Orange County reached another milestone in its efforts to bring additional visitors to the area when it hosted the Washington, D.C.-based Travel Industry Association Marketing Outlook Forum at the Disneyland Hotel in late October. It was the first time the 26-year-old tourism industry conference had ventured west of the Mississippi, and it focused the attention of 560 attendees from across the U.S. and at least 15 other countries on the expansion of the visitor industry in OC. “It’s the most delegates they’ve ever had,” said Ann Gallaugher, director of tourism for the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau, who was also the point person for Anaheim on the conference steering committee. The group, which aims to unite various elements of the tourist industry to increase the market share of international visitors to the U.S. and increase the growth rate for domestic travel, was in town to take a look at market trends for the coming year. And what they heard was largely optimistic. According to TIA research, the industry generates about 18 million jobs and about $90 billion in tax revenue nationwide and is the third-largest industry in retail sales behind auto and food services. In addition, disposable income,a key indicator for tourism,is still expected to grow by about 3% next year, while total domestic and international travel expenditures are expected to approach $600 billion.
But though travel in the U.S. has grown by about a third in the past decade, the country’s market share of international travelers has declined by more than 20%. And that, said TIA president Bill Norman, is a trend the organization hopes to reverse.
The TIA has a $3.5 million, three-year program targeting the United Kingdom, Japan and Brazil to bring more visitors to our shores. In addition, the organization launched a national brand campaign,SeeAmerica,that is billed as one-stop online shopping for U.S. travel, a growing market that industry pros increasingly want to tap. It’s also no accident, said Gallaugher, that the international visitors targeted by the TIA are the same ones the VCB has actively courted for the past several years.
“Eighty percent of our travelers may be from domestic markets,” she said, “but to expand our markets we have to look internationally.” International travelers made up about 10% of OC’s 38 million visitors last year, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures. In September, Anaheim played host to LaCumbre, the Latin American regional travel trade show that brought about 1,700 delegates to the area. It was that group’s first trip to the West Coast, as well. TIA’s visit to OC, however, should help focus more attention on Orange County for the future. “People who attend this show are senior people from the industry,” said Charles Ahlers, president of the Anaheim/Orange County VCB. “It was great exposure for us.”
Included among those senior industry execs were top officials from Hilton Hotels, Marriott International, the Biltmore Co. and several airlines. Ahlers said their presence also could have a carry-over effect for development in future years. “Anaheim got to show off what’s been happening in this area to an audience of our peers,” he said. Attendees were treated to a reception at The Block at Orange and a dine-around at area restaurants as part of their stay. “All indications point to the delegates being pleased with the Anaheim location,” said Cathy Keefe, media relations manager for the TIA. And though this three-day conference created more than 1,000 hotel-night bookings and roughly $130,000 in peripheral spending, it was important as a precursor of things to come from the industry.
About 7 million additional visitors are expected to come to Orange County once the Disneyland expansion and the final phase of the Convention Center remodeling project are completed in the next few months. Convention bookings for next year were up by 10% as of September. If those projections come to fruition, visitor spending could grow to more than $7 billion next year. In 2007,by which time a third Disney park could be in operation,Anaheim will host POWWOW, the largest international travel trade show. That show now brings about 1,700 tour operators from 70 countries to the host city, generating about $3 billion in travel bookings during the duration of the show. On average, about 10% of those bookings benefit the show’s host city. n
