The Shadow
WARM SPRINGS — Bath County tourism is regaining traction.
That’s the message David Mikula, president of Mikula-Harris, relayed to the Bath County Board of Supervisors during their recent February meeting.
Mikula-Harris, a Vinton advertising agency, has a long relationship with Bath County tourism. The firm has been charged with overseeing the county’s tourism initiative since 2019.
“When we first entered into this really unique partnership with the county, your county administrator set the tone right off the bat by saying he expected of us a rationale for everything that we were going to do, an explanation, excellent communication between our office and his, and attention to detail,”?Mikula said. “We’ve since worked on a budget, and I think that the communication between our office and county administration flows as effectively and efficiently as if our offices were right down the hallway.
“Everyone in the county administrator’s office has been absolutely wonderful to work with,” he added.
Mikula said he has met with local business owners and stakeholders to improve communications. He said Mikula-Harris has concentrated on updating websites, and a bi-weekly newsletter is now sent to these various stakeholders in an effort to improve results and keep them informed.
As one of its marketing initiatives, Mikula said his firm has devised an advertising and media plan.
“That is the meat and potatoes of any tourism, marketing plan,” he said.
Mikula-Harris is also concentrating on social media as a marketing tool. Bath County’s Facebook page now reaches 2½ times the population of the county.
“We wanted to take social media to a whole new level,” Mikula said. “The reach is enormous.”
Mikula said a concentrated effort has been made to attract motorcycle rides and scenic drives.
“They both have enormous potential,” he added.
Twenty thousand brochures have been printed and placed in select visitors and welcome centers across Virginia in hopes of attracting motorcycle rides. The targeted market focuses on affluent motorcycle tours with a median age of 55 who take about four trips per year and average 6.2 days per tour.
“The motorcycle market, alone, is enormous, and every destination in Virginia wants a piece of it,” Mikula said.
Trailing only its home page, the scenic rides page on Bath County’s website is the second-most viewed by visitors, Mikula said.
Bath County is also utilizing search engine marketing and Google display while being back on Trip Advisor.
Mikula said the county has bought a “modest package”?on Capital Region USA (CRUSA), a marketing tool that highlights Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., and targets international travelers. Statistics show that these travelers are likely to stay longer and spend more money.
“The international market is big in Virginia because of Dulles being a very busy gateway,” Mikula said.
Users and page views on the Discover Bath website increased 32 percent from July through December 2019 over the previous year, Mikula reported.
“That’s what we want to see,” he said. “I expect that to even be higher.”
Mikula also highlighted several other achievements Bath County has attained in the past several months, including a $25,000 grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation.
“The effect of that hasn’t even been felt yet,” he said.
Additionally, Hot Springs was recently named a Top Adventure Town in its category by Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine, while five different attractions received “Best of the Blue Ridge” designations by Blue Ridge Outdoors.
“All of that helps to put Bath County on people’s radar,” Mikula said.
Mikula also announced that the VA-1 Tourism Summit is coming to Bath County for the first time in November.
“We’re happy to be a part of that,” he said. “A lot of people are excited to be coming to Bath County.”
Mikula said his firm works alongside county administration to share these positive tidbits with the media.
“We appreciate this unique partnership,” Mikula said in conclusion. “I really believe we’re just getting started.”
