Client: Yarmouth, Massachusetts

Defining the Allure

Cape towns fine-tune their images to attract tourists

By: Joe Heitz - Staff Writer
April 12, 2005

Same ol' beaches and ocean.

It's been almost half a century since Patti Page first sang her ode to "sand dunes and salty air," yet Cape Cod remains to many America's quintessential vacation destination - a real-life picture postcard of beaches and boats and cherished childhood memories.

But what's the enduring allure of this curling peninsula? Why do almost 5 million visitors come back year after year after year?

With the $1.3 billion tourism behemoth topping the list of local industry, business leaders are taking another look at what makes the Cape - and its towns - something special.

Simply put, they're brushing up on branding, both collectively and within their communities.

"Each town is not created equal," said Wendy Northcross, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. "Each has unique assets."

Year-round destination

When people think of Cape Cod, they usually think of beaches.
And, yes, beaches are the No. 1 tourist activity on the Cape, according to the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.

But Northcross said she hopes tourists will see even more.

The Cape Cod Chamber has launched advertising efforts - print and broadcast - that cast the region as a year-round destination, in an effort to boost business in the so-called "shoulder seasons."

Among the Cape's seasonal offerings:

Spring: Arts and culture. Check out an art gallery or museum.

Summer: Sand, sun and family fun. Quintessential Cape Cod.

Fall: Natural, quiet beauty of the Cape. "The fall really appeals to empty nesters," Northcross said.

Winter: Warm and cozy, the perfect time to curl up in one of the Cape's many bed-and-breakfasts.

The chamber is primarily targeting New Englanders with this revamped identity campaign. After all, Northcross said, the bulk of visitors come from within a 500-mile radius - a reality of the post-Sept. 11, 2001, mind-set.
Most of the chamber's marketing money comes through the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. These state grants in fiscal 2004 - which ends in June - amounted to almost $698,000, said Kristen McMenamy, the chamber's vice president of tourism marketing. That's about a 10 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, she said.

State grants comprise most of the chamber's marketing money, which is then earmarked for everything from seasonal promotion and online advertising to staffing at the visitor center.
And once a tourist spends some time on the Cape or islands, Northcross added they'll come to see it as anything but a homogenous stretch of seaside towns. Each one, Northcross maintained, can offer something different to tourists.

It's simply a matter of matching tourists to towns.

Yarmouth

With the most hotel rooms of any town on the Cape, Yarmouth - for better or worse - may be synonymous with tourism.

But what's the allure of this community sandwiched between its timeless foliage-and-clapboard Route 6A corridor and a highly commercialized Route 28, that stretch of neon and concrete flanked by fast food and mini golf?
The town has hired Tennessee-based North Star Destination Strategies to determine exactly that.

"It will clearly describe the perceptions of our community," said Bob DuBois, executive director of the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce. "And though it's cliché, perception is reality."

North Star has gone so far as recommending name changes - Mobile, Ala., revamped as Mobile Bay? - to give a destination a stronger identity. DuBois, however, said Yarmouth will remain Yarmouth after the firm submits its recommendations later this month.

Essentially, the Mid-Cape town is seeking insight into how to cast itself as a good place to spend a vacation or retirement.

"We're trying to put some good science into how we're positioning our community," DuBois said.

What do people like about Yarmouth? What don't they like? And what's most notable about the town?

And what Yarmouth learns as "a matured tourism destination" will be a precursor to its increasingly commercialized neighbors, he predicted.

The town's aging hotels and a dearth of open space complicate its renewal efforts.

"In some ways," DuBois said, "the challenges we experience in Yarmouth are a sneak preview for what other towns will experience in the future."