Editorial
Front Page - Friday, April 23, 2010
Chattanooga travel rides out economic storm
Erica Tuggle
West Oehmig has been in the travel business for 35 years. He first began as the owner of Tennessee Valley Travel, and now is the owner of the Oehmig Travel Consultancy that specializes in
- Erica Tuggle
Between the constant wave of new technology and the wavering economy, the nation’s travel industry has charted rough waters. Yet, Chattanooga seems to have emerged from the tempest tossed years of 2008 and 2009 on top in tourist dollars, and with smooth sailing ahead for 2010 says Bob Doak, the CEO of the Chattanooga Visitors Bureau.
 The sunny weather is bringing out locals and tourists in droves to downtown. Tourist staples in Chattanooga include the Tennessee Aquarium, the IMAX 3-D Theater and the Creative Discovery Museum. - Erica Tuggle
Doak says, the CVB’s advertising dollars are mainly spent on television ads, but increasingly they are using their funds to advertise on the Internet in the form of banners, direct email and have become heavily involved in social networking sites.
He says, “With the Internet now we can deliver the right content to a person based on what we know about them.”
The convention and sporting event focus is also a big part of generating funds for Chattanooga.
“Every person who comes to Chattanooga with a group spends about $180 per day, per person. If you have a group of 500 people spending that much per day, you can see how quickly the impact adds up,” he says.
Even during the thick of the recession, Chattanooga did better than most he says.
“We sold more hotel rooms in 2009 than 2008. Hotels continue to be built in Chattanooga, which is certainly a great sign that our private sector has a lot of confidence in this market, and know that it is going to continue to grow,” Doak says. “We are seeing our attractions growing as well. This shows that people in this committee are very hopeful and committed to what will be happening in the future.”
Doak says he thinks the reason that Chattanooga wasn’t hit as hard as some other tourist spots in the nation is because they kept spending, advertising and promoting the community. This coupled with world-renowned attractions such as the Tennessee Aquarium, Rock City, Ruby Falls and the Choo-Choo, made sure the flow of visitors has remained strong.
Chattanooga has also been recognized in magazines like Southern Living and Family Fun Magazine for being one of the friendliest cities in the country Doak says.
“That doesn’t come by accident,” he says. “It comes by owners, managers, parking lot attendants, police offers and those coming in contact with visitors realizing the importance of tourists to our city. Safety, security, cleanliness, well-maintained, friendly staff, as well incredible God-given beauty, accompanied by some man-made attractions, is what we believe is a combination for long term success.”
West Oehmig, the owner of the Oehmig Travel Consultancy, covers the opposite end of Chattanooga travel by helping his clients go outside the city to their destinations of choice by using his 35 years travel experience to make connections between his clients and contacts.
Before opening the consultancy in 2007, Oehmig owned the Tennessee Valley travel agency for three decades which allowed him to travel extensively and gave him valuable personal knowledge about destinations, tour companies, hotels, resorts and all kinds of cruise ships he says.
Oehmig says when people start planning a trip they usually ask advice from the family and friends and then go to the Internet where they purchase package trip deals.
Once a person makes that step he says: “Good Luck. You have just gambled your vacation time and money, which is very precious. You have gambled it, because if there is a change or a problem you have no one to turn to. That Internet is great at taking your money, but it is very bad about getting it back.”
He says the Internet works well for small trips within the country when all a traveler needs is a plane ticket and a decent hotel, but for those who are planning a larger trip they need to talk to a human being.
“The Internet is a wonderful tool for gathering information about a place, but what one really needs is a quality filter. Many travel agents today have limited experience themselves in destination travel whereas owners of agencies have extensive knowledge because they do the traveling and build the contacts,” he says. “I don’t pretend to know everything but I do know where to find the information and who to put people in touch with.”
Oehmig says he thinks the lag in business he has seen is not due to the fact that people don’t want to travel, but rather that people who are struggling for work cannot afford vacations.
“Travel is a very important part of life and we all, to some degree or another, have wanderlust in us; whether it is to get to the beach or to see the world,” he says. “As the economy improves, people get back to work and have some disposable income, many of them will choose to invest in travel and we intend to help them with our experience and knowledge.”
West has been on 100 different cruise ships, some of which he has gotten off in mid-cruise because they were so bad, and so he says he knows the differences that cannot be found on the internet.
“My only goal is to make sure the client gets good value and precisely what they are looking for because I want them to call me back in the future and then I want them to tell their friends and family about me,” he says.
He says the happiest moments people have is when they are around family, friends and on trips.
“We deal in the dream
business,” he says. “We have the distinct honor and great pleasure of assisting people in their happiest moments. We take that very seriously.”
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