Hotel Assoc., CW Pursue Similar Visitor Center Goals

By Desiree Parker Friday, May 28, 2010

Though both organizations say they want to foster collaboration in the Triangle tourism industry, Colonial Williamsburg and the Williamsburg Hotel Motel Association are ramping up their separate efforts to be the primary visitor center tourists use to organize their trips to the area.

Only Colonial Williamsburg is recognized by the state as an official visitor center, but this spring the WHMA decided it was time to open its own similar site on the other side of town. While the WHMA hasn’t yet been recognized by the state, the organization has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the new endeavor and announced Thursday that it has hired a new operations director to help develop and run the center and other related programs. Colonial Williamsburg is also planning on improvements to its area visitor center this summer, making it a better promoter of the Historic Triangle's destinations, according to President Colin Campbell.

Colonial Williamsburg has been recognized as Williamsburg’s only area visitor center by the Virginia Tourism Corporation for decades. Part of the criteria for being recognized by the state includes the center being “located in a convenient and accessible location for the ease of travelers” with “a variety of brochures displaying information on attractions, localities, events, shopping and accommodations across the state,” according to the VTC website.

Campbell said around 1.8 million visitors entered the Visitor Center last year, brought there on CW buses. Even more walked up, he added.

While Campbell championed a collaborative effort this week, the Visitor Center today has a focus decidedly on Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown and its historic sites.

In order to reach the area where information about businesses, attractions and lodgings outside Colonial Williamsburg can be found, a guest entering Colonial Williamsburg’s vast Visitor Center building must first walk past a large Colonial Williamsburg-focused information desk and a host of booking agents for Colonial Williamsburg tickets and properties before reaching a small desk in the rear corner that has information about other local and state businesses. Seated there is a Colonial Williamsburg employee who can answer visitors’ questions about regional attractions and businesses.

In order to see large signs with information about other attractions in the area (like Busch Gardens) located along walls at the end of two wings of the building, visitors must first walk past several ceiling-to-floor signs for Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown historical sites.

Benefits of being recognized by the VTC include Virginia Department of Transportation-approved signage on highways, free brochures at all state welcome centers, free state maps and brochures, prominent listings in the state travel guide, annual familiarization tours for visitor center managers, designation on official state highway maps and free VTC advice and training help.

In March, the Williamsburg Hotel Motel Association decided to invest $200,000 to turn its office at the Village Shops at Kingsmill into a new visitor center called the Greater Williamsburg Tourist Information Center. The WHMA has applied with the VTC to become an authorized site, but hasn’t yet gotten approval.

Though the WHMA didn’t cite unhappiness with the Colonial Williamsburg location as a factor in its decision to open its own visitor center, WHMA president Chris Canavos told the crowd at the new center’s launch that “this is a center that every venue in town will have access to. Everyone in the community will have a say.”

The WHMA visitor center sells tickets to all area attractions and has information on all local retail, restaurant and lodging facilities in the area along with the ability to book reservations for hotels and restaurants for visitors. On their Facebook page, the WHMA information center posts upcoming events and information for all local attractions and venues.

As for whether other localities have multiple visitor centers, it does occur, according to VTC representative Tamra Talmadge-Anderson.

Richmond, for instance, has two, as does Petersburg. Talmadge-Anderson wasn’t sure if any other visitor centers in the state were run by a major tourist destination, and calls to other offices at the VTC to find an answer to the question weren’t returned.

In order to become an official center certain guidelines must be met, including cooperation from a local destination marketing committee, convention and visitors bureau or local government.

The WHMA has often been at odds with the Williamsburg Area Destination Marketing Committee and the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance, and so far, neither they nor any of the local governments or major attractions have publicly supported the new site.

Though no representatives from Colonial Williamsburg attended the opening of the WHMA center, Colonial Williamsburg spokesman Tom Shrout told WYDaily at the time, “We look forward to learning more about the objectives of the proposed center and how such a facility might complement and support what currently exists including what we provide in Colonial Williamsburg's Visitor Center.”

This week, Colonial Williamsburg President Colin Campbell announced plans are now in the works to improve the Visitor Center. “We are planning significant upgrades, updates and cosmetic improvements at the facility in order that it can more fully realize its potential to meet the needs of travelers and to promote the Historic Triangle as a multi-faceted destination as it has for more than 50 years,” he said.

“This will benefit not only Colonial Williamsburg but the entire tourism industry in the Triangle. We will update and expand on regional information available at the Center about attractions, lodging and dining, locate that information in a prominent space and make design improvements which will draw even more visitors to it. We will start making these changes soon and phase the improvements over the next several months, working around what we hope will be large crowds passing through in the upcoming season.”

As to why the organization decided to do this renovation now, Shrout said, “Colonial Williamsburg over the years has engaged in ongoing assessment and improvements at the Visitor Center, most recently as the regional center for the 400th anniversary commemoration of Jamestown. The Civil War sesquicentennial approaches and we want to continue to promote and support the Historic Triangle as a destination.

“Our objective is to make the experience as welcoming, clear and efficient for guests as possible. For more than 50 years the Visitor Center has evolved to provide guest information and services about our area and it continues to be best positioned to do so.”

Canavos said the WHMA supported Colonial Williamsburg’s new plan, and said “I applaud [Campbell’s] decision to move forward on this. We can and will support [it].”

Meanwhile, the WHMA is waiting to hear on the status of its application with the VTC, and they announced Thursday that they’ve hired a new director of operations, Priscilla Caldwell, who has previously worked for both Colonial Williamsburg and the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance (see breakout).