Community Watch - Tourism in Rome with Lisa Smith
today on community watch my guest is Lisa Smith who is the executive director for tourism for Rome but actually Way Beyond Rome County State there's no end to it great conversation you don't want to miss this show Community Watch Starts Now [Music] thank you [Music] welcome to Community Watch I'm John Hershey and I am thrilled to have I is this a person that should not need to be introduced but I will introduce Lisa Smith executive director of Tourism for Rome Georgia is that right is that the title that sounds good to me it doesn't seem big enough for you it's plenty big enough um all right so there are so many things to talk about but you know one thing that I I thought would be a way to begin is just to talk about and and I'm I know this is a tribute to how well you do your job but I I think the average Roman has no idea that we have a tourism board or a group that manages all of the activities that they enjoy in in the area and a lot more that they're not aware of that that goes on is to say really a massive Endeavor it is a huge thing it is uh so maybe maybe we can begin by just kind of explaining some of the things that you and your group do and have have to do for every single event that comes to Rome so I think it's it's nice to know that we're behind the scenes and uh that we're actually able to make and help to make the marketing magic happen uh especially what we enjoy here is quality of life and that's what it means it boils down to for the local citizens bringing in the visitors of course means that we enjoy a better quality of life because they are infusing new money into our community and of course they leave that money and they go on about their lives um so we are an economic generator for the city of Rome for for Cave Spring and for the Floyd County and the state of Georgia because when a tourist comes they also have sales tax involved and of course a percentage of that sales tax stays here and a percentage goes to the state so we are a full service bureau and it's basically from everything we are destination marketers so we Market all the events going on we help with events we help the standard operating procedure of events especially as they are impacting our roadways uh need Public Safety need public any kind of Public Access with Public Works um so it's it's it's been a amazing job it has shaped itself through having such a pretty gorgeous and wonderful Community to sell and we sell to the world and I do not say that as a joke we literally sell Rome Georgia and Floyd County to the world and we do it every single day so do you well first of all uh how large is your staff so we have two operations main operations which are visitor centers and gift shops so as far as a full-time staff is 10 people and then we have a lot of volunteers that we utilize but we also have a lot of part-time floaters because that's a lot of hours to cover with both of those and then we have people who specialize in certain things such as the History Center so there's a whole staff that's actually under the tourism umbrella with a History Center there's the Roman Chariot folks who drive so probably in all if we sat down and started counting we probably have about 30 folks who make that happen every day we have trolley drivers when we manage the Roman Holiday we have the boat captains and the first Maids of course that's now being managed through the Eco Center and of course the the operations of the sports tourism tour guides and those kind of folks and we are actually under the auspices we are Quasi City and County government but we're under the auspices of a board of directors and that's there's 20 of those people um that sit and meet monthly and hear about the business of Tourism and are able to weigh in on the business of Tourism and pretty much our our ambassadors that can take our message back out um most everything we do we work as you well know year two three four five years out so is there a is there a measure of how much tourism is contributing to the local economy so there's two measures there's the measure that we actually touch in our office either we provide a service we register we bid on it uh we service it when it gets here meaning brochures and and going and welcoming them or getting them Public Safety or whatever that may be and then there's the sick codes which are the state in uh tax codes that are used to also measure tourism it's basically the tax codes that are the traditional spend of a tourist and so that number with the state when the state sends our number in is of course much larger than what we're physically touching so we have two different measures but those are measured in in real spend real dollars and we do not put multipliers on what we calculate and the state does not do multipliers on what they calculate the multiplier being that that dollar that's spent by that tourist that traveler will roll over in our community three and a half to five times so it's given to someone as a tip and then that person takes it to the grocery store then that grocery so you can see how that works so we try to stay very conservative with our numbers so what is the percent of our economic existence locally that is tourism okay so basically around 149 million that's a lot is that and the annual research that's a lot and we have continued to grow which is fabulous for us and uh even during covid we still had not the dramatic drop that a lot of destinations had because we are medical we had the National Guard here staying in our hotel so we were over national average in our hotel rooms we had the Physicians here taking care of the medical needs so it's been very interesting and then of course as you know our governor opened up outdoor activities before a lot of states around us so then we started influxing all of a sudden with outside in tib activities with golf that couldn't be played in other places with tennis tournaments that couldn't be played in other places so all of a sudden we were very much still relevant during coven so it's been a great increase and a great it's been a great ride it really