Monday, Jun. 30, 2008

The Carolinas want you to come visit

With the rise of gas prices and the weak economy prompting vacationers to curb their plans, tourism destinations in the Carolinas have started targeting their own residents or those nearby.

"We're going to try to focus as much as we can closer to home," said Scott Schult, the vice president of marketing for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. "That is important. The research supports that."

With bus tours, e-mail blasts and Internet advertising, tourism groups are trying to spread a message that staying closer to home is more affordable and more fun.

The push comes as evidence mounts that people are scaling back their travel plans.

Travelers will likely drive less this Fourth of July for the first time in the new millennium, according to the national AAA. A survey from AAA Carolinas showed that driving for last month's Memorial Day was expected to fall or remain essentially unchanged for the second straight year. The July Fourth forecast for the Carolinas will be released Monday.

A Myrtle Beach chamber survey in June showed that two-thirds of people would not travel if gas prices went toward $5 a gallon.

Another June survey, of 400 N.C. travelers, found people were less likely to travel out-of-state this year, flying and taking weeklong vacations less frequently.

They cited gas prices as the top reason for cutting back travel.

"They're still going to travel, they're just going to travel shorter, quicker vacations," said Wit Tuttell, spokesman for the N.C. Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development, which conducted the survey.

In response, organizations are retooling their marketing message and making sure they snag their base visitors.

The North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce earlier this month sent a bus around the Carolinas promoting, for the first time, the message that the beach city is "twice the fun, half the distance."

Spending money in the drive markets is "important this year because of the economy, the way everyone's cut back on a lot of spending, and that includes vacations," said Jennifer Prince, spokeswoman for the North Myrtle Beach chamber. "We feel that marketing to the drive market is going to be a better bang for our buck as opposed to marketing out of the area, outside of the Carolinas."

A dip in hotel business prompted the North Myrtle Beach chamber to hastily come up with the idea for the bus tour in May, Prince said. Promoters hit nine cities - including Charlotte and Durham in North Carolina and Rock Hill and Camden - and set up tables at each stop handing out information and registering people to win a free trip to the beach.

The N.C. tourism division started an advertising push within the state to promote local destinations, overhauling their campaign to emphasize value and high quality.

The department increased its radio advertising in nearby drive markets Atlanta and Washington, D.C., and will augment that with Internet advertising aimed at North Carolinians and residents in nearby states.

"Our goal is to strengthen the state's tourism industry by reminding North Carolinians of the fuel-saving vacation alternatives that lie within a short drive of their homes," Lynn Minges, the N.C. division director, said in a statement. "Our research shows that this is a crucial time to reach out and motivate people to travel this summer."

The Carolina destinations are not alone in trying these tactics. A Maryland county tourism organization has launched a campaign called "Trips on a Tankful" aimed at Baltimore and nearby Washington, D.C.

"I wouldn't be surprised if everybody's doing it," Tuttell said.