The Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance has put effort toward bringing sport events to the area, but new president and CEO Karen Riordan thinks the venture can be grown with the help of $25,000 from James City County.
Riordan took over leading the Alliance in January after former president and CEO Dick Schreiber retired. Riordan has spent her time to date gathering information from localities and businesses in the area, devising a set of goals she will drive her staff toward. With those in mind, she requested the additional $25,000 from the county’s Board of Supervisors at a Tuesday work session focused on tourism.
Prior to Schreiber’s retirement, he submitted a request for $800,000 from the county in its fiscal year 2015 budget, the first draft of which will be released next month. Schreiber’s request included an increase of $50,000 from last year’s request to be used to grow Arts Month. The request also includes $650,000 in base funding for the Alliance and $100,000 for Christmas in Williamsburg.
Riordan’s Tuesday request brought the total to $825,000. In the fiscal year 2014 budget, the county allocated $650,000 toward the Alliance and $100,000 toward Christmas in Williamsburg.
Using a slideshow presentation, Riordan showed the supervisors what return the county has gained on its investment. James City County’s businesses benefited from visitors and residents spending $227 million during Christmas in Williamsburg last year, which was an increase of about $119 million since the event started in 2008.
Under sports marketing, the area has been successful and is now recognized for its sports tourism reputation.
“Nobody is excited to go to Akron, Ohio, for a soccer tournament, but they’re very excited to come to Williamsburg,” Riordan said.
The only drawback is there is no long-term, strategic plan for sports marketing, which is something Riordan wants to develop in conjunction with a study into the effects of sports tourism on the area. The additional $25,000 would fund the study and plan.
Riordan recently requested an extra $25,000 from the City of Williamsburg for social media. The total amount requested from Williamsburg was $725,000.
In addition to the funding request from the Alliance, the county has also received requests for funding from Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation to the tune of $115,000; Preservation Virginia for $48,875; the Virginia Arts Festival for $20,000; and the Historic Triangle Collaborative for $6,500.
Acting County Administrator Doug Powell will work on his proposed budget, including tourism funding at the board’s direction. The board was unable to give feedback Tuesday due to time constraints, so time in another meeting will be used to discuss tourism funding. In last year’s budget, the county allocated $2,049,000 for tourism, which included $65,000 for the HTC; $91,000 for JYF; $86,500 for Preservation Virginia; and $15,000 for the Virginia Arts Festival.