has and it's it's it's wonderful because we know that the word of mouth that goes back out of here from somebody's experience because you are made to feel special here and that's why I think a lot of times when we bid on something and bidding is something we do very regularly or we Scout something I think it you're not you're not a small fish here you're a big fish so and you're made to feel special yeah so the the process interests me uh of how an event gets here um do you and your staff go out and and reach out to events or do folks find out about us and reach out to you I mean it's it's a two-way street which is nice um it's a lot about relationships our whole office is all about relationships and either this runs through your veins and you exude it as your passion or you don't work in tourism I mean it's really simple we are about relationships so we've worked trade shows we've worked Sports shows we've worked other things Word of Mouth anybody who comes and does something here we're your new friend and they're our new friend and then it's what else can we do for you what else can we get here what else are you touching that we can bring here that would be the perfect fit so it's exciting because we have a new challenge amongst us that's coming which is the reopening of the Forum and so that'll be kind of reaching back in some archives and pulling back out some names and files and saying hey guess what we really want to host you in our community again so it's really both it's by marketing it's by by the relationships we have it's by starting new relationships very rarely do we cold call I get a lot of cold calls back to me right but very rarely do we ever cold call so and I guess uh every different type of event has needs of their own but what are some of the things that you use to sell an event or or sell Rome to to an event or the event organizers first and foremost is can we handle them and and it be comfortable and and fabulous so obviously the size of a group or a person that's wanting to bring an event concert sporting event meeting has got to fit so it's got to be the right fit we're not trying to make everybody this cookie cutter stamp thing where everybody has to fit in this hole can we accommodate them can we actually make that experience for that traveler that's going to spend their money to come and do whatever be the best and that's all the processes that goes through so a lot of that's sitting around just like we're doing and talking either with that person or with with the staff saying what all can we do to make this experience even better for them um and then who do we get involved all of our stakeholders the police you know the the medical side of business if you need ambulances or trainers um a crowd control EMA fire department I mean there's so many different depending upon the event do we need a plan to what happens if we have bad weather um so it's it's a great process it's tedious that's one reason we standardize the standard operating procedure to come out of our office that people actually apply and can make sure that their checklist is also what they what they need and what they expect and that they'll get and will service them exactly that through their expectations um our best customer somebody who has had a great situation here with no matter what it is and a big success um so it's it's across the board it's from everything from a motor coach to a motorcycle group to a bicycle group to a running group um to you know tennis to to football you know we have two big football events that we actually touch and bring and are in charge of here um so it's it's always different every group is different that's why I think it's so important that we get to know them and start a relationship with them first so that every expectation is managed well uh what is the biggest event you've had to to bring in or or is there one that in the history of doing a multi-day event would be what I would think is our biggest that was tour to Georgia that was huge yeah it was huge the impact the celebrity power that went with it um it was a lot of moving parts and I'm very proud that we were able to do that and do it for multi-years we were the only location that had it back to back for you for five years the only location that's great so Tour de Georgia was definitely the biggest um what means what are some of the heartstring ones um it was probably what Ann worked on with Make-A-Wish Foundation with a movie and then the uh the para events that we work on which is hand cycling wheelchair tennis those are the Heartstrings anytime we work in any whether it's movie production or it's a meeting there's always you see how everyone rallies for the common there isn't there's no barriers we're all we're all focused on on the best for everybody and that's just a positive end of day thing some of the tougher ones I think are the movie shoots when we have road closures even though they're usually quick um those are the ones that are really really a lot of fine tuning has to take place in a lot of communication um I think the fact that we have to work so far out makes a lot of challenges because you're counting on these businesses to still be here right when you're doing something five years out you're counting on that Convention Center to be there you're counting on these properties these hotels and of course on the note of hotels you said what are the things that bring people here it's everything there is no way to Brand Floyd County with one word there's no way we're coming up on our break okay all right so I've got like 80 more questions okay just came to my mind but we'll get to some of them uh talking with Lisa Smith don't go away we'll be right back after this [Music] you belong at Georgia Highlands College as a university system of Georgia College GHC offers high quality and career-focused instruction at a fraction of the cost with over 40 programs to choose from including eight career targeted bachelor's degrees with small class sizes and personalized Attention our programs are designed to help you achieve your goals and make a positive impact in your community