Bigger share of travel market sought

COURTESY NEWPORT MANSIONSWELL-TRAVELED: International travelers make up roughly 14 percent of annual visitors to Newport. Above, the Chinese Tea House at Marble House in Newport.
COURTESY NEWPORT MANSIONS WELL-TRAVELED: International travelers make up roughly 14 percent of annual visitors to Newport. Above, the Chinese Tea House at Marble House in Newport.

When industry insiders talk international travel in Rhode Island, they really don’t.
That is, they don’t talk about Rhode Island specifically, or at least not narrowly enough to gauge exactly how much of the nation’s or the New England region’s overseas-visitation markets the state attracts.
“Rhode Island on the world stage is somewhat dwarfed,” said Mark Brodeur, director of tourism for the R.I. Economic Development Corporation. “The one way in which we have a presence is being part of the state of New England.”
Brodeur is referring to Discover New England, the cooperative marketing alliance based in Portsmouth, N.H., and funded equally by New England states to increase international travel. Rhode Island, he said, has had a 20-year relationship with the organization and continues to rely on its efforts as recapturing international travel – a nationwide problem – becomes crucial.
International travel is the country’s No. 1 export industry, according to the United States Travel Association, generating $241 billion in economic output in 2011 and showing a 13.9 percent gain from the previous year. But the group cites lost potential that must be regained.
The trade organization, in its Power of Travel campaign, reported that between 2001 and 2010, the United States lost about 27 percent of its overseas market share even though long-haul travel surged 40 percent worldwide during that time.
“America has not grown at the same level we’ve seen in our competitive countries,” Brodeur said.
And, as local business leaders and economists talk increasingly of promoting exports as the way to revitalize the state’s bleak economy, some wonder what could be done to increase Rhode Island’s share of global travel.
The U.S. Travel Association on its website reports that international travel to Rhode Island contributes $1.7 billion annually in direct spending and is responsible for 13,200 jobs here. Massachusetts enjoys $14.4 billion in direct spending and 121,500 jobs. Further north, New Hampshire sees $3.1 billion in direct spend and 23,300 jobs dependent on the international sector.
“It’s been a struggle … not having a national tourism office,” said Evan Smith, president and CEO of Discover Newport, which markets Newport and Bristol counties. “When you travel the world, you see tourism offices funded in the millions of dollars. It has left America [on] somewhat of an uneven playing field.”
Brand USA, the country’s first-ever marketing entity born out of the Travel Promotion Act of 2010, just unveiled its global marketing campaign.
The Power of Travel campaign is a major push by the U.S. Travel Association to facilitate legislative moves that would make it easier for international travelers to get here, including easing Visa requirements and expanding trusted traveler programs.
In 2001, Smith said, international travelers made up 17 percent of all visitors to Newport.
That number dropped to about 5 percent later in the decade and was rebounding until the financial collapse of 2008, when it fell again before climbing to 14 percent in 2011.
“The tone for this coming year is optimistic. It’s not wildly exuberant,” Smith said. “This is a very competitive industry. Everybody has been trying to do their part. I’ve been to pretty much every country to help promote Rhode Island and Newport.”
The international traveler is so attractive because of the time and money they spend here.
Discover New England reports on its website that the average European has four to six weeks paid vacation and takes at least one international trip per year, staying, on average, two weeks in the United States.
That’s four times longer than the average domestic traveler spends on a U.S. vacation. They also spend a lot more, on average dropping 10 times more than a domestic traveler.
“[International travel] is vital to Newport,” said John Rodman, director of museum experience for the Preservation Society of Newport County, adding that about 15 percent of the $370,000 in ticket sales at The Breakers are from foreign travelers. “The decision to include simultaneous foreign-language programs [at museums] was clearly aimed at exploiting technology to create a better [visitor] experience.”
Smith said that Discover Newport, which is active with Discover New England and the U.S. Travel Association, consistently exhibits at travel tradeshows to build relationships with tour operators, as well as participating in regional sales missions that include journalist-familiarization trips.
Paula Twidale, executive vice president of Collette Vacations in Pawtucket, said establishing such relationships is key.
“[This] will drive awareness and ‘sell’ the state’s rich beauty, history and culture,” Twidale said. “[It] helps to secure Rhode Island as another top destination in popular regional tours that already include Boston and New York City stops.” Brodeur said the state is fortunate to sit within manageable driving distances from both.
He said in addition to marketing Newport, Providence’s culinary presence should be highlighted, along with its mass-transit improvements such as the InterLink facility that opened at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick in late 2010, providing easy commuter service from there through Boston.
“[That’s] one of the things we’re talking about in the international marketplace. It’s an easy thing to do,” Brodeur said. “Interlink is playing a key role and going forward, as it increases, more of the state will be able to benefit from the international customer.” •

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