Business Views: Cities should put aside territorial concerns and work together

If you were to find yourself in the middle of, let's say Iowa, and you told a someone you were from Nevada, the person most likely would assume you were from Las Vegas.

They might even be aware enough to suggest that you were from Reno. If prompted, they would tell you they had heard of Lake Tahoe.

If the person was a trivia buff, he or she might even know the capital of Nevada is Carson City, but very few of them would place Carson City just 30 miles south of Reno.

This is nothing new. Any of us that have traveled out of state know general knowledge of our region is quite limited.

This identity problem has prompted several public agencies during the last few years to try to pull together tourism marketing groups in order to present a unified effort.

The Nevada Commission on Tourism has tried to open dialogue between our communities with several meetings that began right after the floods of 1997. Topics of discussion included which markets to target, a unified logo or colors or theme to "brand" our region and what message we should be sending.

The one theme they could all support was establishing our region as a first- class golf destination. A golf media tour was developed.

Members of the national media were invited to experience and write about our golf and Reno, Lake Tahoe, Carson City, Carson Valley and the tourism commission contributed funding. The tour is now in its third year and has helped our region claim an identity in the golf arena.

Reno Tahoe Territory, a volunteer group of both public and private tourism officials from Reno, Carson City, Virginia City, Carson Valley and Lake Tahoe, has been developing regional advertising pieces for several years. Funded by the tourism commission, they have developed a Tour Operator Manual, Visitors Guide, RV Brochure, video, slide presentation, Web site, (www.renotahoe.com) a CD and several tour familiarization tours. Representatives of the territory also attend trade shows, including staffing a booth at Cal Expo during the California State Fair. They also attend the National Tour Association and American Bus Association conferences.

Advertising and public relations for the region are not included in the territory's marketing plans. Many see the Reno Tahoe Territory as "bus oriented."

Recently, Citizens for a Common Agenda made an attempt to gather public tourism officials again to see if a common thread could be developed for regional marketing.

The threat of Indian gaming in California has naturally caught the attention of business members. They are worried our area could see a decline of 14 percent to 20 percent in visitor spending if nothing is done to counteract this threat.

This time the group decided the one project they could agree on was the Reno/Tahoe International Airport and the importance of improved air service.

So we have a new group with a new focus. Will it work?

I recently attended a workshop at the annual Western Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus entitled " Working With the Enemy - Regional Partnerships that Work."

Eight communities in the Dallas and Forth Worth area were able to set aside their differences and form The Dallas Metroplex. Convention and visitors bureaus from Addison, Arlington, Dallas, Forth Worth, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Lewisville, Mesquite and Plano met and created a new entity that pooled consumer advertising resources to make a bigger splash as one region, since that was how the customer perceived the area.

Sound familiar? The program was designed to be an imaging campaign primarily, building a brand for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They wanted to out market their competition - San Antonio and Houston - for busy summer weekend business. They cautioned, "The customer doesn't know geographic boundaries. Don't confuse them by forcing all the city names."

An even more impressive regional campaign called SOUTHCOASTUSA. It was formed by four states and 10 cities along the Gulf Coast. Its goals were to brand the Gulf Coast region as a year-round destination, to develop a regional product to attract quality visitors and to work as a team regardless of the size of a destination or promotional budgets.

They began their "cartel" with the idea that "coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success."

Each of these regional efforts learned the visitor wants more than one experience and is not concerned with staying within a geographical box.

Hearing about these two successful regional efforts has given me renewed hope that we will also be able to put aside our territorial concerns and work together. It seems the ground work for this spirit of cooperation has been laid.

The ingredients for a strong regional destination are all in place. Can Reno/Sparks, Carson City, Carson Valley, Lake Tahoe and Virginia City all work together for a common goal?

I think we are getting closer. If the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority hires a new CEO with a strong regional attitude, we may actually succeed.