Tourism's direct route.

TOURISM'S DIRECT ROUTE

Using direct response advertising to increase travel revenues is becoming popular and proving quite successful.

LOAD up the family station wagon, pack up the kids and get going, it's vacation time. The question for families across America remains: Where

With the numerous possibilities facing American travelers who only have a week or two slotted for vacation annually, does direct mail and glitzy brochures make a difference? Most state and city tourism directors seem to think so and are spending millions of dollars hoping to prove it.

Toll-free numbers are ringing off the hook and coupons are frequently being returned as some economies are reaping the benefits from direct response advertising. Millions of out-of-state residents are opening their pocketbooks and spending billions of dollars in the local economies of such places as Scottsdale, Arizona, Greenville, South Carolina, Fort Worth, Texas, New York and Virginia.

Another method of building tourism is the catchy slogan which allows tourists to readily identify with a specific area. Every area has one, with some being more famous than others. "I Love New York" and "Virginia is for Lovers," but did you know about the cowboys and culture of Fort Worth or the smiling faces and beautiful places of South Carolina?

On The Road Again

For those who think Americans aren't traveling as much as they used to: forget it! The U.S. Travel Data Center figures for domestic travel reveal that more Americans traveled in 1989 than ever before, taking nearly 1.26 billion person trips, a 2 percent increase over 1988. (A person trip consists of one person traveling 100 miles or more away from home).

Vacation and weekend travel jumped considerably in 1989, with vacations up 6 percent and weekend trips up 4 percent. Vehicle travel was the preference of 78 percent of travelers, with 19 percent going by air. More than 55 percent of all vacations lasted three nights or less in 1989.

The areas most popular with weekend travelers consisted of Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Summer and fall continue to be the most popular seasons for travel.

South Carolina: "Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places"

One of the biggest users of direct mail to build tourism is South Carolina, where the Myrtle Beach coastal areas draw thousands of golfers and sun worshippers each year. Operating with a small budget of $2.8 million, South Carolina's Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism teamed up with Leslie Advertising Agency of Greensville, South Carolina, to create the "7 Day Decompression," a campaign of seasonal free-standing inserts (FSIs) which included a coupon to receive an 80-page visitor's guide.

The FSIs are only a part of the overall South Carolina tourism campaign, which also includes television ads and print ads for consumer magazines and trade publications that also feature an address to write to for the visitor's guide.

So far the campaign has been pulling a 2.2 percent response. The most recent insert, which was distributed at the end of February, has generated 53,143 consumer inquiries by prospective vacationers.

Of the eight inserts that have been distributed so far, an average of 40,000 response cards have been returned per insert, with more than 300,000 total inquiries. A large press run and controlled use of zone drops -- pinpointing circulation of select neighborhood zones -- have kept the per unit production and media costs down to about half the cost of a postage stamp.

The fall 1990 inserts, which as of press time had not yet mailed, will be targeted to more than 3 million potential South Carolina visitors in 11 cities in the eastern half of the United States. South Carolina tourism officials have documented a $45 direct return for every $1 spent in the advertising campaign within the past year.

Leslie Advertising did some market research before the campaign was launched. In the fall of 1989, a PRIZM geo-demographic analysis was conducted to pinpoint potential South Carolina visitors. Using the results, newspapers were selected for the FSIs to most accurately isolate neighborhood areas of each market that most closely matched a high potential profile for visitors to the state.

Each market's response cards have been coded and tracked separately to ensure the detailed measurement and analysis of the overall program. Travel and tourism is the second largest industry in South Carolina (behind textiles). The industry is also rapidly growing, bringing $4.85 billion in to the state in 1989, compared to $2.1 billion 10 years ago, a 132 percent growth.

Scottsdale, "For The Sunshine Of Your Life"

Scottsdale, Arizona, long a vacation mecca for winter travelers from the North and conventioneers who want to show clients and prospects a good time in the Arizona desert, is making a concerted effort to use direct mail.

