I think this is an excellent idea, as detailed in this Daily News story I meant to post about last week.
I've been thinking for a while - and debated with others - what it is that brings tourists to our fair city. I know people who come to visit me and other relatives want to come here for the historic buildings.
The city is now taking a proactive stance on the issue with The Greater Newburyport Area Cultural Heritage Assessment Project.
Working in conjunction with Historic New England and the Newburyport Preservation Trust, the project aims to pinpoint the assets the city has and how to better market them to potential visitors by learning more about those visitors and where they are most likely to visit.
Karen Battles, vice president of the Preservation Trust, noted tourists who come to an area to experience the culture, known as "cultural tourists," generally stay longer and spend more money than those who come to the city for one specific event or festival.
In any case, it sounds like a great thing to do. I don't think that many people come here for the beach, since there are better ones elsewhere (from a swimming standpoint). Even my neighbor goes to Crane Beach more often than the one across the island.
I once proposed that bird watchers were a good market to target, but since I wrote that, I've learned that they don't necessarily spend a lot of money locally (although they might stay in a small, moderately-priced in by the traffic circle)!
Speaking of tourists, I still don't know what happened at that NRA meeting where they were discussing full-time charges to park in the waterfront lots.
Anyone?
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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Just what we need, more tourists.....
Yeah, I get that! I was just downtown, and they were swarming all over the place ... if I'd gone down there before I wrote the post, it might have played out differently.
I think the key here is a different kind of tourist, if that is at all possible. If there was actually a real place to stay overnght Newburyport would do better than daytrippers. The simple equation is that those who stay longer spend more.
Mind you, when I lived downtown, I got out of there as often as possible, especially during the crap fairs. Then again, their only purpose, or at least their biggest one was to pay the salaries of the Chamber maids.
I think a hotel that could market birding, architectural/enivornmental type tours, maybe special weekends like the literary festival could do very well.
Hee hee ... Chamber maids.
It's too bad the tourist trolley didn't work out. Would have been ideal for architectural/environmental tours. Funny, though - for the first time since they started up for the season, I did not see even one pedicab out on the streets.
i think the main problem is that there isn't really anything worth spending a couple of nights in Newburyport for (speaking from a tourist perspective). A day trip is really all Newburyport has in her, downtown is too small to spend more than a couple of hours at most exploring, and Newburyport itself too small to spend more than a day sight seeing. Granted, I've spent my whole life hanging out downtown and walking the streets, exploring Newburyport, but i also am not renting a hotel room for $200 a night. I agree with Mary, give us our town back, it would be nice to be able to enjoy the summer in peace.
I totally agree about the not enough to do here (from a tourist perspective), even though what we do have is pretty damn good.
I want to take that driving tour Ralph Ayers does at Yankee Homecoming. There are so many parts of the city I'm totally unfamiliar with.
I agree. I've often wondered what visitors might do who spend more than a day here. I mean, sitting by the boardwalk is great, but you don't have to pay $200 a night to do that. By the same token, I kind of like that I live in a city that people want to visit. (Not to mention that Newburyport has just enough to do to make being a resident exciting.) But, in general, I think people are too hard on tourists.
Again, maybe it's just because I'm not a true, "townie" though I do own a home here.....
;)
You're probably right, Michelle. It was living in Boston that turned me right off tourist types (and since I rarely travel anymore, I haven't myself been a tourist for years).
I was talking with an acquaintance a few weeks ago who said she was surprised I live here because she thinks of Newburyport as a "tourist trap."
*Ouch*
it's become one to a large extent, that's why all the stores downtown cater to tourists rather than the citizens, yankee homecoming has become a chamber of commerce tool for local businesses, rather than for the locals, and its why we have some stupid festival downtown every weekend...
Ben. I hear what your saying. But I know lots of locals who participate in Yankee Homecoming and quite enjoy it. I don't know how exactly, Yankee Homecoming has changed though, since I've only lived here 5 years.
How could Yankee Homecoming be different to cater to locals rather than tourists?
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