Executive Summary

The Granville Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to take a leadership role in spearheading the creation of such a tangible, centrally located, and comprehensive area resource center to provide information and referral to residents and visitors.  The Granville area is rich in valuable public resources, products, services, venues, culture, and history. A centralized visitor and information center, both physical and internet-accessible, will establish a singular point of contact to connect with the hundreds of diverse resources offered from businesses, municipal entities, community organizations, public institutions and historical organizations.
The Granville Visitor & Information Center delivers three principle benefits.
Supports and serves to sustain Granville’s local economy.
Centralizes heritage tourism services.
Provides convenient broad-based information and referral.

What is the Granville Visitor & Information Center?

1. It is a physical address prominently located on Broadway.
2. It is an internet-accessible web address.
3. It is a cooperative resource among the Village of Granville, Granville Township, Denison University, the Granville Recreational District, and the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Granville Visitor & Information Center, as envisioned by leaders of the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce, will tangibly place Granville among the favorite heritage visitor destinations for Central Ohio and Licking County specifically.  Granville is a natural heritage destination and over the years has sustained and celebrated itself through its history, culture, architecture, ambience, educational opportunities, and local shopping.

The concept of the Center is a vital first-stop location that satisfies an unmet need for visitors, answering questions like, “Is there a map for a walking tour?” “What are the upcoming cultural events?” and “Where are the museums?.” It also serves as a singular, convenient source of information for residents, answering questions like  “Where can I get that?\” “Who provides the service I need?” and “What programs are available to me locally?”  

Granville is blessed with so many diverse groups, organizations and businesses offering our community events, programs, products, services, assistance and aid. The more awareness of the availability of these local resources the greater the likelihood of the community’s participation, utilization, support and benefit. All of these enrich our quality of life. Unfortunately, information on the scope of these local resources is both limited and as diverse as the resources themselves. Larger, well-established entities have their own channels while smaller entities have little or no presence among the general population, including those who visit our town. Additionally, as visitors arrive, they are unable to fully discover the richness of our community because resources are not available in a centralized location at times when they are likely to be in town.

Benefits of the Granville Visitor & Information Center

Visitors & Residents

• A convenient, singular point of contact connecting them to an ever-increasing scope of resources and knowledge in the Granville area.
• An increased awareness of local services, organizations and products.
• An increased participation and utilization of area resources, history, and culture and an enriched quality of life.

Area Business & Organizations

• Maximizing local spending to protect, promote and present our Granville area economy.
• Increased awareness, participation, use, and financial support.

 

Supporting Our Local Economy

It is difficult, if not impossible, for most Granville businesses to survive exclusively on the trade of local residents.  Attracting visitors who are potential customers from outside of Granville is essential to assure their success and the community’s overall economic health.

The concept of a Granville Visitor & Information Center further embraces the Village of Granville and their stated development goals within the Comprehensive Plan, as one strategy that helps maximize the local economy. By including information and referral to area businesses, the Center helps keep dollars circulating within our economy. Those dollars contribute to tax revenue via employment and business taxes. Those dollars expand products and services offered within the community. Those dollars support countless organizations, events, programs and non-profits. Those dollars feed the local community, helping to sustain and grow the resources that enrich our lives.

The Granville Area Chamber of Commerce, as the leader in creating the Granville Visitor & Information Center, also recognizes fully that heritage tourism begins with an appropriate destination, and that partnerships and related efforts would be forgone without a united approach to developing and presenting Granville as a visitor destination, especially as the new 161 corridor opens and metropolitan Columbus approaches.

To successfully attract visitors and their expenditures, careful planning, marketing, management and significant cooperation and support must occur among stakeholders. To that end, a board consisting of the major stakeholders, with the Center’s director, makes decisions based on principles of partnership, cooperation, and mutually beneficial alliances. At every step of business and market development, there is a reflection of the basic Granville Visitor & Information Center vision, mission, and strategic goals as they relate to key industry priorities.

This proposal assumes a two-year start up collaborative effort including Granville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Village of Granville, Granville Township, Denison University, and the Granville Recreation District.  Support in the form of funding and representative participation is requested from each of the five stakeholders until January 31, 2012, at which time an evaluation by all stakeholders will be completed and a decision made as how to proceed.

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VISION

The Granville Visitor & Information Center will provide tourists and residents with centralized information services under the leadership of the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce and in partnership with Granville Village, Granville Township, Denison University, and Granville Recreation District to protect, sustain and responsibly grow the local economy.

