It will take a serious look at the people who come to Joplin for recreational purposes, and will deepen local efforts in tourism and event marketing.
Here are some things the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau knows about people who come to Joplin for that purpose.
First, the best attraction on your drive here is Grand Falls, Missouri's only continuous waterfall.
Another is the charming attractions of downtown, which is the number one stop on bus tours. Candy House Gourmet Chocolate Shop located at 510 Kentucky Avenue.
Other popular attractions in Joplin include:
• Route 66 is the original road that winds through Royal Heights and down Langston Hughes Broadway to Main Street, or the later alternate name for Seventh Street, which runs from the city limits east to west into Kansas.
• Garage apartment located at 3347 1/2 Oak Ridge Drive. This is where Bonnie and Clyde and his famous Barrow gang hid out in 1933, shooting out of town and killing two local police officers while on the run.
• Tri-state marker established by surveyors in 1857. The monument is located at the intersection of his three state lines: Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma, on a gravel road off Downstream Casino Boulevard near Exit 1 of Interstate 44.
But over the next year, more details will be collected and analyzed about the people who visit and stop by Joplin, creating visitor profiles that the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, Joplin Sports Authority, and others can use to grow their business. will be provided.
Profile details
The information collected will be available to local hospitality and tourism industry stakeholders, as well as elected officials, economic development organizations, and community leaders. The results of the survey will be used by the convention office and the Joplin Sports Authority to maintain existing programs and attract new tourism activities, said executive director Patrick Tuttle.
“The use of visitor profiles is to aid our marketing efforts,” he said.
Guests will receive a survey during their stay, when they leave Joplin, or if they leave an email address where they can send a survey after their stay.
For visitors, the usual demographics are collected, such as age, where they live, length of stay, and places visited, along with other information about their trip.
Analytical reports on this information are expected to show visitor travel trends and how they can be used to increase room night sales in Joplin's hotel market and expand business for Joplin's restaurants and retailers. Tuttle said.
To assist in this effort, this information allows the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau and Joplin Sports Authority to determine where to advertise. If many visitors come from the same area, other visitors in that area may also be more likely to plan a trip or attend an event here, and you may want to advertise in that area. Tuttle said posting it would be beneficial. This information can also help you target the people making the travel decisions and who will have the most impact. By doing so, you can send your marketing efforts directly to local hospitality institutions and businesses.
The findings also show when people are visiting and identify peaks and troughs in visitor stays.
In determining where to focus marketing efforts, Tuttle said, “It's going to be a 'who' factor: who they are, where they're from, and what they're going to spend their money on.” Ta.
Use of data
Other organizations participating in the event will also be able to use that data to scale their efforts.
Each year, the Convention Bureau's Board of Directors accepts grant applications and recommends funding to help fund local events that have the potential to attract out-of-town visitors. Tuttle said the study will involve all of the department's grant recipients this year. Participants will be identified through online registration for the event and sent an online survey.
There are 17 organizations that have received or will receive approximately $95,000 in grants for events and attractions.
For the Joplin Sports Bureau, “information helps us in a variety of ways,” Director Jared Bruggeman said.
“Firstly, the most impactful thing is to look at how we are working with other sports commissions regionally and nationally in terms of access to facilities.Additionally, what facilities are the most underutilized? You can also determine what directions to consider to improve your facility's inventory.''We host a variety of local, state, national, and international events. ”
Tuttle said there are three major events that sports authorities focus their investigation efforts on:
Mr. Tuttle received City Council approval to hire Downs & St. Germain Research of Tallahassee, Fla., to conduct a visitor profile study. The cost for one year of research is $75,000. This cost will be paid for from the convention office's budget, which consists of a $22,500 state grant obtained by the convention office and the remainder primarily from lodging tax revenues.
Guest survey
Data collection will begin early this year and continue until about the same time next year.
Information is collected through in-person interviews with people from outside the city or nearby areas, as well as by emailing surveys to addresses that visitors provide during their stay after they leave Joplin.
Survey questions ask why visitors visited the city, how long they stayed, how much they spent, and what they went to and saw during their stay.
Consultants will look at people anywhere at least 110 miles from Joplin, as well as people who live within a 110-mile radius of Joplin but not within city limits.
The report will then identify the top 25 origins and top 25 destinations of surveyed visitors, as well as how they travel.
The Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau has obtained demographic information in the past to help plan and promote events and attractions, but says, “The city has been in tourism for 35 years, but who is coming to town?'' “We've never really looked into how long they were there and where they came from,” Tuttle said. “It will take us a year to research this. We will study people passing through town and people staying in town, learning about their habits, destinations and spending abilities. We will be attending regular events and sporting events. We're going to investigate people who are.'' Here we traveled along Route 66 and Interstate 49.
He expects the investigation to result in approximately 500 investigations every three months, for a total of approximately 2,000 investigations by June 2025, when the investigation is completed.
The Convention Bureau Board of Directors and local hospitality industry and event representatives met this week to identify recommendations for events and attractions that should be surveyed.