Currently the Southwest city has a strong suited cooperative advertising campaign with many of the region's hotels and resorts. An Emmy-winning video highlighting the scenery and splendor of the area features two minutes of blank space in the middle that can be purchased by a regional hotel for its own use. A 60-second radio commercial currently on air in Los Angeles features 50 seconds from the tourism bureau and another 10 seconds from a resort or hotel that wants to buy one-sixth of the airtime to tag their own promotion.

"We have found our area hotel owners to be quite receptive to our cooperative efforts. Scottsdale tourism is the number one business in the region," explained Rachel Sacco, tourism director.

In fact, 25 percent of Scottsdale/Paradise Valley's work force is directly related to the tourism industry. There are more than 8,000 hotel rooms in the region that are involved in the cooperative advertising effort. Scottsdale also boasts an average of 3 million-4 million visitors per year who bring $1 billion into the community.

"We are going full steam ahead with a direct marketing plan that will feature a board made up of community members. We plan to do more mailings in the future," said Sacco.

Currently there is an 800 number that Scottsdale tourism utilizes during regular business hours. "We have been getting such a strong response for information that we plan to try and make it 24 hours a day in the near future," added Sacco.

"I Love New York"

One of the better known tourism campaigns in this country is New York state's I Love New York slogan. The campaign, which has a long and successful history, has proven very enduring. In 1989, 76 million people visited New York and brought $20 billion into the state's economy.

Currently the tourism industry is the second largest in the state and should become number one within the next eight to 10 years, explains Bern Rotman, director of communications for the I Love New York campaign.

Rotman noted that 60 percent to 65 percent of the state's tourism business occurs in the summer months, 20 percent in the fall and the remainder in the winter and spring. Rotman has been feeling the crunch of a 1990 tourism expenditure budget cut of 40 percent. However, the state still had a $3.5 million advertising budget for its 1990 summer/fall campaign.

A brochure/coupon mailing that rode along in 17 million Carol Wright packages in the United States and Carol Martin packages in Canada brought back 190,000 responses for a brochure about state activities. The mailing drew a 1.2 percent response rate.

New York also has two 800 numbers (800-CALL-NYS) and a 900 number, where interested parties can call to request more information about upcoming activities in the state. The names and addresses of respondents are gathered and placed in a database for future targeting. The 900 number offers the same services as the state's 800 numbers, but by calling, a $4.50 charge is incurred. For that fee, however, all requested materials are sent to the caller via overnight mail.

During the past year, New York's Tourism Board has advertised through direct mail, magazines, newspapers, television and FSIs in Sunday newspapers. Currently, Rotman said, the state is running a test where it is mailing a questionnaire to 25,000 past respondents, taken from its database, to see if they plan on seeking new information about state activities this year.

Destination Miami

Miami, Florida, is a tropical place where the palm trees bend in the wind and the clear water and soft sand have lured Northeasterners for many years. The local convention and visitors bureau has been hard at work keeping people from avoiding Miami because of its recent bad and often inaccurate reputation for crime as sometimes portrayed by the media.

What is true is that Miami has rebounded from its tourist slump in the early 1980s and had 7,717,000 visitors in 1989 who brought $5.7 billion into the local economy. Estimates for 1990 place 8 million visitors and $6 billion in income as updated figures.

Of Miami's tourist population, 5.1 million came from the United States in 1989 and 2.6 million were foreigners, explained Bill Anderson, head of the city's visitor service center.

The tourism division does have an 800 number but it has not been receiving a strong response because "very few people know about it. We have done very little advertising in the past two and a half years," explained Anderson.

He added they use an MCI number and up until now it has been difficult to track where the calls have been coming from. "The number has been increasing in use on a month by month basis. And we have just recently hired an advertising agency to promote use of the number," Anderson said.

Miami's tourism center does all of its own fulfillment when potential visitors request brochures or other information. "We put the information we get from respondents into the computer and we are continually building up our database. We then do bulk mailings to consumers, travel agents and students," said Anderson. More than 35,000 pieces are mailed out each season, usually on a month by month basis.

Of Miami's American visitors, 38.5 percent come from the Northeast, 26.6 percent from the Southern region of the country, 16.5 percent from the Northcentral region and 10.8 percent from the West.