so what are you waiting for you belong at Georgia Highlands College welcome back to Community Watch I'm having a conversation with Lisa Smith who is the executive director of Tourism for what sounds like the world I think locally in particular but beyond um during the break you mentioned wanting to clarify where your funding comes from so let's do that sure where is your funding come from so anytime you time you travel and you stay in an Airbnb VRBO hotel motel whatever it may be and in you pay hotel motel tax on top of sales tax hotel motel tax is designed to fund the destination marketing organization in that community and that is what our office of Tourism is and so we are funded by hotel motel tax and easy layman's term heads and beds and so we've had great great changes in that that has happened it used to be that only the hotels were remitting to the the local so the city clerk and the county clerk's office now because of legislation that was passed primarily because of Rome attorneys actually going and fighting the online companies for them to actually collect and remit back to the communities their hotel motel tax and then of course they went after the Airbnb and the VRBO through legislation for them to remit as well so that it evens out the playing field for everybody as far as people who are in Keepers so because of that we have seen a large uptick in our budget which is nice because that just means that we can put more programming out there do better things bigger things and make sure that we're covering everything that we need to do so it is hotel motel tax yeah and just so you know we're at the max here we're at eight percent here in the city and the county and Cave Spring are at six percent two percent of that eight is a dedicated tax that helps with the operations of the Rome tennis center and the downtown racquet Center one percent goes towards the forum for operating and that's by legislation and then the balance of that comes to the destination tourism office so I mean you're generating your own yes we make our own money yeah yeah yeah and so I think that's one of the reasons that we you know you can say we're a department of the city in the county but we're truly unique because we do make our own money yeah well that's good that's good so it's a it's a guilt-free expense uh it's a good news expense really because it's not just the the tax money that's right it's money for every restaurant and uh it's the greater good yeah so and you know saying that there's there's quite a few VRBO and Airbnb properties now that have popped up in in Roman Floyd County um but I tell you what if we are in great need of or more hotel rooms and so there's several projects on the books right now which I'm excited about um because we are in desperate need of getting more room so that we can continue to bid on bigger projects when you look at a 900 or a 700 person tournament for example and they want to have at least half or more of that in rooms that you guarantee for four days gets kind of dicey because no matter most of our hotels are under 100 rooms I have two that are not and they're not going to give you 100 of their rooms they still have a clientele that they have to also take care of so it's um it's becoming a real balance Act of how we make that happen so the fact that there's some movement in the hotel industry the last one that was built of course was built to support the tennis center which has done a great job and so it's nice to see that movement come back to Rome of Floyd County you know bringing that up I don't know that people realize that the hotels are really there to help everyone I mean it's it's not just for those who stay in the hotel it's not just for the hotel to make money but everybody that stays in the hotel spends money elsewhere that's right and it's it's good for for everyone it is so uh it is that's it's a big job supporter there's a lot of layers of employment in a hotel especially depending on what services they offer um but it's it is a much needed thing here and I'll share a sweet story about my dad he was like Lisa honest to goodness I don't know why we have all these hotels so clearly to your first opening point I didn't even know we had a tourism office we are at the on the weekends almost always sold out and you're talking almost a thousand syllable rooms and when I have to start sending people to other communities like during a large tennis tournament that recently happened because we already had a lot of our rooms occupied by other events going on that hurts now I'm glad I can help my my local County folks that are in surrounding areas with me but it does not necessarily we've just spent that sent that money out um so that's one reason I say we need more hotels for the most part we are anywhere from depending on the flag which is the brand it's anywhere from 60 to 80 in the week depending if they're more geared towards business travel or not right now you mentioned uh earlier planning five years out is that I mean that I didn't even think about that about how far ahead how far in advance some of these events are planned because no one's planning to bring a meeting to you next week right yeah yeah so nobody's planning like we have to bid against we have competition obviously everybody has competition makes us better um we have to to bid against competition and they already know we've got to have a plan where we know we're going south north west east or whatever it may be so yeah we bid five years out my calendar which I should have brought is a five-year calendar that I carry well that uh that just multiplies in my mind the burden of although you I don't think you would call it a burden but the burden of having to juggle so much uh because that's what I mean you're a master juggler it is and and making sure everybody's pleased and happy and everybody is fulfilled and that's our job because if I don't do my job right they're not going to have the experience we want them to talk about when they go home um so that's the most important part and and it is the ambassadors too that are at filling stations and taking care of