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After 100,000 visitors made a $100 million impact across Nebraska during the solar eclipse in August, what does the state do for an encore? The Nebraska Tourism Commission wants to capitalize on last year’s momentum by giving tourists a reason to visit Nebraska this year.
John Ricks, Nebraska Tourism Commission executive director, wants to offer new visitors to Nebraska reasons why they should visit, rather than sticking to the old model of what they should visit.
“And the more people that we can get from out of state – and the eclipse is the best example of it – if we can get them here, they’re going to have fun,” Ricks said. “That’s it. Our challenge is to get them here.”
Ricks loves to travel. He’s been to 45 countries, so he knows most visitors—mainly due to time and money-- stick to the traditional “see and do” list.
A recent advertisement promoting the annual Sandhill crane migration. (Photo courtesy Nebraska Tourism Commission).
During the eclipse, information was collected across the state showing 90 percent of the people visiting were here because of the eclipse; 70 percent of those viewers were non-Nebraskans; and, most importantly, of those, 47 percent said they would return to the state in two to three years.
Turning the eclipse tourists into repeat visitors is a priority, Ricks said.
“The eclipse invited them to come but it ended up being a trial for many people,” he said. “It was a way to sample Nebraska. Something happened when they were here: they had a good time.”
But, turning around Nebraska’s lackluster tourism industry is a slow process that requires baby steps. The Portrait of American Travelers survey called Nebraska the “least likely state in the country for anybody to visit.” Ricks says that’s fixable.
“Is that bothersome, yea. But, I know that just a little TV campaign about the cranes in other markets that people see it and say, 'Ho, we’re going to come see that,'” he said.
The Passport program, in its ninth year, continues to grow in popularity. (Photo courtesy Nebraska Tourism Commission).
After studying previous advertising campaigns that relied on destination marketing, Ricks wants to shift the focus to attracting new visitors within driving distance from larger cities in neighboring states.
But Ricks knows a small population state like Nebraska needs more than intrastate tourism to really make a difference.
“A population of 1.8 to 1.9 million people generating most of a $4 billion industry is going to cap out sooner or later,” Ricks said.
Ricks is up for the challenge of improving tourism here. Before taking the top spot at the tourism commission here a year and a half ago, he held similar jobs promoting travel in Colorado, Wyoming and Wisconsin. To become more familiar with Nebraska, he’s put miles on his car driving around the Cornhusker state.
“What in the world are the Sandhills? I didn’t have any idea what they were, so I am driving around looking around and all of a sudden you see a lake thing, then a pond thing, then you read that the biggest aquifer in the country is beneath all this. And to me it looked like the world’s largest links golf course,” he said.
Already he’s been encouraged by an uptick in state travel guide requests and web traffic to visitnebraska.com.
Nebraska Tourism Commission staffers include Jenn Gjerde, marketing manager, Alex Duryea, ecotourism consultant, and John Ricks, executive director. (Photo by Pamela Thompson, NET News).
“Our goal is to bring new money into the economy which will generate new spending and new tax revenue,” Ricks said. “That’s how you grow the industry.”
Another way to grow tourism is to invite travel industry professionals here. Jenn Gjerde, marketing manager for Nebraska Tourism Commission, said she’s encouraged when she leads travel writers and photographers around the state on media tours.
“They didn’t realize that Nebraska had anything to offer and they came for business and usually they want to come back for fun,” she said.
Alex Duryea, an ecotourism consultant at the commission, says the state has plenty to experience, such as biking the Cowboy Trail, star gazing at Merritt reservoir and discovering nature’s beauty in the far western corners.
Toadstool Geologic Park, north of Crawford, is a favorite spot for hikers, photographers and nature lovers. (Photo by Fred Knapp, NET News).
“Nebraska’s a big state; not everybody realizes it takes seven to eight hours from one end of the state to the other,” Duryea said. “In my opinion, there’s a lot of really neat stuff out in western Nebraska people need to check out, like Scottsbluff National Monument, Toadstool and all that-- and Fort Robinson.”
Getting Nebraskans to travel around their own state, is not a problem. The popular Passport program—now in its ninth year—helps travelers discover hidden gems by collecting a stamp at a wide array of locations.
Two years ago, Ricks says 168 travelers visited all 70 stops, including museums, parks, restaurants, wineries, and retail stores. Last year, 469 travelers stopped at every Passport location. The free summer program-- which includes prizes based on the number of stamps collected-- runs from May 1 to September 30.
Ricks said the Passport promotion features small businesses across the state, in all kinds of unique, out of the way places, which change every year. Some owners have told Ricks half of their business stemmed from Passport patrons.
“That’s really the bottom line: If this program will drive business for tourism businesses, zippy-de-do-da, if you know what I mean,” he said.
Of course, Ricks would like to give visitors more reasons to visit Nebraska beyond the cranes and Husker football. But at the same time, he recognizes no two travelers are alike. Some may want to experience Nebraska’s open horizons without a plan, a guided tour, or other tourists around.
“There is a type, a kind of people, who don’t want all that; they don’t want to be in a pre-packaged tour; they don’t want to be led by the nose,” Ricks said. “They just want a place they can go and find their own way, and go find their own fun. There are very few places like that left.”
Ricks adds, except here in Nebraska.
And that’s only part of the state’s sales pitch to new visitors. He invites them to explore Nebraska’s 77,000 square miles and find the fun for themselves.
“That’s what is fun about this industry: You can’t buy a bag of tourism,” he said. “It’s really an aggregation of lodging and restaurants, wineries, craft breweries and distilleries, and events and attractions that we have to kind of pull together”
Why Visit Nebraska? John Ricks said this is the time to find your reason.
Editor's Note: This story has been edited to correct an error made in the ending date of the Passport program.