Reno. Not Vegas

Every year, on the second full weekend of September, I take a road trip to Reno with a group of guys for the sole purpose of watching football games and everything that goes along with it. This includes, but is not limited to, eating, drinking and gambling. It’s a “guy’s trip” and we don’t try to make it anything else.

We’ve all seen movies like The Hangover and Very Bad Things, where a group of guys go to Vegas and behave very poorly and get in a lot of trouble. This trip is not quite that bad. We’ve never killed a hooker, kidnapped a high-roller, or stolen a tiger. And, so far, we’ve never lost one of our buddies. But these trips are unlike any trips we take with our wives. We can eat as many buffet meals that we want, we don’t have to go see Cher or some Cirque show, and we can stay at the blackjack table as late as we want. We smoke, we drink, we cuss. Who’s gonna complain?

It’s Reno, not Vegas. Big difference.

Las Vegas is, for the most part, glitzy and somewhat glamorous - especially on the strip. There are a few things that can make the average person a little giddy in Las Vegas: either flying or driving at night, when you first see the lights upon entering the area; driving down the strip for the very first time; walking by high-roller area in a casino and seeing the men and women act and dress just as you’ve seen in movies and on TV; the fountains at the Bellagio; and the feeling of being able to walk outside with a cocktail still in hand. It is truly unique. It’s a one-of-a-kind feeling. Even if it’s not your thing, it should be experienced at least once in your lifetime.

Reno is much smaller and, well, filthy. There are very few tall buildings and what is glamorous or glitzy in Reno is considered run-down and out-dated by Las Vegas standards. Poor Reno, the place would be so different if not for its prettier and smarter big sister Vegas.

Walking from Casino to Casino in Las Vegas always feels moderately safe. It’s well lit and there are plenty of security personnel and cops around.

Reno is poorly lit and police presence is not felt on a constant basis.

So why do we go back year after year? Because we love it. It is what it is. We’re not looking for the Las Vegas experience. We’re looking for the Reno experience. It’s totally different.

Just because both places have casinos and hotels doesn’t mean they should compare to one another. It would be like comparing Maui with Vale, Colorado. Both places have hotels and spas, both have access to outdoor activities, and both have good restaurants. But they are not the same and no one expects them to be the same.

The Reno experience is alive and well every time we visit one of our favorite casinos. We expect a certain thing and are never disappointed:

When you walk into Club Cal Neva, you get the feeling that everything is either broken, or needs a good cleaning. But, the staff is pretty friendly and there are quirky things that make the place endearing. For example, their Sports Book is considered one of the best in the entire State of Nevada but there are no electronic reader boards showing you the scores. They actually have a guy up on a catwalk changing the scores by hand. It reminds me of something you would see in a movie about a 1930’s minor league baseball game with a kid up on a platform changing the numbers on the scoreboard as the game progresses. The difference is the guy at Cal Neva looks to be about 80-years-old. The Club opened on April 2, 1962 and I’m pretty sure nothing has been changed, cleaned or upgraded since then - including the guy in charge of the Sports Book scoreboard.

Another one of those quirky/endearing features is the snack bar located at the Sports Book. The food is perfect for a day of watching sports with your friends. While we were there, they were running a special which included a beer and a turkey drumstick for $5. Bargain!

Like I said, it is what it is.

Unfortunately, Reno seems to be trying to be something they’re not. And something they’ll never be.

Remember back in the early 1990’s when Las Vegas tried to market itself as a family friendly destination? Didn’t work. What did work was when they came to grips with the fact that they were an adult playground and should embrace it. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Perfect.

Reno needs to decide what it is and do it right. And embrace it. And brag about it. And never look back.

The Tourism Infrastructure: Restaurants and Bars

From an Economic Developer’s point of view, Restaurants and bars are, without a doubt, the single most important attraction for tourism. Some may argue that hotels are more important, but I disagree. I mean, I agree that they’re important, but not as an attraction. Lodging is an amenity, not an attraction.

Let’s face it, if people are going to travel somewhere, they will eventually need to eat. So, a good variety of establishments is the cornerstone of any tourism program. It serves both as a necessity for nourishment and as a shining example of cultural identity and sense of place.

The pursuit of food by humans includes such a huge variety of physical, mental, emotional, social, historic, economic, cultural, and even spiritual aspects that there is no way to list them all. There are tourists who are interested in all aspects of the food itself, including locating and purchasing ingredients, preparation, preservation, presentation, consumption and clean-up.

