Lure new visitors, and keep regulars coming back
In looking for ways to keep our tourism and leisure industries growing, Columbus is studying different points along the age timeline. That’s what has to happen to maintain momentum in a changing world. Given that tourism now has close to a $350 million annual economic impact here, there’s a lot more at stake than just people saying nice things about the place — although that certainly doesn’t hurt.
As detailed in business writer Tony Adams’ Thursday report, the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau has been reassessing the local tourism market to determine what is working best, and how the trend lines are tending for the future.
As noted by CVB President and CEO Peter Bowden, Fort Benning has for decades provided a dependable influx of visitors. The huge Army post is still important, but sequestration has reduced that traffic flow: “We knew we needed to be as proactive as possible for that,” Bowden said. The success and popularity of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center as a destination has been a major asset, but the nature of tourism is and always will be in flux.
Recommendations by consulting firm Gray Research Solutions pointed in directions that are different, but not incompatible. And many begin with our most valuable natural resource — the river.
Millennials, millions of whom are now parents and many of whom live (and travel) in multigenerational families, are an obvious target population, especially for high-energy Columbus attractions like ziplining and whitewater rafting.
But the consultants also recommended the marketing of tourism and entertainment assets they describe as “softer” (an adjective that should be applied to the attractions, not to the visitors we hope to attract).There are plenty of other water-related leisure activities to be found, not to mention the availability of fine and performing arts, good food of every kind, and a diverse roster of historic sites.
These amenities are by no means mutually exclusive; whitewater rafting would likely whet the appetite for a good meal, or be a fine outdoor prelude to an evening performance at the historic Springer or Liberty, or a concert at the RiverCenter.
The Columbus-Phenix City-Fort Benning and Greater Valley area has plenty to offer; that’s not an issue. The challenge, as Bowden put it, is “lifting up our quality of life assets and promoting that to a wider audience.”
The digital town hall
A battle of opinions, said Rashad Robinson, director of an online racial justice organization called Color of Change, is a far cry from “people who show up with guns to terrorize communities.”
How and where online tech companies like Facebook, Google, etc., can and should draw the line between the former and the latter is an issue they faced after Charlottesville. According to a Friday Associated Press story, some are asking why it took so long.
Maybe that’s a fair question, but it’s not one with a simple answer.
A flagrant threat, an incitement to riot, a literal call to arms is an obvious red flag that no rational person would defend as free speech.
But digital companies don’t have to wait for things to get that ominous to act. The account of a neo-Nazi website that mocked the woman killed in Charlottesville — a hideously vile expression that would nonetheless be protected by the First Amendment — was shut down. Private internet companies aren’t arms of the government and can set their own policies.
There are principles involved, and there are business issues involved. As the AP story noted, these companies want maximum exposure for the advertising platforms they provide. But they also provide the valuable public service of a cost-free marketplace of ideas with no geographic boundaries. The problem is that for some users there are no boundaries of decency, or restraint, or legality, or criminality.
A spokesperson for PayPal said there is sometimes a “fine line” between free expression and a genuine threat. And that’s all too true. The thing about fine lines is that it’s easy to see when they’ve been crossed … after the fact.
This story was originally published August 18, 2017 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Lure new visitors, and keep regulars coming back."