Howard County Tourism & Promotion’s board of directors, composed of business and community leaders together with the Tourism Team, are moving Howard County forward as a weekend destination and smart choice for corporate travelers. Howard County Tourism works with our promotional partners, Howard County Government and the Maryland Office of Tourism Development, to be an active part of increasing tourism expenditures.
According to our most recent statistics (2010) for Howard County, there were 700,000 visitor stays, and the total visitor expenditures totaled $780 million. Tourism employs 10,000 and directly impacts the county’s general fund with more than $13 million in tax receipts (federal, state, local) from hotel/motel, related sales and amusement taxes.
Tourists spend their weekends at Howard County’s events and attractions, taking home with them fond memories and leaving behind tax dollars that are reinvested to maintain our residents’ high quality of life.
Howard County is ideally located to capture primary market access from more than 25% of the population base in the nation, with excellent transportation choices by air, rail and roads. The primary Howard County Tourism market is generally described as the 200-mile radius from the geographic center of the county, but principally within the mid-Atlantic states and District of Columbia.
Signature destination events, outdoor recreation, outdoor concerts and upscale shopping are important products to these customers. While escaping urban areas and visiting friends and family are major motivations, Howard County Tourism firmly believes there is potential to convert day-trippers to weekenders by packaging events and attractions.
A significant portion of our secondary marketing effort is focused on the Howard County residents themselves, making them aware of the many sites and events available within their county. Howard County has been recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as the fifth wealthiest county by median household income in the United States, and its residents are some of the most educated in the state. The Tourism Council must ensure its affluent and educated residents support local tourism events and attractions, or even take “staycations.”
Multi-Media Marketing
The print and electronic media campaign for FY 2011 included 39 print advertisements, 10 online promotions and five television campaigns. Many of these purchases were made possible by the Maryland Tourism Development Board grant program.
The various media campaigns highlight Howard County’s unique attractions and businesses to the niche audiences of niche publications. AAA World and Preservation magazines delivered the best results for our Civil War Trails ads, and ARRIVE (Amtrak’s on-board magazine) helped create buzz in the northeast corridor. Television campaigns on Comcast and Maryland Public Television were developed to promote winter and summer Restaurant Weeks promotions, Paint It! Ellicott City Plein Air, and Columbia Festival of the Arts Chalk It Up.
The Tourism Team also delved into social media with use of YouTube style videos to promote events. Potential visitors to Howard County can also friend or follow Tourism on Facebook and Twitter.
Media Relations
The Tourism Team again succeeded in the placement of more than 100 media hits in local, regional, national and international media outlets. Most notable were the United Kingdom’s The Daily Mirror story on Ellicott City; Travel + Leisure magazine’s (en Español) article on Tersiguel’s restaurant; the U.K.’s Travel Channel story on the historic National Road in Ellicott City; Baltimore magazine’s again naming Ellicott City a “Hot ’Hood”; and Woman-to-Woman magazine making the Women of Blossoms of Hope its April cover story.
We received favorable weekly coverage in the Baltimore Sun as we partnered with local hoteliers to lobby our Maryland Delegation to raise the hotel tax, with new funds dedicated and divided between Tourism and the Economic Development Authority. These media successes are the result of our dedication to crafting a unique message for each event and cultivating trusting relationships with journalists and broadcasters.
The public relations value of these media hits translates into thousands of dollars that did not need to be spent on advertising. Tourism is regularly quoted in the local papers as being expert in tourism with a pro-business message. Our new partnership with CRUSA (Capitol Region USA) resulted in several media FAM (familiarization) tour visits by international travel writers from the U.K., Mexico and Germany.
Tours
Tourism’s “Spirits of Ellicott City” tasteful tasting tour’s popularity is growing; and we continued the very successful “Ye Haunted History of Olde Ellicott City” ghost tours, parts I & II (now available to the deaf community with signing guide), and its seasonal “Ghost Walks in Historic Savage Mill” tour. These tours and the elementary school heritage tours have brought more than 6,000 visitors to Ellicott City and Savage.