Food serves as an attraction, setting, and centerpiece for tourists. Think about regional food and how it becomes associated – and, in many cases, synonymous – with the area where it is popular. When you hear about Cajun shrimp, gumbo and jambalaya, chances are great that you automatically think about Louisiana. When you hear about Fajitas and salsa, you probably picture the southwest. When someone mentions grits, you think about the south. Lobster Rolls? Maine. When people travel, they want the whole experience of the visited culture. The sights, the sounds and the tastes.

The preparation, consumption, and even the viewing of a foreign dish can provide a sense of place for the tourist. Food has the ability of telling the story of people and region, including history, religion, artistic traditions, customs and socio-economic conditions. It serves as a vehicle in which the visitor can experience and understand another culture on a very personal level.

If consuming food is a way for many people to experience the local culture, then consuming a beer or a cocktail with the local people is another.

Local bars and pubs provide great insight into the living culture in the area. Normally, when visiting another place, the tourism isn’t afforded the opportunity to hang out with the local doctors, lawyers, plumbers, auto mechanics, lumberjacks, fishermen, or other citizens during their day at work. Likewise, the tourist isn’t normally invited to the homes of these local citizens either. But, a local bar or tavern serves as the great equalizer. Locals and tourists are generally welcome to come in, hang out, throw darts, shoot pool, watch a game on TV and unwind.

Do not underestimate this power. Business and leisure travelers seek this experience out. It is important.

Our Continued Journey into the Heart of California’s Central Coast

Pismo Beach, Classic California

From Paso Robles, we headed south, passing towns with names like Templeton, Atascadero, Santa Margarita, and San Luis Obispo. Three o’clock in the afternoon and we finally got our first view of the Pacific Ocean with traffic was backed up for about a mile as we tried to exit highway 101 into Pismo Beach. It was Friday and the weekend tourists were already swarming into the area for a long weekend. License plate frames with dealership names like Nissan of Clovis, Fresno Chrysler Jeep, Selma Auto Mall, Bakersfield Auto Plaza, and Madera Ford made it pretty clear that the citizens of the San Joaquin Valley were escaping the 107 degree heat for the cool coastal breeze of the central coast.

When land-locked Americans imagine a beach city, this is what they think of. Pismo Beach. The name just sound cool. So Pacific Coast. So California. It’s the kind of place where you can always spot a couple of guys walking down the street with surfboards, pretty girls in bikinis, and people of all ages cruising around in convertibles and on bikes.

The City of Pismo Beach has been around since 1891 but was not incorporated until 1946. It’s located mid-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco and has a population of less than 10,000 people. It’s a recreation and tourism-oriented town with restaurants, hotels and motels on every corner.

It’s kind of nice when you have businesses that depend on your business. They tend to appreciate you and treat you really good. They understand the value of you, as a customer.

There is plenty to do in Pismo so visitors don’t have to look far to find an activity that suits them. Besides relaxing on the beach and playing in the ocean, there’s golfing, bicycling, a Monarch Butterfly Grove to explore, tennis, horseback riding, scuba diving, bowling, hiking, miles and miles of miles of rugged dunes that are perfect for four-wheeling or ATV riding, horseback riding, surfing, body boarding, exploring tide pools, coves, and caves. First timers to the area must check out the 1200-foot Pismo Pier for sightseeing, fishing or just taking a stroll and watching the sunset as it was meant to be seen.

Pismo Beach also hosts a variety of special events throughout the year including a 4th of July Fireworks Show, Car Show, the Jubilee-by-the-Sea Dixieland Jazz Festival, and the Pismo Beach Clam Festival…Yep, I said “clam.” Pismo is the "Clam Capital" of California and they hold a "Clam Festival" every October, complete with clam chowder competitions and a clam-themed parade. At the southern end of Price Street upon first entering Pismo Beach, a gigantic concrete clam statue greets visitors. Ironically, however, clamming is restricted, due to over-harvesting by people and sea otters.

On Friday evening, we ate at Zorro's Cafe & Cantina, a great little Mexican restaurant in Shell Beach. The place is fantastic. Jaci and I both had Shrimp and Crab Enchiladas served with their special white cream sauce. Delicious! But, I can’t praise the place based only on the food. The “sense of place” associated with Zorro’s is strong. First, the restaurant has two choices for seating. Inside, or on the patio. We chose the patio. It’s situated right next to the sidewalk on Shell Beach Drive, the main street that runs through the community. It’s attractive to people driving by and fun for the diners. The restaurant owners have a cool little gimmick: as the sun starts going down, and the temperature starts to drop, they offer Mexican blankets to their guests. Neat touch.

