June 2006

Everybody needs to eat - right? When tourists come to Mammoth, they have a plethora of food establishments from which to pick. So how can a restaurant, a bar, or an ice cream parlor successfully compete for and capture those fickle tourism dollars? How do you, the business owner or manager, politely "get in the customer's face" and on their short list of spontaneous decisions? One very effective and proven way to do just this is by exposing your business to those vacationing customers before they come to town, while they're still vacation planning. As mentioned in last month's newsletter, recent travel industry studies find that customers are more and more turning to the Internet to plan, and reserve their vacations - "87% of tourists who go on high-end vacations use the Internet in making their travel arrangements." So having a business web presence and advertising on an established tourism-based website - such as City Concierge - puts your brand name where tourists will see your ad, promo, or link to your website. They'll know about you before they ever get to town. Read what long-time Grumpy's Sports Bar restaurateur, Gregg Simas, has to say about the successful impact his website and web-based advertising has had on increasing his customer base in the "Partnership Spotlight" below. - Deborah Bendinelli, Media Relations

Gregg Simas, the 16-year owner of Grumpy's Sports Bar and Restaurant, is one of those pillars of a community that most locals appreciate. The sad news is that Simas is leaving those past years and selling Grumpy's, noting, "It's time to move on to something new." The good news is that his contributions to the community will last far intro the future. This longtime commissioner and chairperson of the Mammoth Lakes Tourism and Recreation Commission (formerly the Parks and Recreation Commission) - in fact, Simas holds the commission record as longest sitting member - is leaving behind some tremendous tourism-boosting appeal for the town. He feels that some of his best efforts brought town improvements such as recreational facilities, a pool, baseball fields, bike trails, etc. He also values his role in helping to create an outreach program for community stakeholders, such as lodging providers, which addresses how the Tourism and Recreation Commission can help them become more successful in a competitive tourism market. He's left some hard shoes to fill.

As a commissioner, he worked with another fellow commissioner, Jefferson Lanz, managing director of City Concierge. However, Simas already had a business relationship with Lanz long before they had a commission relationship. About four years ago, Lanz - a local marketing wiz - approached Simas with a business proposal to revamp, improve, and maintain Grumpy's website. Simas agreed and the business relationship with Lanz and City Concierge took off from there. This assumed the form of a mutual sponsorship and partnership arrangement where each business's website presented a link to the other's site as a referral service. Grumpy's advertised in the City Concierge's Dining Guide, with a link to the Grumpy's homepage. City Concierge merchandized Grumpy's logo wear - Hawaiian shirts, t-shirts, and hats. Grumpy's site had a link back to the City Concierge website for central guest reservations and information. Each business referred customers to the other, such as City Concierge referrals of large group and special events bookings for the restaurant. This partnership, this mutual give-and-take "business marriage", continues today with both parties quite happy with the benefits.

In hindsight, Simas reflects: "Our partnership with City Concierge and Lanz has been all positive - no negatives. Since we've been working with Lanz to improve our website and have been advertising on the City Concierge site, we have had a better customer awareness of our website and business through increased activity at our site and through referrals from City Concierge. Customers have told us that they have looked at our menu online and found our website through the City Concierge site."

Simas goes on to say that most of Grumpy's advertising dollars are spent on web-based advertising - remember those tourism stats - which he believes is the most effective way to reach customers in the current tourism market. He's had a good relationship with City Concierge and has urged Grumpy's new buyers to continue this partnership, and even expand it to their other town business purchases. Though shifting onto a new path, Simas continues to care about - and promote - successful ways to market Mammoth to all those eyeballs out there on the Internet. People like Simas see and believe in the future of Mammoth, no matter where they are.

For example, Grumpy's Sports Bar and Restaurant's website features its catchy brand image - the "old miner guy", an online menu for customers, Grumpy's logo wear, and a current Mammoth happenings section that is maintained by City Concierge. Along with Grumpy's, other eating establishments place banner ads on the City Concierge website's homepage, such as The Chart House restaurant whose banner ad links the viewer directly to the Chart House website.

Another illustration gives you a peak at the special promotions we create and market for our clients such as The Village's Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream establishment. This "Free Ice Cream" promotion is featured on the City Concierge homepage as a banner ad with a printable coupon for customers. It's also featured in our customer newsletter and inserted in every reservation we process. This combination is appropriate for any business looking for an incentive to get customers in the door.

As we've proven through website-viewership tracking services, advertisements and links on our website are viewed by over 2,000 people per day. This is a cost-effective way to expose your ads, promos, and website links to large amounts of people in a short amount of time.

Let us put the Internet to work for you as your #1 marketing tool.