average length of stay of 2.7 nights and 49.4 percent coming from out of state.

-- The Ohio travel industry produced more than 529,000 jobs and $9.2 billion in wages in 2004, up from 505,000 jobs and $8.5 billion in wages during 2003.

-- Tourists spent $30.7 billion in Ohio in 2004, up nearly 8 percent from 2003.

-- Source: Sandusky/Erie County Visitors & Convention Bureau

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