On Saturday, we had lunch at Steamers. Always good. We both had Clam Chowder and split a Crab Melt sandwich. I am not kidding when I say it was one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in my life!

Here’s the deal with Steamers. Overall, it’s a good restaurant with a good staff, good service, good bar, good menu selections, good prices and a great view. It sits atop of a cliff and overlooks the beach and ocean. Other than that, there’s really nothing special about it. While there are certain restaurants that serve as the catalyst for particular trips, this is not one of them. However, we usually have lunch there if we happen to be in the area for a few days and have nothing else planned. It’s not that there’s anything bad about it, it just doesn’t have anything super special about it either. Maybe it’s the atmosphere. It has all the ambiance of a national parks cafeteria… With all that said, that Crab Melt may drive me back sooner than later!

For dinner that same day, we went to the Cracked Crab. This place is a hole in the wall located in Downtown Pismo, but it’s got HUGE character. Their gimmick is that they serve you shell fish in a bucket and give you a mallet. You dump the fish out on the table (which is protected with clean butcher paper) and use your mallet to crack open your crab. It’s messy, fun and delicious!

After dinner, we strolled around and hit a couple of local bars. The whole town was busy! People everywhere enjoying everything Pismo has to offer. We ran into so many people from the Central Valley that we started wondering if the locals even bothered going out on the weekend.

By Sunday afternoon, it was time to say goodbye to the paradise of the central coast and head home. And, while trip seemed too short, we took some solace in knowing that all of this is less than three hours from our house.

For more information on Pismo Beach, visit: www.classiccalifornia.com/history.htm

A Visitor's Experience on the Central Coast, Part II

Out of the frying pan, into the fire

We left our last Paso Robles winery feeling no pain. A little bit like our bodies were packed in cotton. We desperately needed to find a close place to chill out for a while. We needed some food and to get our heads straight before continuing the 40-mile drive to Pismo.

Almost immediately after entering southbound 101 from Paso Robles, we spotted Firestone Walker Brewing Company’s restaurant and taproom. It was on the east side of the Freeway and was easy to access.

My wife really wanted to stop there. A few years ago, she had been to Firestone Winery’s tasting room in Los Olivos, CA and was excited to report that none other than Andrew Firestone had greeted her. (For those of you who don’t follow reality TV, Andrew Firestone was The Bachelor’s eligible bachelor/star during the third season of the popular program). I think she secretly hoped for the possibility of running into him again. Hey, he’s a handsome and charming guy.

So we walk in to find a pretty ordinary restaurant. Except, just beyond the dining area is the actual brewing facility for their beers. It’s pretty impressive!

Something about the place reminded me of trips I’ve taken to Mexico. I always like to forgo the touristy-type places like Cabo Wabo, Papas and Beer and Senior Frog's. They’re fun but really don’t represent Mexico. I prefer to find the local neighborhood bars. It never fails, whenever I’m in a south-of-the-boarder coastal town, I’ll find a little tavern (usually called something unique, like “Bar”), and I’ll walk in and find interesting people. If it happens to be early in the day, I’m sure to find a handful of out-of-work locals, expatriates, and a few seasoned tourists. Later in the day, I tend to find a handful of blue-collar locals, expatriates and a few drunken tourists. Usually, the people are friendly and the beer is cold and cheep. The decor, the smell and the stories are always the same too. It’s an experience that I never tire of and always enjoy. I like to think of it as cultural tourism at its finest. Living the way the locals live - or at least, drinking the way the locals drink.

For some odd reason, Firestone Walker had this same appeal. Since it was lunchtime on a Friday, there was a mixture of local workers having lunch, out-of-work locals drinking the day away, and a variety of tourists. There was even a group of guys clearly on their way back from a morning of golf at one of the local courses.

Jaci and I found a couple of bar stools and started asking questions about the food and the beer. After settling on a Grilled Mushroom & Goat Cheese pizza from their “Wood Oven Pizzas” menu, the bartender let us sample several beers. We tried Pale 31 (aromatic California pale ale, 4.6% alc.), Double Barrel Ale (barrel fermented British pale ale, 5.0% alc.- also available unfiltered), Union Jack IPA (aggressively hopped India pale ale, 7.5% alc.), Walkers Reserve (darker, chocolate malt porter, 5.9% alc.). A couple of locals were sitting to my right and began to chime in with their suggestions and recommendations. In the end, Jaci chose a pint of Union Jack IPA and I had a pint of Walkers Reserve. We were not disappointed. As a matter of fact, we purchased a growler (half gallon glass jug) of each to take home. The pizza was good too and exactly what we needed before continuing our journey.

