Tourism can be a critically important driver of local economies and is fueling a boom in tax revenues for many destinations that exceed pre-Covid levels. However, in some communities, there is a growing perception that visitors are to blame for rising congestion, housing costs and other disruptive changes to their quality of life.
For many DMOs, messaging to the local community has become just as important – or even more so – than marketing to prospective visitors.
Local Perceptions
RRC, with nearly 40 years of research experience in resort destinations, has the expertise to find out how well residents understand the benefits and costs of tourism. Do they appreciate how important visitors are to the local tax base? Do they understand how much local businesses rely on tourism spending? What about the economic multiplier effect? How do they feel about special events and their impacts? What are the realities of pre- and post-Covid visitor numbers and are locals familiar with them? Is there confusion around the impacts of new residents vs. short-term visitors?
These are all important questions that DMOs need to know if they are going to effectively communicate with their local residents and continue to be effective and important partners in promoting the local economy.
Get the Big Picture
The RRC research team can also utilize cutting edge mobility data as well as secondary information sources to gauge visitor traffic, lodging trends, local retail activity and tax revenues. Combined with resident sentiment research, these tools allow us to paint a complete picture of tourism impacts and identify effective strategies for messaging to local residents.
Some of our recent clients who have used RRC to gauge local tourism impacts and resident sentiments include:
