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Best Foot Forward
Tourism chief Kirchgesler knows she sits on a gold mine.
Now, if she could just get more travelers to notice
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Business New Haven
2/18/2002
By: BNH
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Since 1997 Karolyn Kirchgesler has been executive director of the Greater New Haven Convention & Visitors Bureau, where she oversees an annual budget of $1.2 million intended to attract new visitors to the region.
What does the CVB do?
Our mission is to bring people [to the region] to stay overnight. We basically go after four markets: [1] The leisure visitor coming through [who] looks to see attractions or is passing through the state - we try to slow those people down. There are so many people going to [Cape Cod] or wherever and we're marketing to them to visit greater New Haven. [2] We also go after conventions, meetings, conferences; that and the sports market is where most of our emphasis is. Conventioneers tend to spend quite a bit more than a leisure traveler - almost twice as much. [3] We [target] amateur sporting events. Last year we hosted the girls 12-and-under Amateur Athletic Union national basketball championships. While we don't have very many conference or convention facilities, we do have several sporting venues. A fourth group we go after are the motor-coach [bus tour] group. We target groups that are coming from about six hours away because that is the point where they are most likely to stay overnight in our region.
Where does the money come from to fund this?
Our money comes from a hotel occupancy tax. Hotels in Connecticut pay a 12-percent tax. Six percent is sales; the other six is occupancy. Of the six percent the tourism districts get a percentage of that based on the population of the city or town the hotel sits in. For example we get 1.5 percent from all the hotels in our region in those towns with a population of 65,000 or under. We have one city with a population over 75,000: New Haven. Normally you would get 4.5 percent of that six percent occupancy tax. However, in New Haven we don't because of the money that is raised in New Haven 75 percent goes to [Veterans Memorial] Coliseum, and just 25 percent back to the CVB.
Why does that much go to the Coliseum?
It's part of the legislation. There are four appointed authorities in Connecticut funded in this manner - the Coliseum, the Hartford Civic Center, the Norwalk Aquarium and the Stamford Center for the Arts.
What would most increase visitor traffic?
The No. 1 thing would be conference space. We are very limited in the types of groups we can host. We turn business away all the time from groups that are interested in coming here but we just don't have the space for them.
Do the different regional CVBs cooperate?
The directors of the 11 tourism districts have formed an organization and called the Connecticut Tourism Association. We have a board of directors and we meet [monthly]. Based on what we're doing there are different bureaus that we partner with. For instance, we've been working with the Connecticut River Valley and the Shoreline, Mystic and Coastal Fairfield [CVBs] about doing something along the I-95 [corridor].
What are the towns in your region.?
Ansonia, Bethany, Derby, East Haven, Hamden, Milford, North Haven, North Branford, New Haven, Prospect, Orange, Shelton, West Haven and Woodbridge.
When you came to New Haven what was your biggest wish?
I was hoping we would get more meeting space. That's the biggest one on my wish list.
What is working best?
We've made a substantial increase in several areas. We now send out more convention and meeting leads than has ever been done in the past. We've booked more room nights from group business. We've gotten more visitor inquiries annually and we've been really good at public relations outside the New Haven region. This year we've had the Boston Globe; we had Louis Lunch featured on the Today Show; we've been on Home & Garden Television; we've had a half hour show on the Food Network. We are now very active in soliciting travel writers and members of the travel media.
What is attractive to them about this region?
What we keep hearing over and over from writers who come in is how much we have to do here. They can't believe how great our restaurants are and have many we have; they can't believe how beautiful the city is. People have no concept of what New Haven looks like until they get here and see that it is a walkable city [and that] we have some unbelievable attractions with Yale University.
What gets a group here?
The best way to get a group here is to offer a familiarization tour or site inspection. Once we get someone into the city to see and experience the dining and those things first-hand, that's 99 percent of it. If our facilities fit their needs, they're sold. It's rare that someone has come and then not chosen New Haven. When that does happen they're [typically] looking at a place with better air service or where there is a larger hotel that can accommodate the group in one facility or a warmer climate during the colder months.
Has the Amistad been an attraction?
As far as the motor-coach groups, we've gotten a lot of interest. When the Amistad first started up we were getting lots of positive press and we were really out there soliciting writers to come and write about it. It's a great attraction for New Haven. Actually it's a great attraction for Connecticut, as it travels to other ports. Given more dollars, that is something we could promote even more. The Knights of Columbus [museum] is another new attraction. Those two are very popular with bus groups.
Outside of New England, what is the perception of New Haven?
The further away you get, the less people know about New Haven. They seem to know that Yale University is here; Yale is our biggest attraction. Whenever we do a cooperative venture with Yale, we get so much more attention. That really pulls people over.
What about the shoreline?
I don't know that people associate New Haven with the shoreline. The first association is with Yale, and then people say, 'Oh, you guys are on the water, too.' I wish we were more connected to our waterfront.
What are the principal trends in travel?
The trends have changed since September 11. We've always been a drive market, from a leisure standpoint, because of our proximity to New York. We're very fortunate that we have major metropolitans centers close to us. When we do have conferences we can usually draw a good attendance; on the other hand if a planner is looking at this area they may say why not meet in New York or Boston. The trend is to reach out to the drive market. Because of September 11 people have changed how far they will drive. It used to be three or four hours; it has now doubled to six hours. We don't know if that is a permanent thing.
I keep coming back to the conference space. That is so integral to what we do. There are people who are calling in saying, 'I want to bring my group to New Haven; can you help me?' Unfortunately we can't because we just don't have the space for them.
Why can't your board get that message across?
[The CVB] funded a study along with the city of New Haven, Yale and the Town Green Special Services District to check into the feasibility of conference or meeting space. That study came back very positive, that if conference space was built there would be groups that would utilize it. You've been doing this for five years. What keeps you energized?
New Haven and the entire region is a very dynamic area. We're literally sitting on a gold mine. There is so much potential here. We have so many wonderful attributes with Yale, so many great restaurants, the cultural diversity, the architecture. But there is so much more to be done. There is a lot of excitement because there is so much more that could be done and needs to be done. That's what keeps me going.
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