Although Firestone Walker Brewing Company, by itself, is not an End Destination tourist attraction; it is definitely part of the recipe of an overall experience that easily fits into that category of tourism.

(next: Our Continued Journey into the Heart of California’s Central Coast)

A Visitor's Experience on the Central Coast, Part I

I know I'm in the middle of my Tourism By Numbers serise, but really want to take a quick break and put the first five parts of the Tourism Infrastructure into context. The next few posts will examine our weekend trip to California's Central Coast.

Fear and Loathing on the Central Coast

We were somewhere near Paso Robles on the edge of San Luis Obispo County when the wine began to take hold. I remember saying something like “I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive…” And suddenly there was an incredible change in temperature all around us the air became breathable and cooler. It was almost noon and we still had more than 40 miles to go. They would be tough miles. Very soon, I knew, we would both be completely twisted. But there was no going back and no time to rest. We would have to ride it out…

My wife and I had taken off from Clovis at 10:00 AM with the plan of spending the weekend enjoying California’s Central Coast’s cool weather, great food, nice people, and wine. An hour and a half later, we were at Tobin James Cellars.

Tobin James is a favorite wine tasting room for people exploring the Paso Robles wine experience. Its location also helps make it a very popular stop; it happens to be the first real recognizable winery as tourists make their way out of the Central Valley and into Paso. A colorful façade and fun decorations are eye-candy for the Fresno and Bakersfield folks trying to escape the 105-degree heat for a little coastal R&R.

The tasting room is not what you would typically find when searching for wine. You walk out of the sun, into the cool, dark, wood-laced room and stop. Your eyes adjust to the lighting and everything changes. It’s a party. Rock and Roll music, laughter, fun, excitement and, of course, wine. But, even the wine is fun. With names like Fat Boy, Pinot Envy and Cash Flow, even the snobbiest wine snobs have to take notice.

The staff seemed to be enjoying themselves just as much as the guests. They were singing and pouring, joking and answering questions, dancing and ringing up orders. The menu of wines being poured that afternoon summed up the culture of Tobin James. “THE ONLY RULE IN OUR TASTING ROOM IS—HAVE FUN!!” We did.

We left the wine room and headed west on Union Road and stopped at several more tasting rooms. Each was fun in their own way and each one was pouring interesting wine. But one place in particular, Steinbeck Vineyards and Winery stood out for another reason. There was no “party” atmosphere. There was no Rock and Roll, and there was certainly no dancing. But, they had a story.

The tasting room at Steinbeck is stark, bright, and, quite frankly, boring compared to Tobin James and some of the other rooms we visited, but proprietor Cindy Steinbeck Newkirk painted a picture for us that was totally unique and made the stop worth every minute. We learned the history of Paso Robles’ wine industry, how marketing for the region is organized, and a little about her family’s history on the vineyard property. We also learned about the history of a blend that they produce called The Crash. It’s way more than 72% Cabernet Sauvignon / 14% Merlot / 7% Viognier / 5% Petite Sirah / 2% Zinfandel, it’s a wine that commemorates the crash of a B-26 bomber that took place in a field on their property back in 1956.

“On April 11, 1956, my dad was in high school,” Cindy explained, “Major John Fortner, Captain S.W. Wiggley, First Lieutenant Robert Nilsson, Staff Sergeant Fred Kilby and Staff Sergeant O.J. Fazio were on a flight to retire an old B-26 when lightning struck the plane and it went down in our field.. Out of the crew of five, four survived the crash and Lieutenant Nilsson and Sergeant Fazio are both still with us today…”

A scale model of the plane hangs from the ceiling in the tasting room. There are several other items in the room that came to life and Cindy told their stories. There was a family wine press from the 1800s, musical instruments, and a variety of old tools. And, there was the building itself: an old blacksmith shop.

As my wife and I made our purchase – a bottle of The Crash – and made our way down the road, we decided that first impressions are not always accurate. It was a great experience.

So what did Tobin James and Steinbeck have that the other place that we visit didn’t have? It certainly wasn’t wine. Most of the tasting rooms had adequate signage and were fairly easy to find. They were all listed on a wine map and in visitor’s guides. They all had very friendly staff and were clean and had restrooms and were safe. Why were they two places different? Well, it was because they were different. There were two distinct cultures that created a unique “sense of place”.