MISSION

The Granville Visitor & Information Center will present Granville as a heritage destination location for tourism, higher education, and business.  In doing so, the Granville Visitor & Information Center Board will develop policies and practices so that it may:

• Maintain and improve the quality of our community
• Sustain and grow a vital business environment, which is the heart of downtown Granville and key to its surrounding areas, and essential to its character.
• Sustain the quality of life for Granville residents and businesses.
• Provide a warm welcome to visitors through the services and personnel of the Granville Visitor & Information Center.

It is understood that visitor numbers will increase through our efforts with visitors staying longer and returning for Granville’s heritage tourism benefits, and that increased foot traffic in our business-friendly community will yield critical long term benefits for both residents and businesses in a recovering economy.  It is also understood that Granville residents cannot alone sustain the retail, lodging and restaurant business that is at the heart of the Village and its surrounding areas and essential to continued success.

 

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Goals and Objectives

• To provide convenient, centralized information and referral to the community.
• To maintain an active web-based identity.
• To support and responsibly grow the local economy.
• To actively promote Granville as a key heritage destination in Central Ohio.
• To provide high quality assistance, information and service to residents, businesses, and visitors about Granville, its attractions, retail and professional community, and services
• To ensure residents and visitors have access to comprehensive, up-to-date and easily understood information on opportunities and experiences available to them.
• To work closely and co-operatively with stakeholders: the Village, Township, Denison University, and Granville Recreation District to integrate and complement a vibrant inclusive Town & Gown relationship.
• To compile, publish and distribute information publicizing and promoting Granville’s heritage, culture, recreation, higher education, shopping and services.
• To encourage, sponsor,andsponsor, and promote ways and means of accommodating, entertaining, and providing facilities for visitors to Granville.
• To work closely and co-operatively with the local and regional Chambers of Commerce and Tourism Bureaus to effectively promote the Granville area.

 

Key Strategic Marketing Directions

• Reinforce Granville’s Heritage Tourism advantage through its long, well-documented history.
• Deliver a strong image of a safe, clean and attractive destination in all markets.
• Emphasize memorabilia sales.
• Provide special interest packages to increase the length of stay and revenue in the destination; increase visitor demand in the off season and mid-week.
• Develop and continually improve on evaluating programs and a web-based presence to facilitate the reporting of accurate and timely performance measurement and benchmarking.
• Assemble new strategic alliances and strengthen current partnerships to diversify market segments and business development. The search for new sales and visitor spending will remain a priority.

 

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Congruency with the Granville Draft Comprehensive Plan

The Granville Visitor & Information Center is consistent with the policy recommendations  contained in the draft Comprehensive Plan,  From the plan:

“Develop a heritage tourism plan to support the economic vitality of the community while also respecting its historic character of place.  Heritage tourism is generally defined as ‘travel directed toward experiencing the arts, culture, or a special sense of place.’  It is a growing segment of the multi-billion dollar national tourism industry. The Travel Industry Association, the national tourism trade organization, has conducted several studies of the economic impact of heritage tourism.  Its latest statistics from 2003 concluded that:"

• 81% of the 146.4 million US adults who traveled at least 50 miles from home in the past year could be considered cultural and heritage tourists
• Compared to other travelers, cultural and heritage tourists spend more ($623 vs. $457);
• Use a hotel, motel or Bed and Breakfast (62% vs. 55%);
• Are more likely to spend over $1,000 (19% vs. 12%); and
• Travel longer (5.2 nights vs. 3.4 nights).

 

"Additionally, the demographic profile of the cultural heritage tourist is younger, wealthier, better educated and more technologically savvy than when the first survey was conducted in 1996.  Granville is ideally suited to take advantage of heritage tourism as an economic development tool.  The community has a number of unique lodging facilities, restaurants and locally-owned shops, along with special events that take place in the downtown, at Bryn Du, or other facilities in the community that are attractive to heritage tourists.  While pursuing heritage tourism, it is critical to remember that heritage tourists enjoy authenticity, which is also what contributes to the quality of life for a community’s residents.  The more livable and real a place is, the more it is likely to attract heritage tourists.  By developing a comprehensive heritage tourism plan to promote and package activities, Granville can maximize the potential of this segment of the tourism industry to benefit both the village and the township.  The Preserve America program provides funding for planning activities of this type."

