THE MARKETOUR

A MARKETING GUIDE FROM THE  WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

October - November 2003

In this issue:

• Interactivity a Key for Museums and Other Educational Attractions
• Event Planning 101 - Getting Insurance
• Travel Tracker: Wisconsin's Spring Visitors
• Web Tips: Effective Web Site Navigation
• PR'S Greatest Hits
• Media Leads
• 10-second Writing Clinic

Interactivity a Key for Museums and Other Educational Attractions 

Across the nation, museums and other educational attractions are quickly discovering that their guests need to be entertained in order to be educated - and become repeat customers. According to a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, traditional text panel exhibits are being de-emphasized in favor of interactive displays that allow guests to indulge their own curiosity by asking questions, pulling knobs, making art or just plain getting dirty. 

Interactive displays are not limited to attractions featuring science or history. "For some time, museums have understood that more learning goes on when there's touching and doing," says Kathy Kelsey Foley, director of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau. "Of course, in art museums touching can be a difficult concept, but there are other ways to have tremendously valuable interactive experiences." 

For the Woodson, that meant the creation of Art Park, a permanent room dedicated to interactivity. The museum regularly changes the room's various stations, activities and materials to keep experiences fresh and to keep repeat visitors engaged. "In the year and a half it's been open, Art Park has become a destination in its own right," Foley says. 

Certainly, interactive exhibits are nothing new to Wisconsin. Marty Perkins, curator of research and interpretation at Old World Wisconsin, says experiential exhibits have been part of the site since its inception. Last year they surveyed guests about a Norwegian farm exhibit that included opportunities to hand-process wool into thread or to make traditional Norwegian lefse. Perkins found that visitors not only enjoyed these exhibits more than passive ones, but they also retained more information from them. 

Tommy Bartlett's Robot World and Exploratory would not exist without interactivity, says owner Tom Diehl. "The key is that people become a part of an exhibit," says Diehl. "They aren't just educational - they actually experience it and have a good time." 

For a while, many museums got caught in the trap of gearing interactivity toward children alone. The Woodson's Foley says once staff realized that adults were also interested in hands-on opportunities, they stopped gearing activity guides to family and children. Now adult guests feel much freer to explore.

Experiential programs, however, can be geared toward specific audiences. The Woodson has a hands-on noon program for adults called Coffee and Creativity, while Old World Wisconsin presents an annual Laura Ingalls Wilder day packed with activities for children. The latter event's success, Perkins says, depends on carefully targeted marketing. "We probably wouldn't promote this to the adult group tour business," Perkins explains. "Not that those people wouldn't be welcomed, but their experience wouldn't be the same as if they came at another time." 

In a period of dwindling staff and shrinking budgets, adding or bolstering interactivity might seem like a luxury, but to Diehl it is a necessity. "In our business," he notes, "if you don't keep adding new things you're going to see a tremendous decrease in attendance."

The Rahr-West Art Museum in Manitowoc relies on collaboration with other organizations to present special interactive events. The museum recently teamed with both the community's public library and parks department to present a Clay Stomp in which 500 participants helped mix clay and then mold it into decorative tiles. The museum has also worked with outside organizations to present outdoor sand sculpting and city mural projects. 

"Collaboration is a wonderful way to limit costs while adding services, says Director Jan Smith. "Plus we gain access to new audiences." 

Foley adds that many of the Woodson's interactive displays have been created on shoestring budgets. The museum purposely keeps things low-tech to avoid costly set-ups and inevitable breakdowns, and Foley believes the simplicity actually works in their favor. "Interactive exhibits need to be fairly self-explanatory, without a lot of words or lengthy instructions. You need an instant connection." 

According to Perkins, the best part about interactive displays is that they get visitors to learn. "If you can engage the visitor and get them involved," he notes, "they are going to leave with something."