This is what set them apart and loosened us of a little cash.

(next: Beer and Food on the Central Coast)

The Tourism Infrastructure: Clean Restrooms

“Gotta make a pit stop”
“Gotta see a man about a horse”
“Gotta go….Now!

Fast food franchise operators and gas station owners are smart. They realize that if they provide clean restrooms, a traveler is more likely to stop. While using the facilities and stretching their legs, they are likely to buy something. The traveler figures “hey, I’m here anyway…I’ll go ahead and fill up the tank…why stop again later?” or “while I’m here I’ll get a quick bite to eat”.

Let’s face it. People have to use the restroom. Provide a clean facility, tell visitors that you have a clean facility, and then find something to sell them. How hard can this be?

The Tourism Infrastructure: A Safe Community

The community must do everything in its power to protect the tourist from danger. At all times, the tourist must be safe.

Remembering that safety is a perception and not necessarily a reality, the community must make sure the visitor feels safe at all times.

Unlit and deserted streets, dark alleys, illegal activity and homeless people do not add the feeling of safety.

I’ve worked with several cities that really have the desire to attract visitors to their older, downtown areas. One of the top three reasons that people are not attracted to those areas – especially after the sun goes down – is the perception that the areas are not safe. The local champions for downtown tourism always point out that the lack of safety is only a perception, not a fact. They show crime statistics that prove crime is more prevalent in other, more modern and more popular areas. They’re quick to point out that criminals go where the money is. Well, that makes perfect sense and I do believe it one hundred percent. They even go as far as to really try to educate the rest of the community, telling them over and over again how safe it is and how wrong the perception is. Instead of trying to convince everyone that they’re wrong, why don’t they just change the perception by adding some lighting, eliminating blight and making sure there’s a strong police presence?

So, brighten up the lights, clean up the graffiti, sweep up and…

Perhaps it’s not politically correct to try to come up with a plan to displace homeless people in an attempt to make a place more visitor-friendly, but it is a reality. A community must decide whether it wants its tourist area to be a home for the homeless or a place where tourist want to come and spend time – and money.

(next: Clean Restrooms)

The Tourism Infrastructure: Easy Access

You know, I can think of lots of places that would probably be very popular tourist destinations if only they were easier to access. The top of Mount Everest, Antarctica, or even the moon would all make terrific vacation destinations and would surely attract plenty of visitors. If only it was easy to get there.

If a community wants to be a tourism destination, they’ve got to have fairly easy access. It’s got to be reasonably easy to navigate, and free of perils. In other words, a community that wants to attract tourist dollars must make it easy for the tourists to get there.

Remote destinations will always be popular with the super-adventurous and ultra-rich. There are some people that are willing to pay $200,000 for a spaceship ride or $50,000 to climb Everest. The truth is, however, municipalities are not adventure guides. It is their responsibility to foster a healthy local business community. Therefore, they would rather see a steady stream of visitors spending a reasonable amount of money in a number of local stores than to see a few big spenders give up obscene amounts to one tour operator.

The problem is, some domestic destinations seem as hard to get to as the Sea of Tranquility. It is important to announce to, and educate, and inform ALL potential visitors exactly where the tourist area is located and exactly how to get there. Directions should be made simple and it should NEVER be assumed that visitors have checked Mapquest or a GPS device. If you’re off the beaten path, good signage is super important.

Starting in the late 1930s, with the growing popularity of long-distance automobile travel, entrepreneurs began building restaurants, motels, coffee shops, and more unusual businesses to attract travelers. Soon, there were many similar businesses located close to one another competing for the same customer. So, they started advertising their stores and restaurants by placing signs and billboards on the thoroughfare. Sometimes, these business operators started informing travelers about the benefits of eating their food or buying their wares as far as 150 from the actual establishment. Eventually, some of the buildings were constructed in whimsical shapes and children’s attractions were added. The smart business owners took all of this information and announced it, out on the highway, and invited guests to stop, shop, dine, and stay the night. Who wouldn’t want to eat a bowl of world famous Split Pea Soup, see the World’s deepest well, explore the inside of a giant elephant-shaped building or spend the night in a genuine-looking tee-pee? All of this was done in order to beat the competition in a race to attract customers. With appropriate directional signage, it worked.

