Even a tourism-savvy group like the organizers of Bristol’s Rhythm & Roots Reunion can learn a thing or two about marketing.
On Wednesday, the executive director of the decade-old music festival spoke with officials of the Virginia Tourism Corporation about a new promotion they’re jointly planning for later this year. The conversation occurred during the state agency’s Help Desk – a daylong workshop held at the Bristol train station. More than a dozen state officials were present to talk with dozens of business owners and others linked to the tourism industry, answer questions and offer advice.
“In June, we plan to do a welcome center blitz,” festival Executive Director Leah Ross said. “We talked about it and decided the best time was in June, to try and take advantage of all that traffic from Bonaroo that comes through here.”
The Bonaroo Music and Arts Festival is held each June on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tenn., attracting tens of thousands of fans from all across the nation.
The welcome center, tucked just inside the state line off Interstate 81, attracts an average of 465 people daily, or about 169,000 annually, center manager Jeff Hess said.
“Those are people who come into the welcome center asking for directions, looking for information or just wanting to know what there is to do locally,” Hess said. “It is a significant opportunity to show what we have to offer in Virginia. We have a lot of free opportunities for small businesses to use Virginia welcome centers and other programs at just a minimal cost.”
Ross, whose festival has received state tourism support for marketing and advertising, said the daylong event was exciting because it helps business owners understand what services are available.
At a dozen displays set up inside the train station, visitors could learn about everything from promotions at welcome centers to free listings on the tourism commission’s web site, assistance with advertising campaigns and the work of the state film commission.
“We have always worked well with our locality partners. We would always tell them when you get to Richmond, stop by,” said Wirt Confroy, the agency’s outreach director. “But we realized a few years ago we needed to get on the road and go to them because everybody can’t come to Richmond.”
The state typically hosts about eight outreach events annually, but this was the first time it came to the Twin City.
Confroy said the region already has significant tourism assets, so Wednesday’s effort was primarily geared to assist owners of restaurants, lodging, retail businesses or other businesses access state services.
“This is like speed dating. Someone can come in here, spend five minutes with this person and five minutes with that person and come out with a marketing plan,” Confroy said.
dmcgee@bristolnews.com
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