"Utilize Preserve America funding for implementation of preservation and heritage tourism strategies.  Preserve America is a federal initiative to “recognize exceptional efforts to use cultural resources to promote tourism and community revitalization, to create jobs, and to educate the public.”  Granville is one of only eight Ohio communities that have received this designation.  One of the major benefits of the program is eligibility to apply for funding on an annual basis to develop heritage tourism, planning, and educational programs focused on community heritage.  These 50% matching grants range from $20,000 to $150,000.  Among the types of projects that can be funded are nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, planning for heritage tourism, development of interpretive and educational programs, and heritage tourism marketing and advertising campaigns.”

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Commencement Date
The Granville Area Chamber of Commerce goal is to commence operation of the Granville Visitor & Information Center in May 2010.

Location and Premises
The GACC will provide a location for the Granville Visitor & Information Center at 125 East Broadway.  The front portion of this space is the targeted start up location of the Granville Visitor & Information Center for its first two years, if not longer.  Through visits to many Ohio Granville Visitor & Information Centers, the GACC has discovered that often these visitor centers begin with the Chamber of Commerce and eventually become their own separate entity.  This is entirely possible in Granville.

Standard of Service
To provide residents, businesses, and visitors with high quality service, information and advice in a friendly, attractive environment that promotes the historical, cultural and current attractions of the Granville area, and to track the development of commerce in the larger Granville area.

Governance
A Director, under the guidance of The Granville Area Chamber of Commerce, will manage the Granville Visitor & Information Center in its first two years of operation and beyond as deemed necessary.  The Center will be governed by a Committee of Stakeholders consisting of representatives from Denison University (1), the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce (1), the Village of Granville (1), Granville Township (1), Granville Exempted Village School District (1), the Granville Recreation District (1), and two “at-large” members from the lodging (1) and restaurant (1) industries in Granville who have an interest in the promotion of tourism and economic development in Granville.  

Membership
Membership of the Granville Visitor & Information Center is open to any person, firm, corporation, association, and municipality or resident in or carrying out business for profit or non-profit or whose membership will benefit heritage tourism in the area.  Member dues will apply with discounted rates offered to GACC members.  

Facilities, Services, and Products Supplied
The Granville Visitor & Information Center provides a comprehensive local and regional information service to the visitors, businesses, and residents of the area.  It also supports regional events that promote community development and tourism in the surrounding areas that will ultimately benefit Granville.

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Measuring Usage
The First Two Years, 2010 – 2012

The Granville Visitor & Information Center will seek to measure its success in the start-up period through targeted services to community members and visitors to Granville.  These services would include, among others, a Buy Local Membership Discount Program, a distribution center for the Granville magazine and Visitor’s Guide and Map, merchant and tourism brochures, access to lodging and restaurant information, and, most important of all, interaction with gracious, knowledgeable persons who can speak with residents and visitors about the Village, the larger Granville area, and its demographics with those who walk through the door.

The impact of the Granville Visitor & Information Center would be tracked in measurable ways, including, but not limited to:

Feet through the door - Daily log kept by Granville Visitor & Information Center employee/volunteer
The Granville Visitor & Information Center’s Buy Local Membership Discount Program, an incentive to shop, stay and have fun in Granville.  Residents, as well, will be encouraged to shop locally by participating in this Buy Local program and to purchase memberships as gifts for friends.  For a $10 membership, purchased at the Granville Visitor & Information Center, members receive discounts and special offers through participating businesses in the area.  Membership sales will be tracked.

Membership package includes:

• Buy Local Member’s Card
• A Granville Visitor & Information Center Guide listing all participating businesses and Map (member businesses participate at no cost, but must give a free gift or discount upon display of the membership card)
• Reusable, recycled Granville Visitor & Information Center shopping bag

Sale of Granville memorabilia -Pottery, clothing, jewelry etc. locally made by members and offered on consignment. Traditional memorabilia from specialized manufacturers. Reusable, recycled shopping bags with Granville Visitor & Information Center.

Free Visitor’s Guide and Maps out the door
The Visitor’s Guide is currently in process, a joint project by the GACC and Granville Village.

Free: The GACC’s Granville magazine out the door (Granville magazine, totally supported by advertising, is an annual publication of the GACC.)

Complimentary beverages: coffee, tea, water.
Use of a patio environment during seasonal weather.