Event Planning 101 - Getting Insurance 

When planning an event, organizers are commonly faced with the prospect of securing event insurance. Why is event insurance necessary? Even the most well planned event can be affected by unforeseen circumstances such as inclement weather, cancellations, postponements, or other situations that could result in loss of revenue. Often, the event's venue requires that organizers get such insurance for "comprehensive general liability" and name the venue and/or a public entity (such as the city or county) as an additional insured party. A common level of required coverage is $1 million, and the policy typically covers third-party bodily injury or property damage. 

How do you get event insurance? What factors affect the cost and can you take steps to reduce your premium? Here are several tips to keep in mind: 

• Begin your search for event insurance with an agent who has already provided for your other insurance needs. According to Carol Duclosc at Fish & Schulkamp in Madison, event insurance premiums are typically rather low and your regular agent can probably easily work through a broker to arrange for such insurance. An agent may not find it worthwhile to work with a new client whose only need is a relatively inexpensive event-insurance policy. (Duclosc quotes a premium range of $500 to $1,500 for a simple community event.)  

• Know that the cost of your premium depends on the nature of the event. Factors that affect the cost include the type of entertainment; expected attendance; setup, including whether the event requires grandstands; kinds of food and beverage to be served and who serves them, etc. One way to lessen your costs is to require independent contractors, such as those that provide food and liquor, to demonstrate that their insurance covers participation at the event. 

• Realize that additional coverage for risks such as adverse weather will raise your insurance costs. For example, a policy that protects your event from financial disaster should heavy rain drastically affect your revenues would be outside the coverage of standard event insurance and may prove to be expensive, according to Duclosc. 

• If you're applying for a JEM grant (in the new event, existing event or one-time, one-of-a-kind event categories) through the Department of Tourism, understand that the cost of event insurance can be factored into your operating budget. The event's total budget figure (including operating and promotional expenses) is used when determining the amount of matching funds that can be awarded; a JEM grant cannot exceed 50 percent of the total budget.

Travel Tracker: Wisconsin's Spring Visitors 

The Department of Tourism completed the third in a series of four studies to gather seasonal-based information on Wisconsin's visitors. This past spring, the Department conducted over 1,300 surveys in four areas: Milwaukee, Madison/Dane County, Monroe/Juneau/Adams Counties and Walworth County. The survey focused on visitors' demographics, vacation habits, satisfaction and sources of travel information. 

Trip Characteristics 

Overall, the primary reason for traveling in the spring was mild weather, availability of family and friends, a "spur-of-the-moment" opportunity, or a public event. Generation Yers (born after 1980) were more inclined to travel for spring golfing. Gen Xers (born 1965-1980) traveled in spring because children's schedules permitted, which coincides with the fact that almost half of this age group traveled with kids under 18. Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) took advantage of their flexible schedules to attend a personal event such as a wedding or birthday. Seniors (born 1942 or earlier) traveled to take part in a public event such as a festival or concert and because there are fewer insects. 

Trip activities fluctuated by age. Seniors preferred to dine out, shop, relax with their spouse, visit family and friends, and go to area attractions and historic sites. Baby Boomers participated in wildlife/nature watching, hiking and biking while Generation Xers visited museums/exhibits, golfed or fished. Generation Yers enjoyed nightlife, recreating with friends, attending festivals or events, visiting a zoo, state/county parks, attending a popular music concert or a sports event, and motor boating. Spring travelers were also more likely to camp in RVs than fall or winter visitors. 

Short-term planning (within 4 weeks of the trip) was the norm. However, approximately 40% of Generation X and Baby Boomer visitors planned their trips more than two months in advance. 

GenYers traveled in friends groups (41%) or single-person parties (22%). Seniors traveled with spouses while Gen Xers traveled with children. Baby Boomers traveled with both spouses (59%) and children (19%). 

Information Sources 

Regardless of demographics, Wisconsin's spring visitors turned to family and friends first for travel recommendations. Older generations were also more inclined to use AAA resources, whereas the younger generation also relied on the Internet. 

