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The “McCullough Effect,” as local tourism officials have dubbed it, materialized more in human presence than tax revenue in Marietta last year.
Pulitzer winner David McCullough released his book “The Pioneers,” focusing on the tales of early settlers of Marietta and the Northwest Settlement last spring and at the time local museums and other sites prepared for an influx in attendance.
“For the museums, it went fantastic,” said Le Ann Hendershot at the Campus Martius Museum Tuesday. “We saw our attendance increase drastically some months, like in January, it doubled.”
The museum at the corner of Second and Washington streets even opened an additional day for tours--Tuesday.
“We thought it might be a flop, but Tuesdays are one of our busiest days right now,” said Hendershot. “And we started an insider’s tour that’s a special two-hour tour more focused on aspects of the book. It’s more intimate with only 20 people per tour.”
That trial run was vetted six times in 2019, and Hendershot said it will be offered again April-October this year.
“Plus, the paperback version of ‘The Pioneers’ is supposed to come out May 5 this year, so maybe we’ll see another spike then, too,” she said. “Almost every day of the week, we hear someone saying they’re here because of the book.”
Likewise, at the Marietta-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, located on the ground floor of the Armory, 241 Front St., walk-in inquiries have risen 80 percent from 2018.
“There were 2,700 walk-ins recorded. I attribute most of that to David McCullough,” said executive director Deana Clark. “I was hoping that would bring in $20,000 to $30,000 in additional revenue for the McCullough Effect, but the daily room rates were so low that we didn’t see that.”
Instead, both the Marietta city general fund and the CVB barely topped their budgeted revenues for 2019.
“It’s not something to write home about,” explained Budget and Procurement Director Bill Dauber. “We were favorable by about $11,285 from what we budgeted, but it pales in comparison to what was brought in in 2018.”
City revenues from the hotel/motel bed tax in 2019 were $443,949.85, but $481,513.29 in 2018.
The CVB took in a revenue of $221,974.93 in 2019.
“But we were pretty conservative in our budget, so we just make those revenues without going over,” said Clark.
Clark said to try and drive further tourism attention to Marietta, the bureau not only went the traditional advertising routes of full-page ads in Ohio Magazine and OhioTourism but also paid for a billboard on Interstate 77 nine miles south of Marietta in West Virginia.
“And we set aside about $14,000 in TV/Radio/Newspaper extras to be determined throughout the year,” she said. “That’s where we got the money for our travel bloggers, for sponsoring races during the Powerboat Nationals while they were filming here and for sponsoring Roadtrip Masters to come to Marietta.”
Payouts for those advertising dollars, she said, she hopes to see in this year’s tourism season.
The CVB has its annual meeting scheduled for Monday at the Riviera at the Valley Gem off of Front Street below the Washington Street bridge.
The meeting is scheduled to open with light refreshments at 5:30 p.m. and officially cover business with its members at 6 p.m.
Clark said she also plans to attend one of the two days of a symposium on the settling of Ohio to be held at Ohio University this month.
Topics include regional cultural landscapes and even a keynote presentation asking, “What if Manasseh Cutler was Black?”
The symposium will be held at Ohio University Feb. 21-22.
For more information on the lectures offered, visit ohio.edu/settling-ohio.
Janelle Patterson can be reached at jpatterson@mariettatimes.com.
Marietta-Washington County Advertising Budget 2019:
• Ohio Magazine, four full-page ads with one partnership with The Castle: $ 11,800.
• (NEW) TourismOhio State Travel Guide (2019): $ 2,140.
• (NEW) TourimOhio Events Magazine (Four events featured; cost is $197.50 per event per partner – CVB splitting costs): $790.
• (NEW) Billboard on I-77: $14,000.
• Peoples Bank Theatre: $550.
• Digital Display Ad Campaign: $12,000.
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Campaign: $12,000.
• WMOA Radio: $1,000.
• Facebook: $1,000.
• Brochure distribution:
• Amish Country: $ 3,855 .
• Ohio Travel Pavilion: $ 1,465.
• Day trip – Hocking Hills: $1,980.
• TV; Additional radio; newspaper; Open money throughout the year: $14,718.
Source: Marietta-Washington County CVB.
By the numbers:
• The Marietta city general fund received $443,949.85 from the hotel/motel bed tax in 2019, 3 percent more than budgeted for, but lower than 2018 revenues.
• In 2018, the city received $481,513.29 from the same tax.
• The Marietta-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau received $221,974.93 from that tax in 2019.
Source: Marietta City Administration.