Tourism needs a good plan, not a "brand"

"Branding" is one of those buzz-words that every consultant worth his Blackberry will talk about incessantly until the next buzz-word comes along. There's always another word coming along. "Paradigm" was a good one. "Continuous improvement" was another (actually two).

The Wilson County Tourism Development Authority has jumped onto the branding bandwagon, no doubt thanks to some prodding by a consultant or two, and will spend $35,000 to create a new "brand" for Wilson. The authority will pay the money to a Raleigh consulting firm that, no doubt, will pitch a variation of the brand it had created for some other sucker ... I mean, city. The Tourism Development Authority has problems, but branding is not one of them. Before it spends a dime on branding, the Tourism Authority should solve its more serious problems:

1. The authority is spending thousands of dollars for a "visitors center" that is nothing more than a rented storefront next to a cigarette store at Interstate 95 and U.S. 264. Think about the name of the place: "Visitors" implies the customers want to "visit," not just travel up and down I-95. "Center" suggests the joint should be at the "center" of something. The only thing this location is in the center of is traffic, and you know how people love to visit traffic congestion!

2. Lack of promotion. Wilson, despite what you hear from the nay-sayers, has some attractions. Its barbecue restaurants are famed all over the East Coast. Its collection of bungalows and other historic homes could attract preservation tourists if promoted properly. The North Carolina Baseball Museum plays to the widespread nostalgia and love of what used to be called "America's Pastime," but, like other attractions, it's not well-promoted. Wilson's arts community is impressive and growing. One resident's suggestion that Wilson promote itself as "the City of the Arts" would take some work but was plausible. It was ignored by the Tourism Development Authority. The Round House Museum is a unique institution that could attract ethnic tourism, but it needs good promotion. Wilson's Civil War and Revolutionary War histories are so ignored that few longtime residents are familiar with them. Wilson was the site of a Confederate hospital. General Cornwallis camped here on his way Yorktown, and British cavalry (under Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton) fought a skirmish at what is now the N.C. 58 bridge over Contentnea Creek near Stantonsburg. Historical tourism is a growing trend, but you have to advertise it.

3. Billboards. The Tourism Development Authority is investing money in billboards on Interstate 95. Even if these billboards were effective, which they are not (the 'What, Where, When' is non-sensical and too wordy for speeding motorists to read), the money could be better spent in other places. Ads in travel magazines (including Our State and Southern Living, which have travel features) would attract people who are actually interested in visiting unique, charming or interesting places and who are not just pedal-to-the-metal down I-95 to get to Florida.

4. An ineffective Web page. The county's tourism Web page is not just ineffective, it's awful, and a lot of the information there is out of date. What is there is not attractively presented. The site hasn't been redesigned recently. It needs redesign badly, and it needs a new designer, someone with an appreciation of what a Web site can do and what makes one attractive. In this century, a good Web page is essential, and Wilson County tourism doesn't have one.

The Tourism Development Authority has focused on all the traffic on I-95, as if each traveler were a potential visitor. They aren't. The authority's focus needs to turn to Wilson County's attractions — arts, houses, museums, history, etc. — and spend money getting those attractions known by more people. To promote those attractions, the authority must first establish a visitors center near those attractions (and no, the Smokers Palace is not an attraction).

If the Tourism Development Authority doesn't change its focus and begin touting the histories and places that will actually attract visitors, the only brand it will have is one word: Dumb.