Demographics 

The majority of visitors, regardless of age, came from Wisconsin or Illinois. With the exception of 58% of the Gen Xers, most households did not have children under 18 living at home. 

Marketing Recommendations 

• Spontaneity was one of the main reasons for spring travel. Keep your message in front of these "spur-of-the-moment" travelers. Visiting family and friends was another motivation for traveling. Offering discounted "2 for 1" coupons to area residents might entice them to treat their visitors to area restaurants, attractions or museums. 

• Compared to the fall and winter in-market research, spring was the season for RV travel. Does your promotional materials and Web site invite RV travelers to your area? 

• With so many visitors indicating they traveled because of a festival or event, make sure promotional literature drives visitors to your Web site where you can feature current event information. Consider using discounted Internet coupons to track the campaign's effectiveness. 

• Unpredictable weather makes spring a difficult season. Make sure non-weather dependant activities such as cultural arts are available for your targeted market. 

To obtain a complete copy of this month's Travel Tracker or the Spring In-Market Study, contact Sue Hamilton at 608/266-6792. Sign up to receive the monthly Travel Tracker e-bulletin.

Web Tips: Effective Web Site Navigation

In an e-world of Web sites filled with elaborate flash layouts, streaming video and interactive games, all too often the most important aspect of a Web site is overlooked. Without an effective navigation system, visitors will quickly become frustrated and leave your Web site. Keep the following tips in mind when designing your site's navigation: 

Accessibility - Possibly the most important part of any given page, the navigation should be as easy to access and use as possible. 

Clarity - Make the links clear and concise, staying away from cute terms that may not be understood by visitors. 

Universally understandable - If you want to use images for your navigation links, be sure to associate some text with them. Just because a picture conveys a clear meaning to you doesn't mean it will to your site visitors. Also, text enables vision-impaired visitors using text-based systems to find your links easily. 

Consistent location - The navigation system should appear in a constant area on every page throughout the Web site. 

With a little forethought and simple planning, designing an effective and concise navigation system will create a Web site that visitors come back to again and again.

PR'S Greatest Hits 

Wisconsin's family and spa destinations have been gracing the pages of both magazine and newspapers alike lately. 

Readers slipped away to the relaxing waters of Wisconsin's spa getaways in the July/August issue of Home & Away. More than 3 million readers took a trip through the Midwest's top spas including Fontana, Grand Geneva, Kohler Waters and Sundara Spas. 

Meanwhile, some of Wisconsin's best summer escapes guaranteed to satisfy kids and adults alike were highlighted in a Daily Herald Newspapers special feature titled "Family Sampler: Six Multigenerational Vacations in the Upper Midwest." The family fun of Wisconsin Dells, Lake Geneva and Bayfield took three of the honored spots in the article.

Media Leads 

Looking for great ways to get your destination in print? Below are two opportunities to send your upcoming packages, deals, story ideas and event listings to. 

A portion of The Tip Section in the magazine Newsweek is devoted to family and travel. Please forward your suggestions on family destinations (safety and convenience are key selling features), packages and deals, and leisure travel to Kathleen Deveny at Kathy.deveny@newsweek.com, or to her associate editor, Kate Stroup, at kate.stroup@newsweek.com, or send to 251 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019. 

iVillage.com is the leading women's online network, providing solutions and support for women between the ages of 25 and 54. This Web site features topics such as family and leisure travel, fitness and health options, and spa and salon resorts. Please forward story ideas to Kellie Gould, senior VP and editor-in-chief at 500 Seventh Avenue, 14th floor, New York, NY 10018.

10-second Writing Clinic 

Historic vs. historical 

An event that is described as historic is one of special importance; it is a happening that stands out in history. 

Any past occurrence is historical. 

Examples: The election of the country's first woman president was historic. July 4 will always be a historic anniversary for Americans. 

We explored the area's historical background. The museum's exhibits explain Wisconsin's historical record from pioneer days to the present.

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