How Retail Impacts Tourism and Vice Versa
Tourism can have a huge economic impact on any given community. Whether tourists come to town for live music, a sporting event or local attractions, it’s important to have “sub attractions” that appeal to tourists during their down time.
Retail stores are often good avenues to build upon a tourist’s visit and could possibly even extend their stay. Today there must be more than souvenir and gift shops to draw the visitor in. Funky coffee shops, unique clothing and novelty stores and rooftop bars/restaurants are a few examples that can add to the tourist experience. Tourists want to eat where the locals eat, shop where they shop and do what they do in town. Whether it’s a big city or a quaint little town, visitors come with an idea of what the place will be like – from trendy nightlife and dining to eccentric shops. Does your destination offer what tourists are looking for? If not, it might be time for an expansion program.
The first step in offering sub attractions that line up with visitor interests is understanding your visitor. You can collect key demographics that includes the visitor’s city of origin, number in the party, and length of stay etc. from local attractions and lodging facilities, sign in books from your CVB and can be supplemented with information from state tourism offices, regional tourism societies and third party research data.
This information can help you develop visitor profiles and segments, identify potential future visitors and uncover types of sub attractions your destination can add to align with visitor intent and expectation.
Want to talk more with us about how your destination can leverage retail to boost tourism? Let’s talk.
Learn more about how we can help you adapt to the evolving marketing landscape and ramp up your efforts.
Share This Story
July 15, 2025
In this level, we move from understanding the terminology of AI to exploring the platforms marketers actually use. Think of these as tools for your playable characters, each with their own strengths, quirks, and ideal use cases. Some are built for content creation, others for analysis, automation, or design. Time to experiment!
June 13, 2025
The next step is where rubber meets road – enter the upgrade chamber and prepare to be tested, sharpened and propelled forward.
June 13, 2025
Running a successful bakery means understanding how a cake is made. If we understand the basic ingredients and steps, the cake will turn out as it should. The same idea applies when working with artificial intelligence. Let’s explore how cake-making helps us grasp the essentials of generative AI.