A long Twentynine Palms City Council meeting Tuesday night covered a wide range of topics. Reporter Dan Stork broke his report into three parts. Today: Tourism marketing initiatives…
During a long and varied meeting, the Twentynine Palms City Council heard a multi-part presentation on Economic Development and Tourism Activities. It began with Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cynthia Truitt making a spirited and well-received pitch for accepting “Joshua Tree Gateway Communities” as the marketing brand for the region. She acknowledged that we will lovingly and proudly continue to refer to our area as the Morongo Basin among ourselves. But she said that, to the outside world, “Morongo” means a casino down the hill, and “Joshua Tree” stands a better chance of being an iconic designation for the entire Basin, on a level with images conjured up by “San Diego” or “Disneyland.” Council deferred acting on her recommendation. Former council member John Cole described a juried art fair, with a Joshua Tree National Park theme, that is in the works for December. It is being pitched to attract submissions and visitors nationally and internationally. He asked for three thousand dollars to help with marketing the event, to which the Council was amenable. Vickie Waite, the City’s Community and Marketing Specialist, listed and showed slides of materials she has used to market the city as a tourist destination. She emphasized the growing dominance of Internet-based marketing, followed by travel expositions, with print bringing up the rear for die-hard traditionalists.
An idea advocated by one of the city’s innkeepers during public comment was a “Tourism Marketing Assessment District,” in which the hotels would assign a percentage of revenues to joint marketing, and the City would match it.
TWENTYNINE PALMS CITY COUNCIL: PART 3 OF 3, TOURISM
