By Allyson Beckman
Intern
Correction: An early version of this story inaccurately attributed a quotation to John Andrews.
Seeking to make more of an impact in local tourism marketing decisions, the members of the Wrightsville Beach Marketing Advisory Committee decided Tuesday to draft a mission statement as part of a broader plan to reexamine the purpose of the panel of local tourism business representatives.
With the committee in full attendance, the meeting generated debate regarding the best use of their time and how together, as local business owners with common interests, they can best determine which actions will ultimately bring the greatest returns to the local coastal community. During the wide-ranging debate, members said they wanted the committee to have more input into how money is spent to market Wrightsville Beach.
“There’s a sense that there’s a lot of box checking of what the TDA sends back to us,” said Ken Dull, a town alderman who serves on the marketing committee, about the local Tourism Development Authority. “There’s a conversation over what is our purpose.”
John Andrews, owner of South Beach Grill in Wrightsville Beach, said that as business owners and active community members, it is important to share with each other what tactics appear to be the most successful.
Members agreed that it would help to address during future meetings what each business owner has found to be the most successful promotion tactics yielding the greatest improvements in tourism traffic and revenue.
Mary Baggett Martin, co-owner of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort in Wrightsville Beach,
emphasized the importance of connections and their impact on the promotion of the area.
“Everyone sitting at this table can do their part by connecting with individuals of organizations and influencing them to look at our area,” Martin said. “It’s all about who you connect with, your connections to individuals on the boards of organizations is invaluable.”
Members said that a more active marketing committee would help broaden the appeal of the committee to potential new candidates, which in turn could help bring in more connections and revenue to the area.
At the town’s board of aldermen meeting held later on Tuesday, Dull told the board about the discussion on the marketing committee and asked that it delay a decision on adding new members.
Before the meeting, two of the four members that were eligible to be reappointed said they were leaving, adding to already one vacancy on the committee. However, during the meeting, several members reaffirmed their commitment, including Andrews, who said he was considering leaving.
Before selecting new members, the committee agreed that it should first work to clarify its mission and see if it will help attract new applicants.
The committee also got updates from the Wilmington and Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). One of the first items discussed on the agenda was the town’s most recent room occupancy tax collections.
Room occupancy tax (ROT) is a tax on the rental of rooms paid by visitors to the county and its districts. According to the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association 60 percent of New Hanover County’s ROT collections are allocated toward funding beach nourishment, while the remaining 40 percent are used to promote tourism and the Wilmington Convention center.
The CVB uses the 40 percent of ROT collections toward promoting the many assets of New Hanover county in an effort to continue attracting tourists.
The board not only discussed Wrightsville Beach and New Hanover County’s most recent ROT numbers, but the effect specific marketing strategies have had on the success of tourism and local businesses.
For Wrightsville Beach, March ROT rose 19 percent, resulting in an additional $11,243 over March of last year.
“We are anxiously awaiting the data for April’s ROT collections,” said Shawn Braden, CVB executive vice president of marketing.
The recent surplus of rain may cause a significant impact in the numbers seen for April and May ROT collections.
Robert Cox, CVB’s Director of Sports Development presented at the town hall meeting a PowerPoint of information regarding their involvement in tradeshows as well as the promotion of the Wrightsville Beach area.
“There are seven different market segments we go after,” said Cox.
Association, sports, military, corporate, government, consumer, and motor coach are the seven primary market segments targeted at tradeshows to attract events, businesses and tourists to the area.
Members of the committee questioned Cox, asking what the end goal is when participating in tradeshows, as well as what kind of material is being used to advertise the area to consumers.
Expressing that CVB’s attendance at tradeshows is helpful in successfully promoting the Wrightsville Beach area, Martin sparked the discussion of how members of the board, restaurant owners, small-business owners, and hotel owners may also play a large role in promoting Wrightsville Beach.