Welcome Center
In FY 2011, more than 20,000 persons stopped by the Howard County Welcome Center (from 39 states, 18 countries and three territories), located in Historic Ellicott City. Howard County Government purchased the former U.S. Post Office building to serve as a base of Tourism operations.
We hosted the opening tree lighting ceremony for Midnight Madness, Ellicott City’s Cherrybration Days and Plein Air at the welcome center. Tourism’s red, pop-up, “Welcome Center On The Go” tent allows the team and partners to meet-and-greet visitors at all major events in Howard County.
Group Sales/Tradeshows
With the addition of industry veteran Taffy Rice as our new director of sales, we participated in more tradeshows than ever to grow the county’s meetings business. With the Maryland Office of Tourism marketing grant funding and cooperative booth sharing with Howard County hotels, we were really able to stretch our marketing dollars with AIBTM and other tradeshows.
Tourism meets every other month with hoteliers and other businesses interested in group sales. Additionally, Tourism sends requests for proposals, qualified leads and other inquiries weekly.
Research
Tourism, as part of the Maryland Association of Destination Marketing Organizations, partnered with the Maryland Office of Tourism Development to commission a comprehensive analysis by Global Insight and D.K. Shifflet & Associates. This study culled out tourism statistics on how much the average day-tripper and weekender spend per county, where visitors are coming from and how they make their travel decisions.
Product Development/Promotions
Tourism is the host organization of the successful Summer and Winter Restaurant Weeks. With 25-plus restaurant partners, we manage the culinary promotions, create collateral materials and direct the paid advertising and public relations activities for each.
Other seasonal promotions included the popular “Eat, Pray, Love in Howard County,” “Holiday Happiness in Ho-Ho-Howard County, Merryland” and “Baby Its Cold Outside,” each highlighting our marketing partners’ events, activities and attractions.
We hosted a Royal Wedding Viewing Party live at Union Jack’s; the media release “Brilliantly British-Inspired Fun in Howard County” resulted in two television crews and three newspapers reporting live from Columbia.
Web Site & Welcome Magazine
Tourism partners with Custom Media Options to publish The Official Visitor Guide to Howard County. With Team-authored editorial and vivid photos, it highlights Howard County’s charming historic districts and modern amenities and celebrates the county’s nationally recognized high quality of life.
Tourism continues to partner with Howard County Government’s eGovt Team for its web site while we develop our state-of-the-art web site with Millennium Marketing Solutions that will be mobile device- and tablet-friendly.
Sports Marketing
Tourism takes an active role in promoting our sporting events that generate significant overnight stays in Howard County by out-of-state athletes. Additionally, we support the activities of Elite Tournaments that produce and host many weekend soccer tournaments in the county. We are an official partner in Team Maryland, that worked TEAMs, the nation’s largest sports marketing tradeshow, in letting sports event planners know that “Maryland Is Here to Play!”
Partnership
As a not-for-profit, membership-based organization (501c[6]), Howard County Tourism represents nearly 200 promotional partners across Howard County, mostly independent businesses. In FY 2011, Tourism marketed its enhanced partnership packages, including new Platinum and Gold partnership upgrades. Our partners enjoy business leads, networking opportunities, professional development and discounted media buys through Tourism.
Tourism, I Am It!
Tourism is a vital industry to Howard County’s economic health and the well-being of its citizens. It promotes and celebrates all that is wonderful in Howard County: its historic towns, opportunities for outdoor recreation, local dining, signature festivals and cultural happenings. Visitors and residents are encouraged to indulge in Howard County’s many amenities and weekend offerings and, as we say, “Savor It, Imagine It! Flaunt It and Live It — This Is It — Howard County!”
Rachelina Bonacci is executive director of Howard County Tourism & Promotion.