It still works today. The moment a visitor leaves the main road and heads toward a community, he should see adequate signage that will show him exactly how and where to find the things he needs. Restaurants, shops, gas, hotels and attractions must be easy to find for those who have never been in town before.

It is also important for signs to add to the Sense of Place recipe. They should be designed in such a way as to add to the overall theme of the community or tourist area.

In Roger Brooks and Maury Forman’s book, The 25 Immutable Rules of Successful Tourism, the authors point out “one of the biggest mistakes that communities make is not telling visitors why they should visit. [Signs] should focus on activities – things to do. After all, people go places to do things….In order to be effective, highway signs must be…eye-catching. There are four four keys to success: Use the right words, make it brief, keep the design simple, and keep the sign well maintained.”

What about the actual road in and out of town? It should be well maintained and attractive. It should be clean and give the potential customer the immediate perception that the community is safe.

(next: A Safe Community)

The Tourism Infrastructure: A Friendly and Inviting Community

The easiest and least expensive thing to do, in order to attract tourists, is for merchants to be friendly and inviting. The merchants must understand that the customer is the most important thing that his or her business possesses. Likewise, the merchant must do everything possible to make his or her store clean and attractive to the potential customer.

Customer service is one of the most important ingredients of the marketing mix for products and services, and, it doesn’t cost anything! Tourists are not only interested in the product they are being offered but all the additional elements of service that make up the whole tourism experience. From the greeting they receive when they enter a retail outlet, to the help they receive when they have a question, to the overall cleanliness and appearance of the store.

By not addressing customer service, the shop owner may as well be saying “This place would run a lot smoother without any customers.” This is so important that no retail operator can afford not do dedicate a huge amount of time and energy into making sure it’s done right.

Typically, those businesses that provide poor customer service are owned or managed by someone who either has no clue as to the extent of damage that this causes or does not care. Either way, this practice is not only detrimental to the individual business, but to the entire tourism program as well. Poor customer service is like a cancer. It will grow and spread if not corrected at an early stage.

If a restauranteur had an employee who consistently took fully prepared meals and threw them in the trash, for no apparent reason, that employee would surely be fired. Employees who do not provide good customer service are throwing away an opportunity to build a customer base. And, the customer is the most important thing that a business has. Supplies can be ordered and purchased. A customer base must be nurtured and grown. Why drive them away?

Front line workers, doormen, cab drivers, front counter people, clerks, bartenders, waiters, gas station operators, etc should all be ambassadors for the community. They should be able to tell visitors about cool things to do and see in the area.

“It’s not part of my job,” the clerk may say. It should become part of the job. There is absolutely no excuse to miss this opportunity.

(next: Easy Access)

The Tourism Infrastructure: An Attractive/Appealing Community, continued

The thing that really makes a community appealing is a strong “sense of place”. Communities express the choices made by their citizens. Types of housing, transportation, industry and shopping options as well as how to fit in with the natural environment all make up the “personality of the community”. It all reflects the collective values of the city’s residents. Cultural geographers, anthropologists, sociologists and urban planners study why certain places hold special meaning to particular people or peoples. Places said to have a strong "sense of place" have a strong identity and character that is deeply felt by local inhabitants and by visitors.

Seriously?

I just copied that last paragraph from Wikipedia. Why make it so difficult?

Think of how you feel when you are in Las Vegas. Most people get a rush. It’s exciting. There are lights and sounds and people and crazy hotels. It makes you feel a certain way.

Think of how you feel when you are in Carmel, CA. It’s a quaint coastal town with beautiful archetechture and cool little shops and cool restaurants. The Pacific Ocean is right there, so you get to enjoy a great cool sea breeze with that cool salty sea smell. There’s the world-famous golf courses and a ton of very rich people. It makes you feel a certain way when you’re there too. (When my wife and I visit Carmel, we drive around and look for “Open House” signs. We love to go in and check out the homes. I highly recommend this.)

How about Disneyland? Chances are, you get a giddy feeling the minute you walk through the main gates. Doesn’t matter how old you are. You always get this feeling.

These places all make you feel a certain way. It’s the strong sense of place.

Of course, there are places that aren’t so good feeling too. I’ve visited a lot of places where I didn’t feel safe. There have been a few places where I flat out did not want to leave my hotel room. Bad sense of place.

So, for a community to build a successful tourism program, it needs to be attractive and appealing. This can be subjective but there needs to be a strong sence of place that will make people feel something when they visit. Make sure it’s a good feeling.

(Next: Friendly and Inviting Community)