Local Hoteliers Launch New Mag, Marketing Campaign

By Desiree Parker Tuesday, February 09, 2010

The Williamsburg Hotel Motel Association has joined forces with Vista Graphics, and will soon launch a new look for its magazine, the Williamsburg Visitor’s Guide, along with an aggressive new marketing strategy aimed at getting more visitors to the area.

Vista will revamp the magazine, which members got to preview at their annual meeting last week, and the magazine will be available both in print and online in the next month or so. Also new for the WHMA will be a redesigned Web site by the end of February and the launch of its new booking engine by March 1.

The magazine used to be managed in-house, but the new partnership with Vista is a good step forward, according to Hotel Motel Association President Chris Canavos. “The electronic magazine is fabulous,” he says, and includes imbedded links to businesses’ Web sites. The partnership with Vista “will increase our circulation and our distribution points. It’s a tremendous opportunity for us going into this year.”

Vista will also begin a direct mail campaign for the WHMA, and an electronic newsletter for members.

To help get the word out about the new Web site and magazine, the association has purchased two full-page ads in the Virginia Beach and Nag’s Head visitors' magazines. They’ve also decided to begin regular email blasts (with links to the new site) to the 50,000-plus email addresses they’ve collected in their database, Canavos said, and they aim to increase that number by 20,000 by year's end.

The WHMA has committed about $65,000 to marketing and organizing its new components. Though their budget is based solely on funds provided by members, this year the association has lowered their fees and dues.

“We’re sensitive to our membership and we made some concessions this year,” says Canavos. Dues have been dropped to $100 for each property, and commissions for bookings have been dropped to 8 percent.

The WHMA will also continue to push the area as a sports destination, trying to pick up occupancy by getting families to stay overnight (or longer) when their kids are playing in sporting events. In February of 2009, the WHMA had about 2,600 sports-related bookings, Canavos says. In just the first week of February this year, they’ve already booked 5,300 room nights for the month.

Canavos says WHMA members are very excited about the plans for the coming year. Though business hasn’t been good in the area for years, Canavos says he’s confident the WHMA will reach its new marketing goals for the year.