Wine Tourism Conference - Tourism and Costs - Part 2

By John Olney, Nov 29, 2011

Mr. Gregory, President & CEO of Napa Valley Destination Council (www.legendarynapavalley.com/nvdc/), e-mailed me (11/28/2011 4:00:27 P.M.) his comments regarding my blog posting of Nov. 27, 2011, (www.jolney.blogspot.com/2011/11/tourism-doesnt-come-without-cost.html ).

Mr. Gregory thoughtfully provided me a copy of the Tourism fact sheet for Napa County which I have included below. He also suggested I might want information about TID’s which can be reviewed at:
www.tourismimprovementdistrict.com

I thank him for this information and I pass it on.

Although Mr. Gregory says that the promotional campaign is “strategically” targeting off-season, off-peak days to improve tourism numbers, it is nevertheless a promotional campaign, and as such it increases the general awareness by the reader/viewer audience of the subject location of that campaign, no matter the day of the week or season of the year. I understand the use of special and reduced rates, etc. as incentives to pull in visitors at select times of the year, but those visitors who become enchanted with that destination will likely return and that could be during the regular season as well as off-season.
　

The community should not lose awareness that a successful promotional campaign not only gives rise to increased visitor numbers but it also excites the businessperson who sees opportunity to sell his/her goods to that visitor total. More hotels, more restaurants, more shops, etc., soon follow.   That translates to impacts on the infrastructure for which maintenance and expansion must be considered.  That is not to say this is bad but rather it should be fully understood what impact tourism - indeed, increased tourism - is likely to bring and plan for it in advance.

I reiterate my comment about not being against tourism. But, it does not come for free.! There are associated costs to a community attempting to attract it.
Fact Sheet

Tourism is Everybody’s Business in Napa County

Tourism in Napa County generates over $1.3 Billion in economic impact annually

The visitor serving industry is the second largest sector of Napa County’s economy.

Every 24 hours, guests of The Napa Valley spend approximately $4 million in local businesses. The

Tourism dollar has a tremendous reach - Tourism spending affects 196 different industries in Napa County.

Tax revenue generated by tourism spending is $125 million annually.

Tourism-generated tax revenue directly supports Napa County and its jurisdictions to provide police, firefighting and numerous social services.

If tax revenue generated by the visitor serving industry was to disappear, the annual tax bill of each resident of Napa County would increase by over $1,000.

The visitor serving industry employs 17,500 people in Napa County.

Over $500 million in Payroll is generated by visitor serving businesses in Napa County.

The potential returns generated by effectively managing and marketing tourism in Napa County are enormous. If the NVDC’s targeted marketing activities were to stimulate the spending by just 1.5%, $20 million in additional direct visitor spending would be the result.

A study conducted by California Travel & Tourism Commission indicates that every $1 invested in targeted destination tourism marketing results in $203 in visitor expenditures and $13 in tax revenue.