"Virginia Is For Lovers"

Television advertisements, an 800 number, coupons in magazines and newspapers, and regular print advertisements are used by the Virginia Tourism Board to let people know about events in the state and encourage tourists to travel there.

Virginia has many famous tourist gathering spots to draw from, including Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, the Jamestown Settlement, Fredericksburg and Virginia Beach.

According to David Sheatsley, director of advertising and research for the tourism bureau, the state's direct response efforts have been creating an exciting number of inquiries. When callers respond to an 800 number or print ad for information about the state, they are sent a four-color 1990 travel guide.

From January to July of 1990, 286,072 responses have come to the tourism office through the 800 number and the print campaign. Of the responses, 177,076 have come via telephone, 39,177 through a newspaper coupon insert and the remaining 69,819 through the regular newspaper and magazine advertisements that give a tourism office address and/or publicize the state's toll-free number.

According to the U.S. Travel Data Center, there were 31.4 million person trips by tourists who spent more than $7 billion in the state in 1988, which was the last time figures were available. "Tourism has always been important to our state economy and our direct response methods have been very cost-effective," said Sheatsley.

Virginia Beach, a popular spot with the college set, received more than 2.5 million tourists in 1989, most coming from the Northeast. There are 10,000 rooms in the area, and travel agents accounted for 4.3 percent of the bookings. Tourism is the number one industry in the area, surpassing agriculture, real estate and nearby Norfolk's military academy.

Fort Worth -- "Cowboys And Culture"

With Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso being the most widely known tourist locales deep in the heart of Texas, Fort Worth decided to embark on a new campaign to show off the diversity of the area. The Cowboys and Culture campaign was created by Paul Lazzaro & Associates, a Fort Worth-based advertising agency, to promote tourism to one of the state's unknown areas.

Consisting of a visitor's guide, maps, tourism information, posters and an 800 number, the new campaign was launched earlier this year. "While we have done things for the city before, this campaign is by far the most elaborate," explained Paul Lazzaro.

Through the tourism mailings, names are being gathered and a database is growing. "We mailed a fulfillment piece that generated 100,000 names," said Lazzaro. The main brochure offers visitors lodging and shopping information and two self-guided tours of the city. "Our goal was to highlight Fort Worth's Cowboys and Culture diversity and strengthen its position as a distinctive tour and travel destination," said Lazzaro.

Pennsylvania -- "America Starts Here"

The Pennsylvania Department of Commerce unveiled a $1.3 million summer advertising campaign featuring a guidebook to the state and a seasonal vacation and travel planner last spring. By calling 1-800-VISIT-PA, or sending in a coupon enclosed in the advertisements, prospective tourists can receive the planner. Some of Pennsylvania's most popular tourist spots are highlighted in the campaign, including the Liberty Bell, Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Amish Country and the Pocono Mountains.

While definitive numbers have yet to be tallied, "we have had a strong response from the new campaign," explained Mary Ellen Keating, spokesperson for the commerce department. "Our efforts during the past two years have had a great impact on tourism and we have steadily been building and targeting a database."

The guide is also used as a cooperative mailing piece with 54 individual coupons enclosed from each of the state's tourism promotion agencies, so guests can receive additional information on their particular areas of interest.

Pennsylvania is spending $760,000 on its television campaign, $425,000 on print advertising in 43 newspapers throughout the Northeast and $90,000 for radio advertising. All the advertisements throughout the different media carry with them the 800 number and/or the coupon.

Giving A Tourist Direction

Almost all major metropolitan areas and familiar tourist locations across the country realize the importance of advertising their attractiveness as a vacation spot and many are turning to direct response advertising as a way to bring out-of-staters into their areas and build databases.

While direct response is not a new concept, being able to send a sunny brochure full of bikinis, golf courses, white sand and palm trees to a cold family in the Northeast during winter has proven to be a successful way to get them to drive or fly south.

Vacations are an important aspect of almost every American's life and exactly where that person goes many times depends on the timing of a brochure or advertisement or its effectiveness. The competition for the American tourist will always be fierce; however, direct response advertising looks like the best way to win the race.

PHOTO : Scottsdale's desert splendor is a strong selling point.

PHOTO : These chimpanzees are featured in Miami's latest tourism catalog.