“Consumer economic fundamentals are worrisome and do not bode well for the leisure travel industry in the months ahead,” Dan Lennon, Vice President Marketing & Public Relations, Branson Tri Lakes Chamber of Commerce & CVB (CVB), told the Branson Board of Aldermen at its Sep. 22 meeting. Lennon reported the information during the CVB’s second quarterly marketing report to the city for the quarter ending June 30.
He said the overall visitations to Branson were down 5.1 percent over the same period last year. The report gives a myriad of reasons for the drop, including a 50 percent drop in consumer confidence, uncertainty of financial markets, record gas and food price increases, weather, a 6.4 percent decrease in the marketing budget, and the economic crises.
According to the report, Branson’s room demand over the last12 months of the report was down 8.7 percent. Branson’s rate of decrease was much more than large cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Orlando, Nashville, and Dallas. Lennon pointed out those cities had the advantage of a lot of business travel whereas Branson relies primarily on the leisure travel market. When compared to its direct competitors, Branson’s 8.7 percent decrease compares favorably to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge’s 8.3 percent, Wisconsin Dells’ 7.5 percent and is better than Williamsburg’s 11.3 percent. Branson’s 8.7 percent decrease does not compare as favorably with Lake of the Ozarks .2 percent, Myrtle Beach’s 1.7 percent or Hershey, PA’s 1.2 percent decreases.
The city of Branson’s collection of its retail sales tax was the only tax in the report that was up for the reporting period, rising 2 percent over the same period a year ago. According to the report the city tourism tax dropped 2.5 percent, the TCED Tourism Tax dropped 1.52 percent, and the Taney County Sales Tax dropped by .25 percent over the same period.
The report shows a 27.63 percent drop in the number of inquires received for information on Branson during the same period in 2007. Lennon attributed some of the decrease in inquiries to the decrease in the traffic and the budget. Lennon also pointed out they are using and testing some different internet marketing strategies and said the number should be up by the end of the year.
The majority of Branson’s visitors, 59 percent of them, travel from outer markets, 301 plus miles from Branson, 23 percent from primary markets, 101 to 300 miles from Branson and 18 percent from the core market, 1-100 miles from Branson. The core market has grown by 13.7 percent over the same period in 2007 while the primary market has dropped 10.2 percent and the outer market 7.8 percent during the same period.
Lennon pointed out that the trend of the percentage of visitors that are families continues to rise and is at 48.9 percent, up from 40.4 percent in 2007. The report indicates the average adult age of visitors has dropped to 53.6 continuing a four year downtrend from 59.5 in 2004.
The percentage of first time visitors to Branson of 19.4 percent continued a two year downtrend. Pointing out the relationship; between visitors coming from Branson’s outer markets and first time visitors, Lennon indicated that was something that needed to be improved upon.
The report ended with “a little good news.” He reiterated that the percent of decrease in the number of visitation through July had gone down from 5.1 to 4.7 and visitations for the month of August were up about 2 percent compared to August of 2007 providing a strong end to the summer. Lennon pointed out the increase was primarily from the primary markets and represented a 35 percent increase in the primary markets over August of 2007.
In summary Lennon reported that what hope there was for a solid rebound in the second half of 2008 has faded. The report states, “It now appears that Branson will likely end 2008 down somewhere between 4 and 7 percent.”
Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent .
