Gilroy Today 2013 06 Summer | Page 41

What ’ s Happening Locally This Summer

Gilroy ’ s TourismVision

TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT tourism programs that promote Gilroy in unique ways in order to attract overnight visitors and encourage sustainable visitor spending that benefits the lodging industry , local residents and local government with respect for the environment and the values of Gilroy .

What ’ s Happening Locally This Summer

Gilroy Gardens is open daily from May 30th – August 18th featuring special events for the season including : Mike the Knight and the Quest for Hidden Treasure – July 1st – August 18th . Pony Up ! Petting Zoo – August 24th – September 29th ( Weekends Only )
Garlic City Fun Run & Car Show Downtown Gilroy – July 13th
35th Annual Gilroy Garlic Festival July 26th – 28th
Fifth Street Live Music Series Downtown Gilroy – July – August For information on these events and others visit gilroywelcomecenter . org and click on the events tab .
Gilroy Welcome Center Guest Book Comments :
This place is so cool ! It has everything I want and I love the Welcome Center ! — Southern California Visitor
Love the weather here … ( Written in February !) — Canadian Visitor
No vampires here – that ’ s for sure ! — German Visitor
“ Thank you ” in English and Japanese Characters — Japanese Visitor

In the spring edition of Gilroy Today , I wrote that I would provide readers details of the Gilroy Welcome Center 2013 / 14 Marketing Plan , which was recently adopted by the Welcome Center Board of Directors . This comprehensive marketing plan spells out in detail the vision , goal and objectives of the organization which in turn contributes to the local economy by generating local tax revenues , increased employment and strengthens local businesses .

Marketing Plan Goal
To increase occupied room nights by 5,000 annually within Gilroy through targeted tourism promotion efforts .
Marketing Plan Objectives
The essence of building a successful cooperative and competitive tourism promotion effort for Gilroy will be achieved through the following objectives :
• Effectively communicate to target segments Gilroy as a destination , not just a day visit location .
• Work as a catalyst to bring into being innovative programs and events designed to present to consumers the destination in a fresh new way .
• Work to continually identify the local passions within Gilroy and to attract visitors that would also like to participate in those same activities .
In order for the Gilroy Welcome Center to achieve its goal and objectives we must establish an effective long-term competitive advantage by successfully implementing two core strategies . These include destination awareness / branding , positioning the area as an overnight destination and the ability to create a unified distribution strategy via interactive marketing activities .
An action plan has been designed around basic and advanced marketing steps to launch the outlined competitive strategy . These marketing steps are identified under four main categories : Branding , Website Development / Online Marketing , Visitor Information and Public Relations / Content Development . A two-year budget is being developed at this time for board review and approval to implement the Gilroy Welcome Center tourism marketing plan . In addition , a projection of the Return on Investment has been prepared detailing incremental revenue generated for the City of Gilroy as a result of the plan ’ s implementation . Following board approval of the Gilroy Welcome Center budget in late May , board members will receive monthly reports detailing expenditures and outcomes of the marketing campaign .
Anyone interested in receiving an electronic copy of the complete 50-page Gilroy Welcome Center Marketing Plan should contact me at director @ gilroywelcomecenter . org .
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