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Cheboygan Area Visitors Bureau
Room Assessment Increase Marketing Overview
January 3, 2013
Executive Summary:
The purpose of this document is to make recommendations for a
marketing plan for the Cheboygan
Area Visitors Bureau (CAVB) which would have the potential to
increase visitor traffic to the area in a
significant way.
This plan is written in the context of the CAVB considering an
increase in the room assessment to
accomplish the CAVB goal of increasing tourism to the Cheboygan
area by promoting its recreational
marketing assets to new audiences and in new geographic areas.
Recently, David Lorenz of Travel
Michigan visited with the CAVB and reported virtually no reports
of negative impacts by hoteliers inMichigan due to room assessment
increases. He noted that many communities throughout the state
have lifted the tourism assessment to the fully allowed 5%.
It is understood that the CVB wishes to grow its commitment to
destination marketing to help build
sustainable economic growth and new business for the members of
the CVB and the community as a
whole. Still, the major goal of generating additional funding
for new marketing initiatives is to increase
occupancy rates for CVB members in the lodging business.
Current Marketing Investments
The current marketing budget for the CAVB includes mostly the
following expenditures:
Chamber Annual Contribution for Marketing and Administrative
Services This is a criticalexpense. This investment in the
function, staffing, local events, and other activities of the
Chamber is a very cost-effective means of promoting Cheboygan as
a great place work, live,
play, and stay.
Special Event and Festival Sponsorships From new events such as
the Outdoor Sports Expo tothe Salmon tournament and the Waterways
Ice Festival, the CAVB is instrumental in helping
make Cheboygan a destination for great events.
Boat Shows (and associated Travel) Boating is and always will be
the king of tourism for theCity of Cheboygan and the general area
because of the unique qualities of the Inland Waterway.
The shows are an excellent means of directly communicating with
potential visitors.
Print Advertising From trail maps to magazines, the CAVB
continues to utilize print mediawhich is still vitally important to
a solid marketing mix.
BillboardThere is a single billboard near Exit 313on I-75 though
it needs new graphic art. Promoter Fee The Old 27 Auto Tour brings
exposure and business to our hoteliers.
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Local Good Will Contributions and Sponsorships Its always good
business to support, wherepossible in the budget, local activities
of merit.
There are other miscellaneous expenses which are natural to the
function ofanyorganization such as
postage, some food and beverage, periodic printing, office
supplies, accounting and other professional
fees, etc. The total budget for 2013 as provided to us is
_______ which includes all of the above. This
budget is supported almost solely by the current 2% room
assessment.
We believe very strongly that these expenditures to promote the
Cheboygan area and operate the CAVB
are all important and should not be dilutedas the CAVB looks to
expand its marketing efforts for the
Cheboygan area.
Proposed Marketing Initiatives with Additional Funding
We are certainly blessed with remarkable recreational assets
here. We feature the great Inland
Waterway, the Straits of Mackinac, the intersection of highly
rated North Central State and the
Northeastern State Trails, hundreds of miles of trails for ORVs
and snowmobiles. We have deep forests
and abundant wildlife. We offer four season recreational
opportunities. The list goes on and on.
We also could be one of the best and most affordable day trip
headquarters in the entire northern
Michigan area. Many big name tourism attractions are but a short
drive from Cheboygan.
We believe the time is right for an aggressive effort to tell
our story to the people who love the
recreation, attractions, and lifestyle Cheboygan has to offer
yet know little or nothing about the area.
So how would we accomplish this?
ONE PERCENT INCREASE:
If the room assessment increased from 2% to 3%, we recommend a
commitment to Travel Michigan as
the first and most critical first step in reaching our target
audiences in the long term. We would tie the
Pure Michigan name to our area-wide marketing assets via the
Great Up North brand which was
developed and funded through a grant written by Northern Lakes
Economic Alliance.
This initial commitment is in partnership with the Indian River
Tourist Bureau which has committed a 1%
room assessment increase to this program. That is approximately
_____________.
A 1% commitment from the CAVB, which is approximately ________,
would provide nearly all the funds
required for contracting with Travel Michigan for significant
Pure Michigan radio campaigns in
downstate Michigan and the feeder states of Ohio, Indiana, and
northern Illinois. The minimum required
by Travel Michigan is $25,000. The Great Up North Marketing
Group, made up of area residents who
are working to bring more tourism and economic growth to
Cheboygan County, is pursuing additional
funding for this campaign from associations, organizations,
corporations, and local government entities.
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Travel Michigan contributes matching funds so the budget for
this campaign would be approximately
$50,000. If the commitment was made this spring, the campaign
could begin in the spring through
mid-summer of 2014.Travel Michigans Pure Michigan staff would
direct the development of the
commercials, mostly 30 second spots.
TWO PERCENT INCREASE:
If the room assessment increased from 2% to 4%, the additional
funds beyond the Pure Michigan radio
campaign funding would allow for consideration of the following
media where the separate brand of
Cheboygan, Gateway to the Waterways, and all our local own
recreational assets would be marketed
exclusively.And we could have a major impact in the 2013!
Three (3) Highway Billboards (two new) and the new graphic art
that goes with them. Special Interest Website Banner Advertising
examples would be biking.com, traillink.com
boatingworld.com, greatlakesboating.com, paddling.net,
canoekayak.com,
snowmobileworld.com, as well as various regional hunting,
fishing, hiking, and other special
interest sites. We suggest special discount packages be
developed.
Social Media Advertising with Google AdWords, Facebook, and
other social mediaopportunities, the CAVB can reach pre-qualified
audiences according to special interest. It would
be important for the CAVB to makes posts (including video) to
websites and social media brands
which help connect Cheboygans recreational assets to its target
audiences.
THREE PERCENT INCREASE
If the room assessment increased from 2% to 5%, funding would
allow for consideration in 2013 of:
Additional Pure Michigan Advertising the bigger the buy the
bigger the impact. Cable TV Advertising specific channels might
include National Geographic Channel, Travel
Channel, Weather Channel, Discovery Channel, and other channels
such as The Michigan Out of
Doors Channel. There is local video production talent and
footage ready to go.
Additional Print Media which might include Woods N Water News
Magazine, Great LakesBoating, and others to be identified.
Conclusion
This plan is meant to be a guide and further research will of
course be required. But isnt it time to tell
our story aggressively? Imagine even more revenues being
generated because of the increase in visitor
traffic and room occupancy. Imagine what we could do with
that?
