Ah, July. And our visitor friends are making a beeline for the beach. Many of them will be headed straight for our shores.
Interstate 8 brings them in by the vanload from a scorching Arizona. The parking lot commonly known as I-15 has a steady stream of RVs, boats and babies heading south from the Inland Empire in search of cool ocean breezes. And the granddaddy of them all, I-5, is a 90 mile traffic jam on Friday afternoons out of LA and Orange County as its passengers all come looking for fun in the sun.
You can see them coming for miles. Yet, our horizon is cloudy.
According to travel guru Peter Yesawich, at least 78 percent of leisure travelers will make at least one trip by automobile this year. That number is essentially flat. Airline travel is still down post Sept. 11, but is coming back, albeit slowly. Americans still prefer vacationing in the USA verses going abroad as terrorism concerns have kept international travel suppressed.
Yesawich makes his living polling the traveling public on a regular basis and reporting his findings. His research indicates leisure travelers are now value oriented, making decisions about destinations at the last minute, wanting to spend quality time together with their family on vacation, and feel life is too complicated which is leading to a 'poverty' of vacation time.
America has surpassed Japan as the most overworked nation, says Yesawich. That means we work more, vacation less, feel greater stress and carry too much household debt. We may very well "shop 'til we drop."
Indeed, the average American household now carries 14 debit, credit and department store cards. The average mortgage payment is 50 percent higher now than it was three years ago, as we have engaged in a continuing round of "serial refinancing." Many Americans won't buy something now unless it's on sale. We have Internet technologies that are dedicated to finding the cheapest price and getting the product to us as quickly as possible?a value proposition that seems at odds with itself. Yet, how many of us use eBay, Amazon.com and a host of related search and buy Web sites regularly?
Just a few weeks ago, Yesawich was the guest speaker at a conference in San Diego during National Tourism Week. His comments, coupled with budget slashing action by the San Diego City Council negatively affecting the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau (CONVIS), should be a wake-up call for all of us in the Carlsbad Chamber who directly, or indirectly, make our profits from travel and tourism.
The perception of San Diego as a preferred vacation destination has slipped from 49 percent in 2003 to just 41percent in 2005. On top of that decline, the San Diego City Council has slashed their own tourism marketing agency's budget by more than 30 percent in the last 24 months?down some $4.1 million. According to the chief executive of San Diego's CONVIS authority, the budget cutbacks came directly out of the advertising and promotion budget. In other words, "out of sight, out of mind."
At the other end of the spectrum, Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority officials say they will spend an estimated $1.3 billion over the next five years on broadcast, print and billboard advertisements promoting their city's vacation experience.
I believe there is an important lesson for those of us in the Carlsbad Chamber as we look south on I-5 towards San Diego and its troubled budget and leadership vacuum.
First, efforts to establish our own visitor marketing agency, branding Carlsbad itself as a tourism destination with a dedicated budget from hotel room taxes, should proceed full speed ahead.
Second, Carlsbad is a family oriented destination now. With our mix of attractions, shops, points of interest and friendly village atmosphere, we are well positioned to satisfy the vacationing family seeking "togethering" experiences. That places us distinctly apart from the Las Vegas experience. We have a good experience to sell; let 's make sure we do so effectively.
Finally, your Chamber will work diligently to promote business-friendly policies and legislation at the local level to encourage and sustain small businesses that cater to our visitor-serving industry and its customers.
Our Carlsbad Convention and Visitors Bureau friends have filled the beaches and attractions this summer. Now it's up to the business community to make sure our customers have an enjoyable experience and return.
As the mercury rises this summer, you can feel confident that while you're working to turn sand dollars into your dollars, your chamber officials are rolling up their sleeves to create and preserve greater opportunities for business in Carlsbad.
Pass the sunscreen and the iced tea please. See you at the beach.
Interstate 8 brings them in by the vanload from a scorching Arizona. The parking lot commonly known as I-15 has a steady stream of RVs, boats and babies heading south from the Inland Empire in search of cool ocean breezes. And the granddaddy of them all, I-5, is a 90 mile traffic jam on Friday afternoons out of LA and Orange County as its passengers all come looking for fun in the sun.
You can see them coming for miles. Yet, our horizon is cloudy.
According to travel guru Peter Yesawich, at least 78 percent of leisure travelers will make at least one trip by automobile this year. That number is essentially flat. Airline travel is still down post Sept. 11, but is coming back, albeit slowly. Americans still prefer vacationing in the USA verses going abroad as terrorism concerns have kept international travel suppressed.
Yesawich makes his living polling the traveling public on a regular basis and reporting his findings. His research indicates leisure travelers are now value oriented, making decisions about destinations at the last minute, wanting to spend quality time together with their family on vacation, and feel life is too complicated which is leading to a 'poverty' of vacation time.
America has surpassed Japan as the most overworked nation, says Yesawich. That means we work more, vacation less, feel greater stress and carry too much household debt. We may very well "shop 'til we drop."
Indeed, the average American household now carries 14 debit, credit and department store cards. The average mortgage payment is 50 percent higher now than it was three years ago, as we have engaged in a continuing round of "serial refinancing." Many Americans won't buy something now unless it's on sale. We have Internet technologies that are dedicated to finding the cheapest price and getting the product to us as quickly as possible?a value proposition that seems at odds with itself. Yet, how many of us use eBay, Amazon.com and a host of related search and buy Web sites regularly?
Just a few weeks ago, Yesawich was the guest speaker at a conference in San Diego during National Tourism Week. His comments, coupled with budget slashing action by the San Diego City Council negatively affecting the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau (CONVIS), should be a wake-up call for all of us in the Carlsbad Chamber who directly, or indirectly, make our profits from travel and tourism.
The perception of San Diego as a preferred vacation destination has slipped from 49 percent in 2003 to just 41percent in 2005. On top of that decline, the San Diego City Council has slashed their own tourism marketing agency's budget by more than 30 percent in the last 24 months?down some $4.1 million. According to the chief executive of San Diego's CONVIS authority, the budget cutbacks came directly out of the advertising and promotion budget. In other words, "out of sight, out of mind."
At the other end of the spectrum, Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority officials say they will spend an estimated $1.3 billion over the next five years on broadcast, print and billboard advertisements promoting their city's vacation experience.
I believe there is an important lesson for those of us in the Carlsbad Chamber as we look south on I-5 towards San Diego and its troubled budget and leadership vacuum.
First, efforts to establish our own visitor marketing agency, branding Carlsbad itself as a tourism destination with a dedicated budget from hotel room taxes, should proceed full speed ahead.
Second, Carlsbad is a family oriented destination now. With our mix of attractions, shops, points of interest and friendly village atmosphere, we are well positioned to satisfy the vacationing family seeking "togethering" experiences. That places us distinctly apart from the Las Vegas experience. We have a good experience to sell; let 's make sure we do so effectively.
Finally, your Chamber will work diligently to promote business-friendly policies and legislation at the local level to encourage and sustain small businesses that cater to our visitor-serving industry and its customers.
Our Carlsbad Convention and Visitors Bureau friends have filled the beaches and attractions this summer. Now it's up to the business community to make sure our customers have an enjoyable experience and return.
As the mercury rises this summer, you can feel confident that while you're working to turn sand dollars into your dollars, your chamber officials are rolling up their sleeves to create and preserve greater opportunities for business in Carlsbad.
Pass the sunscreen and the iced tea please. See you at the beach.