New tourism campaign for Winston-Salem unveiled

Visit Winston-Salem is hoping that a two-pronged approach to destination marketing will serve as a "wake-up call" to all visitors about what the community has to offer.

The tourism bureau unveiled Friday a campaign aimed at attracting the leisure traveler. It plans to release the strategy, which targets business, convention and sports guests, at its June meeting.

The campaign – titled "Winston-Salem, Your Southern Wake-up Call" – is part of a $175,000, 18-month project paid for the Forsyth County Tourism Development Authority, which oversees the bureau.

The campaign features an adjustable set of logos that blends two complementary local assets – such as food and art – in a marketing image. One example was an image from SECCA in a silhouette of a cast-iron skillet. Another shows a photo of Piedmont Craftsmen shoppers, silhouetted against a plate, fork and knife.

The bureau said it will create special logos for large Winston-Salem events, such as the National Black Theatre Festival and RiverRun film festival.

For the leisure campaign, the bureau is using the arts, culture, history and culinary delights to entice travelers to stop and possibly stay overnight or longer.

"Winston-Salem clearly has many attractive venues, attractions and destination-defining festivals that key audiences would love to experience," said Richard Geiger, president of the bureau.

"This is an effort to get Winston-Salem back on the radar screen with many visitors, waking them up that we're open for business. The truth is that some people think only of tobacco when they think of Winston-Salem."

The focus of the campaign will be print and radio advertising, such as in Our State magazine and National Public Radio stations in Charlotte and Raleigh, along with billboards, public-relations efforts in the Southeast and New York, and its website.

There also will be a "wake-up" rewards program and promotional package deals. That leisure campaign kicks off in February and runs through June.

The backbone of the campaign was research done by Randall Travel Marketing with 150 recent visitors. Among the information gleaned from the interviews was:

• 49 percent of visitors are in-state, with the highest number out of state coming from Ohio at 7.7 percent, likely travelers on their way to the beach.

• 86 percent drive here and 14 percent fly to a N.C. airport and drive here.

• 75 percent have been here before, with an average of nearly four visits.

• The most common activity was dining at 84 percent, followed by shopping at 48 percent, and then attending an attraction (museum, historic site, winery) at 36 percent. Just 4 percent came to attend an arts event.

• Most common suggestion/complaint – more signage, please.

Geiger acknowledges a lack of signage, whether interstate billboards or street signs, is a concern. Figuring out who and how to pay for the signage is a big question, he said, along with trying to coordinate the effort with the N.C. Department of Transportation and local initiatives, such as Creative Corridors for Business 40 through downtown.

Judy Randall, president of the travel marketing group, said her campaign was based mostly on what the visitors had to say about amenities and convenience.

"It's a challenge to Visit Winston-Salem to attract the new visitor, just like it is for most communities," Randall said. "Food is the big No. 1 activity, particularly for a city with as much interstate exposure as Winston-Salem has."

Amy Consiglio, a partner with Pursuit of Happiness of Greensboro, a company that designs websites, said the goal is to portray Winston-Salem as a "charming Southern stop with unexpected finds not too far off the beaten path."

Her group did a major overhaul of Visit Winston-Salem's website last fall that provided the opportunity for area attractions, restaurants and venues to entice visitors with targeted deals and discounts.

"The platform is essentially 'curious minds welcome,' " Consiglio said.

Also a challenge, Randall said, is finding a balance between not disrupting the scenic beauty of the interstate roadside entering the city and letting travelers know which attractions are ahead.

Among her suggestions are encouraging local destinations and restaurants to create mobile apps that visitors can click on before they reach the city.

Wit Tuttell, director of tourism marketing for the N.C. Commerce Department, said competition for tourism dollars is heating up, particularly by smaller communities.

"You have to help visitors cut through the clutter and make them want to stop and look," Tuttell said.