people at restaurants and in all aspects of our you know the front front desk of our service industry which is a very large industry here in Rome is that's the experience those people are going to remember and so there are ambassadors as well so the your job and the job of your team does not I mean it's not simply the booking of the event you manage them to a certain degree while they're in town um so that's got to be a big part of it too um I guess troubleshooting but also making sure they're aware of all the different places in town that they can go and and how to spend their time and yeah money you know and it's kind of funny I mean it's such a broad stroke so we take care of servicing weddings which are very big business here because we have so many venues destination weddings are a very large part of our our service industry we take care of family reunions so it's sometimes some of the smaller things you don't think of the class reunions that happen here constantly we will probably either do some kind of a gift or some kind of Welcome packets or something we also handle relocations so relocations of individuals hey I I need info because I'm thinking about moving there um especially if we're in a more of a Leisure Magazine with a print ad or if somebody does a segment on us then all of a sudden you just see that the 800 number and the email start pouring in for information about where to live and what to do we again are full service we try to touch every aspect of our community the fabulous thing is if you don't need our help with anything but you want to get your word out there we have a free event calendar and that's where the media goes to to pull interesting stories or bytes from so you can place your event on there for free and of course we'll push it out in our social media because we're on all the platforms so what I have found the biggest shift in 26 years for the office since I've been on the hill is that that that sales department has gotten a little bit smaller because I like doing the cells too yeah so but the marketing department has grown yeah really big because of getting that word out we still do and I wish I'd brought one we still do print collateral because people still want that in their hand we don't ask me how but ever since I've been on the hill we actually print the huge gigantic County map with the street directory and when I did the veterans event the other day at the Civic Center with that group from Atlanta which was so successful that is the number one piece that we we handed out that's great I know and we did that as a joint effort with the Chamber of Commerce we met with Missy and Pam Missy of course is over the economic development office Pam is at the chamber and said what do you need in this document we we've got to do it you're not you tell us you don't have to pay for the space tell us what you want so we have the industrial parks in there we I mean it's just it was wonderful to see what their needs were individually and then all of us worked together to put something that's that's fabulous our map is great and they're free they're free I need to get one because I'm frequently lost people love having that map we have visitor guides we mail out still snail mail out we also can email out files when people want to see like our facility guide which is huge um so that's sometimes a little easier to email it we still have a 1-800 number which people crack up about that it's still used okay so they decided to take it offline the city just couldn't oh nobody uses one 800 numbers so they cut it all of a sudden my email starts blowing up your 800 number doesn't work I call them they're like well nobody uses them I'm like somebody's using them that's why they're emailing me saying what happened so we we actually still have an 800 number and so does Stonebridge yeah that's great um you mentioned that the Forum is returning yes so exciting uh that's going to add an important venue uh our venue's an issue in this area there's size venues that are at issue we've got a lot of lots of beautiful spaces for lease for rent that are of certain size but when you look at something the size of the floral there's nothing unless you want to go Outdoors so to have that back in our inventory is really exciting yeah it is it's very exciting um I am looking forward to how that plays out and how how much that at scale you know especially the economy comes back I think we talked in the break you all haven't really seen a big difference but I think when we start bringing stuff back you'll be like whoa oh yeah um this this I remember you know how it felt on concert nights or a comedian night or or whatever it may be at the circus um bull riding whatever that event may be that's there and then I think the important thing will be how we augment and coexist with having two new venues basically because the forum's been closed for a while the Forum and then when the AG Center comes up out of the ground so how do they coexist and help each other where is that going to be the AG Center is behind the mall okay not they have closed on that property as a county splost although I like saying it's all of our sloth so the AG Center will be coming up out of the ground hopefully in a couple of years and I think that's going to give us a new venue to sell and a new purpose and a new way to think about things and a new way to to maybe not bring dirt into the forum but all of a sudden you already have the surface that you need for certain things like bull riding um so I just to me I every day that I wake up here it's almost like I need to pinch myself when I get to the office it's that good well uh we're out of time Lisa it's been fun thank you so much we haven't even talked about the the film stuff we have to do that that could be a whole show it could be and I'll bring Ann with me when we do that because she and I Scout together okay um thank you for what you do and thank you for being on the show Lisa Smith have a great team so thank you for having me and thank you for being with us on Community Watch we will see you next time bye now thank you [Music]
2023-07-18 14:47
