05/04/03
By MARIAN ACCARDI
Times Business Writer accardi@htimes.com
The tourism industry has been battered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a disappointing economy and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
The Huntsville area's tourism business has held steady through the turmoil, even increasing last year. Tourism pros here believe that, as the economy picks up, so will the number of visitors to local attractions.
The number of visitors last year in Madison County was more than 2.3 million, up from about 2.2 million in 2001, making the county No. 3 in the number of visitors in the state, after Baldwin and Jefferson counties. The figures were included in a report released last week by the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel and prepared by the Center for Business and Economic Development at Auburn University Montgomery.
Not only were visitor numbers up here, but state lodging tax receipts last year in Madison County reached $2.7 million, up more than 7 percent compared to 2001.
"9/11 certainly affected tourism nationwide; the hotel and airline industry took major hits," said Judy Ryals, the executive director of the Huntsville/ Madison County Convention & Visitor's Bureau. "And the war has affected people's desire to travel. But we've held our own here. There were no serious dips here, compared to major cities." Bureau figures show that in 2000, the number of visitors was close to 2.27 million.
Ryals believes there will be an upswing in the tourism numbers everywhere now. "People are wanting to get away."
Keeping ahead of the others
Why were Huntsville and Alabama able to maintain tourist traffic?
"Part of that is due to the fact that Alabama is more of a drive market" than a fly market, Ryals said. "Huntsville is part of that mix."
"So many people are choosing to drive close to home to visit attractions," said Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel, previously the Huntsville bureau's director of tourism. "We're seeing increased visitation from Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida."
Executives with the Huntsville bureau say it helps their efforts to promote the area when local attractions are constantly looking to add new events and activities.
"Attractions realize that it's so important to have new events to get repeat tourism business," said Faye Wishok, the Huntsville bureau's director of tourism.
To keep tourists coming, "it takes a lot of aggressive marketing, working with other attractions in town to put together packages that give tourists a number of things to do while they're in town, and offering new programs, exhibits and components to your organization," said Jim Powers, executive director of Burritt on the Mountain A Living Museum.
Nearly a year ago, Burritt Barnyard Ð with its 19th century breeds of farm animals Ð was added to the Historic Park. That was the first phase of a 10-year master plan at Burritt that calls for major capital improvements. "Within the next year, we hope to build a visitors' center and expand the parking lot," Powers said. "You have to spend money to make money.
"Last year, about 110,000 people visited Burritt. "We were down a little from pre-9/11"visitor numbers, Powers said, "but it's starting to gradually go back up.
Space & Rocket Center
The No. 1 tourist draw in Huntsville is the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and its U.S. Space Camp and Aviation Challenge.
Over the past nine years, the museum has averaged 390,000 visitors a year, and Space Camp and Aviation Challenge have averaged more than 37,000 visitors a year, including school campers, over the past four years.
"Our philosophy is to keep the museum fresh, to continue to improve it with traveling and permanent exhibits, to keep improving its interactivity," said Holly Larsen Beach, senior vice president of marketing.
Like other attractions, "we saw a drop after Sept. 11, but we recovered," Beach said. "We expect to be able to maintain those numbers, and they should pick up as the economy does.
Just a sample of new features at the center: A permanent exhibit opened last month that features many components used aboard NASA's space shuttle fleet; "Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe," a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution, opens June 14; on March 1, the Spacedome IMAX Theater started showing "Straight Up, Helicopters in Action"; and the first phase has been completed in a three-year project for Space Camp's Mission Center Complex designed to give a realistic space travel experience, with a mockup of the International Space Station.
The center also hosts a Centennial of Flight Celebration June 14-15, and the IMAX version of "Apollo 13"opens at the museum May 24.
The Huntsville/Madison County bureau's staff does face its challenges Ð budget constraints for one. It has an annual budget of about $1.1 million. "Mobile has a budget of three times that size," said Ryals, while "Madison County hosts more visitors than Mobile."
Ryals has long advocated an additional downtown hotel for tourists and convention groups, and hopes developments earlier this year may make that project a reality. City leaders in March issued a request for proposals to build a 250- to 300-room hotel next to the Von Braun Center. The city is offering up to $30 million in incentives for public improvements and parking.
Meeting planners, Ryals said, can choose to pick a city that offers a total package of adequate meeting space and nearby motel. "We've added North and South Halls (at the Von Braun Center), and we still have no more rooms within walking distance of those facilities," she said. "We still only have 280 rooms" in downtown.
To keep tourism numbers stable and improving, "we've changed some of our marketing strategy to focus on regional tourists and to keep our marketing money close to home," said Ryals. On the convention side, the staff focuses on marketing to the fastest-growing convention segments like the religious, sports, government and reunion markets. The bureau is also looking to create itineraries for the lucrative Baby Boomer market and promote those through trade shows and other presentations.
The bureau is also targeting families traveling on leisure trips, so advertising money is concentrated on publications like Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living, with less advertising money going to trade publications.
The staff is focusing on addressing several critical areas pointed out in the Destination City Strategic Plan designed to make Huntsville a two- to three-night stop for visitors. The plan was developed by a committee within The Chairman's Roundtable, a group of chairmen from local attraction boards.
Responding to one of the plan's recommendations, the bureau is trying to form partnerships with other local agencies and is now working with the North Alabama Tourism Association to develop proposed itineraries. "If we work closer together to come up with regional itineraries or topic-specific itineraries (for gardeners or museum enthusiasts or bird watchers), then we can advertise jointly and share those costs," Ryals said.
The bureau will move from its offices in the Von Braun Center to a new Visitor Center at 500 Church Street when it's completed this fall. That facility, which will also be the hub of the city's shuttle bus service, should make the bureau more accessible to the public, Ryals said.
"We want to be a regional visitors' center," said Ryals. "We'll be able to sell not only the city of Huntsville, but North Alabama and the rest of the state."
