S.L. tourism is bucking the trends

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Oct 2, 2003 by Jenifer K. Nii Deseret Morning News

Despite shrinking budgets and a nationwide tourism slump, the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau said Wednesday it continues to fare better than its counterparts in many other destination cities.

"While we are not experiencing record growth, we have successfully held our own, during this time when the travel industry has struggled to overcome terrorist attacks, a major economic slump, the outbreak of new deadly viruses and a war," said Dianne Binger, chief executive officer of the bureau, at the bureau's quarterly board of trustees meeting.

Hotel occupancies hit "rock bottom lows" this year, Binger said, and booking patterns for conventions, leisure travelers and tour operators have changed. Once obligated to reserve rooms years ahead of time, today's leisure travelers call weeks, or sometimes days, in advance.

While the tourism industry is showing preliminary signs of recovery, research indicates that groups and leisure travelers alike are looking for unique destinations -- at bargain prices.

"The entire travel industry is on sale," Binger said. "And as the economy has tightened, consumers have become much more sophisticated shoppers. Technological advances have allowed convention delegates and leisure travelers alike to become their own travel agents, finding the sweetest deals, and expecting to pay less for every aspect of travel from flights, to hotels, to rental cars."

As a result, the bureau's public sector budget -- which includes convention and tourism/leisure marketing and administrative expenses - - is projected to decline 11 percent in 2003 over the prior year, and another 14 percent in 2004. The bulk of the bureau's budget comes from the "transient room tax" on county hotel and motel room rentals.

"We are doing more with less," Binger told the Deseret Morning News. "Between the down economy and declining hotel room rates, we have to do more with less. That's why our partnerships within the hospitality community are so important."

Binger credited the industry, including hotels and restaurants, for coming together to attract travelers first, before competing for their business.

"We work together really well, and that's not always the case at other destinations," she said.

Competition for conventions and leisure travelers has never been greater, said Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman. It will take cooperation and innovation to ride out the storm.

"The world has changed," Workman said. "We can't do things the way we used to. . . . We live in a world community now, where we're not just competing with Colorado or other states (to attract visitors). We're competing with the Philippines."

In 2004, the bureau has allocated an estimated $5.5 million to public and private sector programs. New programs like the "Salt Lake Solution" will be unveiled in coming months. Others, like "Ski Salt Lake," already have shown some success, Binger said.

In coming years, the bureau estimates it will generate $240 million of future spending in the county.

E-mail: jnii@desnews.com