What is it about Santa Monica that makes it so unique?
By GENEVA WHITMARSH Daily Press Staff Writer
When a friend suggests a weekend trip to Sin City, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion where you’ll be headed.
Chances are extremely high that you’ll be heading to Las Vegas, a city millions of people have come to associate with gambling, entertainment and excess. But how could you describe Santa Monica without — well — using the words, Santa Monica?
That’s the question officials at the city’s convention and visitor’s bureau are posing to residents, elected officials and visitors in an effort to create what’s referred to in the industry as a “destination brand” for the city. But they’re quick to point out, however, that the idea isn’t simply to create a new logo or tagline.
“People really don’t know where we are or what we’re all about,” said Misti Kerns, president of the Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau. “People in the community like to think this city is well known, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. So the idea is to find out what the key demographic sees as the city’s strengths, and then harness that as a way to attract visitors and build tourism revenue.”
The 18-month project is more than a year in progress. Focus groups have been held in London, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to determine what people consider Santa Monica’s assets to be. On the local level, there have been more than 10 focus groups at locations ranging from the Fairmont Miramar hotel to the beach.
“This will only work if we truly understand what the people see as our strengths,” Kerns said. “We can’t tell people what to believe about their city. They have to feel it. Then, the idea is to promise people who come here that that’s what they’ll get.”
The final phase in the bureau’s plan is a “brand culturalization … in which the community lives and breathes the brand.” The message will be conveyed in printed material, communications, and in all customer relations throughout the city, according to the bureau’s promotional material.
The final cost of the project has yet to be determined, officials said. The bureau is working with a consultant at “deeply discounted rates,” said Kerns, because money from its $1.5 million budget is tight. Although the City Council this year boosted the bureau’s budget by $250,000, Kerns said that money is used to offset both a drop in tourism and sizable funding shortfalls on the state level.
“Governor (Gray) Davis decimated the state of tourism before he left office,” she said, causing the cost of tourism efforts to fall on the local bureaus. Before the financial shortfalls, a portion of state funds was being used to help bureaus draw visitors into their communities.
The recent increase in funding will be directed mainly to pay for the visitor centers. There is currently a center at the mall, a kiosk at Palisades Park and on the Third Street Promenade. The bureau began selling retail items in the past six months in an effort to offset the costs associated with each location.
“Retaining a customer is so much easier than finding a new one,” Kerns said. “If they can’t find visitor’s information in the most basic of forms, they may not return.”
The group also has been working diligently to draw international journalists to the area, Kerns said. Local hotels and restaurants are offering their services to journalists at deeply discounted rates, with the hopes that coverage abroad will increase tourism.
“We have to do this to stay competitive,” said Debbie Lee, director of communications for the bureau. “We’ve very aggressive in our public relations outreach, and there are, in fact, five journalists from the United Kingdom here now.”
The United Kingdom has been the city’s biggest international tourist pool since the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. Before that, Japan was No. 1.
“We really target the international traveler,” Kerns said. “They’re the perfect visitor — they have no vehicle, they stay longer and they walk everywhere when they arrive. Their spending is higher.”
The bureau also maintains a Web site that receives approximately 1.6 million hits per month, publishes travel guides in an array of languages and works with the West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Marina del Rey bureaus to draw travelers to LA’s westside.
The passage of a November ballot measure to tax the local tourism industry could translate into an estimated $500,000 annually for the bureau. At 12 percent, Santa Monica’s hotel bed tax — the tax assessed to hotel visitors on a nightly basis — is expected to generate $18.5 million in revenue for City Hall this year. The measure, which was unanimously placed on the ballot this summer by the City Council would increase the tax rate to 14 percent and increase nightly rates at local hotels by an average of about $4.
“We don’t have that money yet,” Kerns said, but it would be used for direct marketing and public relations.
“I think the City Council recognizes the good work the bureau has done,” Kerns said, noting that the bureau’s 11-member governing board consists of City Manager Susan McCarthy, as well as five people appointed by the City Council and another five by the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce.
“However, we’re still viewed as a nonprofit rather than a good return on investment,” she continued. “Still, (as for being funded), we’ve made huge steps in the last three years that didn’t exist a decade ago. For over a decade, we stayed flat.
“And, no matter how you look at it, tourism means jobs,” Kerns said. “It means better schools and streets.”
The City Council has indicated that it will give the bureau an extra $500,000 annually if the bed tax is passed by voters on Nov. 2. The success of the city’s tourism industry rests squarely on the bureau, officials said.
“The CVB plays a critical role in maintaining the Santa Monica economy,” said Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom. “I’ve found that the CVB board and staff that are very sensitive to the local community. The idea isn't so much to increase tourism as it is to maintain it. This works for everyone — stability and predictability are good for businesses and good for the city.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 20, 2004. Read the original PDF.