By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green was the destination this year for King Midget car owners, for tractor pulling fans, and for arts and music lovers.
Next year, the city hopes to add events for wine producers and disc golf enthusiasts.
The Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce, earlier this year, took over the job of marketing the city for events – with great success, according to city officials.
“The Chamber of Commerce has done an outstanding job with the Visit BG concept,” Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter said at Monday’s City Council meeting. “We’re seeing efficiency. We’re seeing effectiveness.”
Mary Hinkelman, executive director of the chamber, explained that Bowling Green is not necessarily considered a “destination.” But events held here make it a place people want to visit, she said.
“People want experiences. They want to come to see things they can’t see anywhere else,” she said.
Hinkelman acknowledged that it took some effort to take on the additional role of marketing the city for events.
“This year has been a little painful,” she said. But the work has paid off, she added.
“We’re looking for opportunities, creating opportunities, fostering great hospitality,” Hinkelman said.
At the same time, the budget to do so was cut nearly in half since the amount raised in hotel/motel taxes was greatly reduced due to the COVID pandemic.
But efforts were made to meet needs of existing events, by providing shuttle services between local hotels and the tractor pulls and Black Swamp Arts Festival.
“We felt that was very, very successful,” Hinkelman said.
And efforts are underway to attract new events in the city, such as expanding baseball tournaments at Carter Park, and supporting improvements to the disc golf course at Carter Park to attract tournaments.
“We’re really excited about that,” she said.
The chamber is also working with the Ohio Wine Producers Association to bring an event to the Wood County Fairgrounds.
Council member Sandy Rowland complimented Hinkelman for taking on the role of marketing the city.
“Changes are painful,” Rowland said. “But now you truly have partnerships with the hotels, who bring in tax revenue.”
An advisory committee was appointed by Mayor Mike Aspacher to give guidance to the chamber. The committee included representatives of local hotels, events, the city, BGSU and the downtown.
The goals were to:
- Look for opportunities.
- Create opportunities.
- Find efficiencies.
- Foster great hospitality practices.
- Review all marketing dollars spent.
- Grow a digital presence.
Successes this year:
- Hotel shuttles pilot. The advisory committee provided funding and developed the idea of shuttles from Bowling Green hotels during the National Tractor Pulling Championships and the Black Swamp Arts Festival. Shuttles ran a loop to each hotel as well as a stop downtown. The tractor pull shuttles reported continuous use. The committee is looking for ways to make the new shuttles work with the shuttles already provided by the arts festival.
- Visit BG Ohio tourism grant. Investment in capital improvement projects, support of existing events and attracting new events were examined, as well as providing financial support to encourage public art and cultural events.
Two grants have been awarded and one additional request will be submitted for review.
One grant went to the tractor pull to support the shuttle service from hotels again in 2022. The tractor pull plans to market this to all ticket holders, giving Bowling Green hotels an advantage to capture those hotel stays. These shuttles also made it convenient for anyone going to the event to be dropped off in the downtown to dine and shop.
The other grant was awarded to GAS Disc Golf Tournaments, which asked for support in making upgrades to the course at Carter Park. These upgrades will make the course more competitive. This is an opportunity, Hinkelman said, to create tournaments that may bring in overnight stays, as well as the opportunity for an existing business or new business to sell disc golf equipment locally.
The third grant that will be submitted is to provide support to the Ohio Wine Producers Association for an event that is being considered for Bowling Green in October 2022.
Hinkelman also listed other hospitality and additional services provided to visitors to Bowling Green:
- Maintained a user-friendly website and monthly e-blast.
- Maintained the Go-BG Ohio calendar and map.
- Acted as concierge to the city on requests of where to eat, shop and explore.
- Helped large groups work with BG restaurants for reservations and group pricing.
- Provided visitor services at the tractor pull and arts festival.
- Worked with the King Midget Car Club to organize its jamboree, including a car show in the downtown. The jamboree resulted in 65 hotel rooms for two nights, plus shopping and dining throughout the city.
- Helped the organizers of the Bicycle Swap Meet.
- Promoted Soccer Challenge events.
- Provided visitor services at the Painted Clover Vintage Market and promoted upcoming holiday events.
- Promoted and helped with Rally BG on Main.
Hinkelman also talked about the efforts to improve efficiencies in promoting Bowling Green as a place to visit, such as:
- Digital Advertising with a new publication resulted in almost 4,000 requests for the BG Magazine. The mailing costs were reduced from almost $6 to $2 each, not including the cost of the magazine.
- The move to the new location, and sharing employees and contract services have resulted in cost savings, and have allowed the office to pay competitive wages and offer full-time positions.
- The reorganization has resulted in resources to offer full-time employees health insurance in 2022.
