County tourism authority | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: Jim Bispo's weekly column appears in the Beaufort Observer.

    The Beaufort County Commissioners were recently approached with a request to approve a study being performed to determine if Beaufort County would benefit from a County Tourism Authority. Why their approval was requested remains a mystery.

    As we understand it, the proponents of a County Tourism Authority are proceeding with the study.

    I wrote an earlier column on this topic, but given the fact that the folks behind this are continuing on their efforts to do this "study" I felt you might be interested in some additional information I have uncovered.

    If anyone is concerned that the study may not conclude that the establishment of a County Tourism Authority is a great idea, let me alleviate those concerns right now. The NC Department of Commerce has a contractor whose proprietary "model" predicts the past (yes, the past) and provides the Department's pro tourism folks information (the derivation of which remains a mystery) which they, in turn, provide to the "locals" in support of their continued existence. The model continues to show increased "tourism" expenditures in our area, even though the local room tax revenue reported (actual data) has decreased in each of the last three years.

    Basing projections on a model that predicts the past (yes, the past!!) is hardly something to hang your hat on. It results in plausible misdirection which Warren Smith so capably debunked recently. "Plausible lies" is a term I picked up from a recent Thomas Sowell article. He used it to describe how the Prez gets away with his mis-directions. I think "plausible misdirection" aptly describes the outcome of the model used by the State Department of Commerce to prove (i.e. quantify) the benefits of tourism. The study will result in a recommendation to proceed.

    The following several paragraphs are based on the numbers provided in the NC Division of Tourism, Film & Sports Development publication North Carolina Overnight Visitor Profile. Without being privy to how this information was obtained (or derived) it is difficult to put a great deal of credence in it. The data are being discussed here because in all likely hood, they will provide the justification for the determining that we should have a Tourism Authority all of our own in Beaufort County. Adding 6% to the cost of lodging in Beaufort county will surely bring more overnight guests here. Of course it will...

    When you look at why people reportedly come to visit you are told that 36% of them come to visit relatives or attend a family reunion, and an additional 18% (both 2011 figures) come to visit friends. That takes us up to 54% of our visitors coming here for things marketing would not likely affect. Click here to view the North Carolina Overnight Visitor Profile published by the NC Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development. The chart on page 8 of the document (page 10 of the download) is particularly enlightening in terms of the other activities that seem to interest our visitors. It is interesting that in the document summary we are told that 11% of our overnight visitors came on "business" but "business" does not even show up on the chart...

    It looks as though the only two things we have going for us is that 10% of the visitors reportedly visited Historic Sites/Churches (think Bath) and 15% reportedly participated in Rural Sightseeing (we have plenty of "Rural" all over the place). With a little innovative thinking we should be able to think of some other reasons why visitors should come to Beaufort County. Perhaps we could get some grant money to lure a NC furniture manufacturer or two to open outlet stores here in Beaufort County, perhaps in Pantego or Belhaven - or maybe Aurora. (After all 21% of our visitors reportedly did some shopping. Hmmm...)

    So who are we going to target to lure here. Surely not the 36.8% of overnight visitors who originate in NC and come to visit or for a family reunion... They're already here and they are going to come anyway; as will the reported 11% who come for "business purposes".

    So what other points of interest could we use to lure more folks here?? Could it possibly be that they come to see how we treat hog waste, or what swamps (aka "wetlands") look like (before they are inundated by Al Gore and his melting glaciers hmmm...) , or to participate in "mud runs". Could it be to see what visual pollution looks like (i.e. windmill farms)?? Not very likely. Or could it be to visit the outer banks?? Most likely. And if it is the outer banks, how many of them do you suppose we could induce to take the "scenic route" to get there?? Let's face it, when you have a fixed amount of time available for your visit (vacation) how much marketing would it take to get you to use up some of that time checking out Pantego or Belhaven?? How far would one have to drive on Rte. 264 before they would begin to long for the four lane, divided, limited access Rte. 64?? Not so far would be my guess...

    Or maybe we could resurrect the Secotan theory (myth??) and create a Williamsburg type attraction at Bath. Or, better yet, maybe we could get the U.S. Congress t recognize the Secotans which would then allow them to open a gambling operation - which we could then tax. Great potential there. Hmmm...

    My suggestion to those who would to make our small part of Heaven into a bustling hub of tourist activity would be to go somewhere else to do it. Anyone who is not happy with the peace and quiet found here should go somewhere else.

    D'ya think??