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Block Island rethinks its Advertising message: focus on “value”
Winter has barely begun, but Block Islanders are already anxiously looking ahead to next summer, hopeful that the popular tourist spot can avoid becoming a casualty of the deepening financial crisis.
Although most businesses reported only modest declines in revenues for 2008, state officials caution that the $6.8 billion Rhode Island nets in tourism related income will likely decline by 2 to 3 percent over the coming year. In an effort to attract customers during tough times, the Block Island Tourism Council is preparing a series of advertisements that it will begin rolling out at the end of January that emphasize the island’s affordability and value as a vacation destination.
“Our message last year was ‘Block Island Beckons,’” said John Cullen, president of the Block Island Tourism Council and the owner of several island stores. “Well, this year, our message is that Block Island still beckons, but it beckons because it’s easy to get here and there’s great value once you arrive.”
In addition to new advertising slogans, the Tourism Council is encouraging local businesses and the ferry company, Interstate Navigation, to think creatively and to team up to offer vacation packages to potential visitors. It is also stressing the need to book group tours and weddings. Tourism Council officials speculate that each wedding brings about $40,000 to island restaurants, hotels, and local vendors, making them a vital infusion of cash during challenging times.
To this end, the Block Island Chamber of Commerce offered a course on packaging with Michael Sabitoni, chair of Johnson and Wales’ Center for Travel and Tourism Studies, where participants discussed putting together themed packages such as romantic getaways or spa days. Twenty island businesses attended.
On March 16, the Rhode Island Tourism Council will offer business owners throughout the state a day-long seminar to help them strategize about ways to attract customers. It will include courses on updating websites and integrating e-commerce.
The Tourism Council is worried about business overall, but its primary concern is the effect that the downturn will have on retailers, according to Jessica Willi, director of the council.
“People still feel like taking a vacation is a right, but they are going to be more likely to cut out additional expenses,” Willi said. “They won’t be eating at the most expensive restaurants or spending as much on gifts. Everybody knows it won’t be business as usual.”
Consequently, the Tourism Council is encouraging retailers to look for cost saving opportunities and to aggressively promote sales. This can be challenging as store owners continue to be burdened with the high overhead costs associated with the island’s sizeable utility fees. There’s only so much they can cut while still bringing in enough cash to keep them in the black.
Officials and business owners both say that the relative strength of the 2008 season is not a good benchmark for the coming year. They note that while the economy was sputtering, the bottom didn’t fall out until Lehman Brothers collapsed on September 15, at which point the summer season was drawing to a close. Even before the crisis hit, most business owners said that they had noticed that the tourism market had softened.
“Everybody was affected,” said Deborah Howarth, co-owner of Finn’s restaurant. “The weather was OK for most of the summer, but whenever the forecast was off, less people came over. It just seemed like people were already more worried about getting the most bang for their buck.”
“You had to be business savvy,” said Kimberly Ward, owner of the Beachead. “It was a slow summer. But some of that had to do with the weather. August was better, but then in September the weather was funny and business suffered.”
Yet state officials and council members emphasize that they believe Block Island is well positioned to weather the downturn. They cite its proximity to major cities such as Boston and New York. Most important, some 50 million people live within 500 miles of the island, according to Mark Brodeur, Rhode Island’s director of tourism.
The council still has not made a decision about what media markets it will focus the bulk of its advertising dollars on, but will continue to advertise in newspapers such as The Providence Journal and The New York Times, as well as on the sides of Rhode Island buses. Most advertisement will marry the standard beach and nature shots with copy that stresses “value.”
It’s a message that’s hardly unique to Block Island. Tourist councils and chambers of commerce throughout New England are embracing the budget theme. Vacation destinations such as Martha’s Vineyard, South County, and Nantucket are also tweaking their advertising message from previous years.
“We’re letting people know that you can do Nantucket and not be a millionaire,” said Tracy Bakalar, executive director of the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce. “We’re letting people know that there is a variety of pricing, specials, and sales here — from restaurant weeks to Christmas strolls.”
While it is committed to helping the island retain and attract business, the Block Island Tourism Council is itself feeling the pinch from the faltering economy. Its operating budget is dependent on hotel taxes, but the island began to feel the effects of the constricting markets in the waning days of summer, resulting in fewer guests and less income for the council. Last summer and fall, the council netted $180,000, a 9 percent drop from 2007. To compensate it is trimming the fat in other areas, putting its $10,000 grant program on ice and reducing the number of conferences that staff members can attend. One area it won’t trim is advertising. The Tourism Council is committing $100,000, roughly the same amount of money it spent last year, to its advertising and promotion budget, believing it to be the best way to attract new visitors and keep regulars coming back.
Rita Draper, owner and president of Block Island Resorts, hopes the Tourism Council continues to advertise aggressively. Planning for the summer season is still a few months off, but Draper, who numbers the 1661 Inn, the Hotel Manisses and the Oar among her properties, is already thinking about new ways to attract customers. Though the Oar saw a slight dip in customers last summer, Draper thinks its relative affordability will keep customers coming back. She’s more worried about the restaurant at the Manisses, a place synonymous with fine dining. She hasn’t made any decisions yet, but she believes that she will need to re-jigger her traditional advertisements and menu to appeal to budget conscious visitors.
Deborah Howarth is also toying with ways to trim costs while keeping Finn’s customers satisfied. She may eliminate shifts during the shoulder season and maintain a tighter grip on payroll. But she’s also trying to think of creative methods for enticing diners. For the first time, she’s going to get involved in packaging opportunities through Interstate Navigation and she’s planning to participate in the coupon program offered through the Block Island Chamber of Commerce.
One thing she won’t do is focus on specials.
“We just find that when our customers come in, they come in for Finn’s food,” said Howarth. “They aren’t here for the specials.”
Like Draper and Howarth, most island business owners are embracing the Tourism Council’s ideas, but a few expressed concern about the time and manpower it would take to develop and oversee programs such as packaging.
“I think everyone is susceptible to talking about packaging, the key is coordination,” said Brad Martins, who co-owns of Eli’s restaurant and the Atlantic Inn with his wife Anne. “Everyone has been great about being open to all avenues and ideas. The question is who is going to take care of it.”
Beyond packaging, business owners such as Draper are optimistic that the Tourism Council will do more to promote business practices. In particular, she hopes that they will host hospitality workshops.
“We get them here, but too often we don’t take care of them when they arrive,” said Draper. “More than ever, it’s important that we give them a really memorable experience, so they keep coming back.”
Ann Law, the owner of the Blue Dory and Avonlea inns, agrees that the tourism council has done some positive outreach, but she feels that more needs to be done. Business at both of the inns that Law runs has remained steady. Still, she’s wary of the days ahead. She’s attended the sessions that the tourism council has offered on packaging and found them helpful, but she doesn’t feel that the message is strong enough.
“We need to do a better job of advertising Block Island as the budget island,” said Law. “Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are further away, more expensive, and what we offer here is even more beautiful.”
Law also thinks that too much emphasis is given to the shoulder season, the spring and fall, and not enough effort is directed at the summer months. She maintains that local hotels and inns should be striving to achieve 100 percent occupancy in the peak season when they can ask top dollar instead of focusing on slower months when they need to offer reduced rates.
“They think the summer will just happen,” said Law. “Well, it won’t. We need to get the message out.”
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