City Council received updates on its investments in tourism Monday, hearing presentations from Colonial Williamsburg, the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance and the Arts Commission.
Each entity will ask the city for level funding in 2014. The city’s budget has not yet been released, but the meeting was considered the first budget work session. It presented an opportunity for council members to learn how each investment is contributing to the attractiveness of Williamsburg, both to visitors and residents.
In 2013, the city provided $1.3 million in funding to Colonial Williamsburg and $650,000 for the Alliance. The Arts Commission received $55,000 from the city and $5,000 in state funding.
Colonial Williamsburg
After a promising spring, Colonial Williamsburg’s summertime visitation declined and paid admissions fell 3 percent overall in 2012. On Monday, President Colin Campbell outlined the foundation’s efforts to tackle its challenges. The foundation restructured its advertising, sales, communications and marketing departments in the fall, and recently hired the Martin Agency, a Richmond-based advertising agency known for its work with Geico.
The Martin Agency is helping CW refine its brand image and media placement, said Janet Eason, director of advertising and brand management. CW is focused on showing previous visitors reasons to come back, and they are working to “overcome those barriers of ‘been there, done that.’”
Councilman Doug Pons noted that by failing to meet expectations for visitation, “measures of accountability were not met.”
“A rising tide raises all ships,” he said. “The tide we’re investing in is you, and you have to raise everybody’s ships.”
CW Senior Vice President for External Affairs John Bacon said the organization recognizes the importance of making Williamsburg a successful destination where people will visit for extended stays. “Seventy-five percent of our visitors do not stay in Colonial Williamsburg hotels,” he said. “It’s critically important to us that we attract to the entire destination.”
Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Alliance
The Alliance provided hard numbers showing how the area has benefited from its work promoting Williamsburg as a destination for the Christmas holiday season, the arts and sports events.
Since 2008, the Historic Triangle has seen a total growth in tax collections of $2.2 million tied to Christmas tourism. The city has received $723,000 in tax revenue from Christmas tourism since 2008 and $485,420 in taxes from arts-related tourism since 2009. Since launching the Sports Williamsburg Committee in 2010, the Alliance has translated 253 leads into 31 actual events, resulting in 41,788 room nights.
Alliance Senior Vice President of Tourism Bob Harris said marketing the area for sports tournaments and events has been successful, but many leads end up in different locales because the Williamsburg area doesn’t have enough indoor venues.
Vice Mayor Paul Freiling said he hopes those problems are communicated with the Planning Department, adding that if those issues aren’t brought up when the city is drafting its Comprehensive Plan, the city and greater Historic Triangle cannot consider how to make the area more appealing to sports business.
Williamsburg Area Arts Commission
Williamsburg has the most potential for growth in arts-related visitation, Schreiber said. Two years ago, the city decided to designate September as “Arts Month,” capping the celebration with the Occasion for the Arts. Terry Buntrock, outgoing president of the Arts Commission, has coordinated Arts Month events, which last year included more than 100 attractions.
Since 2009, the Alliance has seen an increase of $33 million in additional spending related to arts activities in the area. Schreiber said he believed the city could become known for its arts, but it will take 10-15 years.
The Williamsburg Area Arts Commission, jointly funded by the city and James City County, awards grants to cultural events, institutions and organizations. Some 2013 grantees included This Century Art Gallery, the Virginia Regional Ballet and An Occasion for the Arts.
In the past few years, the commission has focused inward, and refined its processes for awarding grants. In 2012, the Commission decided to institute a mandatory grant application seminar, introducing applicants not only to each other, but to volunteers from SCORE with nonprofit management experience. As a result, some applicants opted not to apply for grant funding, but others who might have been intimidated by the process decided to apply.
“The help that you have brought by bringing SCORE in, I really applaud that,” Mayor Clyde Haulman said. “The arts contribute to the quality of life and the quality of the experience in Williamsburg, and we would someday like to see it increase.”
