Williamsburg 2017 Brand Health Study Executive Summary October 2017
Survey Background
Brand Health research respondents Fielded July 6 17, 2017 1,500 respondents, 50/50 mix of HH w/kids and HH w/o kids, in five markets Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Raleigh-Durham Sole or primary vacation destination decision makers for active travel HHs Five modules to the research Demographics Baseline awareness, visitation, intent, destination momentum Association with key vacation concepts for three markets (WMBG, Philadelphia and Outer Banks) Ranking of vacation activities on the dimension of fun; fun perception ranking of comparison destinations Williamsburg s association with fun and vacation concepts
Key Findings
Destination momentum* continues to be strongly positive for the fourth year in a row Comparison Destinations Ranked by Visitation Intent Orlando, FL New York City Washington, DC 31.1% Visitation Intent % who plan to visit in the next three years Myrtle Beach, SC Ocean City, MD The Outer Banks, NC Williamsburg, VA Philadelphia, PA The Jersey Shore, NJ 21.0% Past Visitation % who have visited in the past three years Boston, MA Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA Charleston, SC Savannah, GA Asheville, NC Raleigh-Durham, NC 10.1% Destination Momentum Visitation Intent Past Visitation Shenandoah Valley, VA area Richmond, VA Gettysburg, PA Q14c: Spent at least one night in the past three years in this destination in the past three years Q14d: Likely to spend at least one night in this destination in the next three years Destination momentum = Q14d- Q14c
* Destination Momentum Explanation Destination Momentum is essentially a net promoter score, calculated by the variance between Intent to Visit and Past Visitation. Positive Destination Momentum indicates more visitors plan to travel here in the future then have been here in the past. Intent to Visit is the percentage of respondents who stated they intend to take an overnight trip to Greater Williamsburg sometime in the next three years. Past Visitation is the percentage of respondents who stated they did take an overnight trip to Greater Williamsburg sometime in the past three years. Our rank is calculated by comparing our specific scores to those of the destinations in our competitive set.
We are in the top ten among our comparison markets for momentum, intent and past visitation Comparison Destinations Ranked by Visitation Intent Orlando, FL New York City Washington, DC 7th Visitation Intent % who plan to visit in the next three years Myrtle Beach, SC Ocean City, MD The Outer Banks, NC Williamsburg, VA Philadelphia, PA The Jersey Shore, NJ 10 th Past Visitation % who have visited in the past three years Boston, MA Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA Charleston, SC Savannah, GA Asheville, NC Raleigh-Durham, NC 5th Destination Momentum Visitation Intent Past Visitation Shenandoah Valley, VA area Richmond, VA Gettysburg, PA Q14c: Spent at least one night in the past three years in this destination in the past three years Q14d: Likely to spend at least one night in this destination in the next three years Destination momentum = Q14d- Q14c
Advertising + previous visitation is a powerful driver of visitation intent, especially for HHs with kids 31.1% Visitation Intent among all respondents HHs w/o kids HHs with kids Overall Visitation Intent among respondents who have seen our ads AND previously visited Williamsburg 58.5% (+27.4%) 79.3% (+48.2%) Overall Visitation Intent among respondents who have seen our ads AND HAVE NOT previously visited Williamsburg 25.1% (-6.0%) 34.7% (+3.6%) HOW TO READ: 79.3% of HH w/kids who have been to Williamsburg in the past three years AND who recall seeing our advertising intend to come to Williamsburg within the next three years.
2017 Visitation Intent 2017 Market Visitation intent is generally higher for respondents that live closer to Williamsburg For four out of five markets, Williamsburg is in the top ten vs. our list of comparison markets. Philadelphia Washington Baltimore Raleigh New York 29.1% 36.6% 34.4% 33.8% 21.5% Ranked 8 th Ranked 7 th Ranked 6 th Ranked 9 th Ranked 11 th Q14d: Likely to spend at least one night in this destination in the next three years
2016 2017 Proximity s importance is also reflected in the numbers about past visitation Washington Baltimore Raleigh Philadelphia New York 39.4% 24.7% 21.2% 9.4% 13.3% 28.9% 23.9% 28.1% 17.3% 12.5% 153 198 210 300 387 miles miles miles miles miles
Visitation intent for those who strongly associate WMBG with this concept Outdoors 2016 Fun History Drivers of visitation intent varies by market, with history as stronger driver for more distant markets, and other drivers such as fun and outdoors stronger for closer markets Washington Baltimore Raleigh Philadelphia New York 39.4% 33.3% 24.7% 40.6% 21.2% 32.9% 48.2% 9.4% 13.3% 47.5% 28.9% 44.3% 23.9% 32.9% 28.1% 34.9% 17.3% 33.8% 12.5% 29.2% 28.9% 39.3% 23.9% 33.1% 28.1% 33.3% 17.3% 32.5% 12.5% 24.6% 153 miles 198 miles 210 miles 300 miles 387 miles
Proximity also impacts where Williamsburg fits into your overall trip planning On my last trip to the area, the Williamsburg/Yorktown/Jamestown area was: Distance from Williamsburg My ONLY destination My PRIMARY destination For travelers living closer to the area, Williamsburg is much more likely to be the traveler s only or Less than 200 miles away 50.8% Washington 53.3% Baltimore 26.3% Washington 32.0% Baltimore primary destination Over 70% of those visiting in the Between 200 & 300 miles away 34.8% Raleigh 30.3% Raleigh past three years from Washington or Baltimore reported that the Williamsburg area was their only or primary destination on the trip More than 300 miles away 37.9% Philadelphia 26.8% New York 37.9% Philadelphia 36.5% New York that brought them to Williamsburg Q25. You mentioned that you have visited WILLIAMSBURG, VA, as an adult in the past three years. For your last trip to WILLIAMSBURG, VA, which of the following best describes your trip:
As you move further away, Williamsburg becomes less of a primary destination and more a part of a multi-city trip On my last trip to the area, the Williamsburg/Yorktown/Jamestown area was: Distance from Williamsburg For travelers living further away, ONE OF MANY destinations A SECONDARY destination Williamsburg is more likely to be Less than 200 miles away the one of many destinations visited by the traveler on the same 13.1% Washington 9.3% Baltimore 2.5% Washington 7.6% Baltimore trip Between 200 & 300 miles away Visitors from Raleigh, Philadelphia and New York are all much more 21.1% Raleigh 13.6% Raleigh likely to visit Williamsburg as part More than 300 miles away of a multi-destination trip 17.4% Philadelphia 26.8% New York 6.9% Philadelphia 9.8% New York Q25. You mentioned that you have visited WILLIAMSBURG, VA, as an adult in the past three years. For your last trip to WILLIAMSBURG, VA, which of the following best describes your trip:
When it comes to fun perception, Williamsburg is grouped with a number of markets near the average fun score For all travelers, our score of 5.85 was close to the average score for our comparison markets. Destination fun rankings (overall) 7.00+ 6.99 6.00 5.99 5.00 4.99<= Orlando New York City Myrtle Beach Washington DC The Outer Banks Ocean City, MD Boston, MA Charleston, SC Norfolk/VA Beach Williamsburg Savannah Philadelphia The Jersey Shore Asheville Shenandoah Valley Gettysburg Raleigh-Durham Richmond Q17 - Let's continue with the word fun, but this time, let's look at the list of destinations. On this question, you simply move the slider based on your perception of how much fun a vacation in that destination would be. If you've been to the destination, base your answer just on YOUR experiences in the destination. If you haven't been to the destination, base your answer on much fun you'd think YOU would have on a vacation to the destination. NEW question in 2017
Strength of WMBG fun ranking is strong predictor of visitation intent. Those respondents who rated Williamsburg as a 7 or better on the fun scale had significantly higher visitation intent than even those who had a modestly lower fun score. Williamsburg Visitation Intent, by fun ranking 7.00+ 6.99 6.00 5.99 5.00 4.99<= 48.0% 31.9% 28.2% 9.5% Q17 - Let's continue with the word fun, but this time, let's look at the list of destinations. On this question, you simply move the slider based on your perception of how much fun a vacation in that destination would be. If you've been to the destination, base your answer just on YOUR experiences in the destination. If you haven't been to the destination, base your answer on much fun you'd think YOU would have on a vacation to the destination. NEW question in 2017
Below is a list of possible vacation experiences, ranked by how fun travelers perceive these activities to be on a typical vacation. Note that this generally is as much many people enjoy the activities vs. how fun inherently these activities are. For instance, golf, which scored the lowest, had about 10.0% of respondents rank it as 7.00 or more for fun. For eating out at local restaurants, 73.1% of respondents ranked it as 7.00 or more for fun.. Activity fun rankings (overall) 7.00+ 6.99 6.00 5.99 5.00 4.99<= Eating out at local restaurants Learning something new Visiting any kind of museum Hiking and/or biking Relaxing and swimming at the beach or pool Trying something new Doing nothing but relaxing Attending a local festival Attending live music or theatre events Visiting historical sites and buildings Visiting local craft breweries/ wineries Going to a spa Interactive history learning experiences Shopping at a mall or outlet Kayaking and/or paddleboarding Attending a sporting event Camping Fishing Riding theme park rides/going to a water park Playing golf Q16 - Let's go a little deeper on the idea of fun. Below is a list of activities that you could do on your next vacation, or that you've done on past vacation. For each activity, use the slide to note how "fun" that that activity was to YOU on a past vacation. If is an activity that you haven't done, use the slide to note how much fun YOU think that activity would be to do on a future vacation. NEW question in 2017
So, what did we learn?
Destination momentum is strong, and continues to grow year-over-year HH w/kids continue to show stronger destination momentum, visitation intent and destination perception We are in the middle of the pack when it comes to overall destination fun perception; however, we have activities that are considered fun that we can focus on to improve that perception Many of the activities that considered fun by the most people can be grouped under the umbrella of new or discovery Awareness of our advertising and past experience in the market improve intent to travel and fun perception of Williamsburg
Proximity is a key predictor of visitation intent The stronger you associate WMBG with a key vacation concept, the greater your visitation intent A close association with History is a stronger predictor of visita- tion intent for further away markets, and less so for closer markets We are more likely to be a primary destination for those from closer markets, and a secondary destination for those further away About half of our adult visitors are first-time visitors