During the dead of winter, during what are typically the slowest tourism times in Coronado, there is a wave of swim teams that come and fill hotels, restaurants and local stores. These teams spend almost a half million dollars in just a few short weeks training at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatic Complex. As a result, the economic impact for the local community keeps growing every year.
This year the Coronado Tourism Improvement District (CTID) is investing in the BBMAC to further the economic impact the BBMAC has created through hosting college and elite club swimming teams by supplying a generous $10,000 marketing grant.
Last year alone the BBMAC hosted 26 teams, which equates to hosting 680 swimmers. These teams stay in Coronado for 1-2 weeks and train between early-December and late-March, historically a very slow time for island tourism.
One of the main influencers in the CTID’s decision to partner with the BBMAC was the reach of the economic impact.
The BBMAC has established several mutually profitable relationships with hotels in Coronado. Together they create swimming and lodging packages to market to teams around the country. The packages are a large selling point to coaches who donÂ’t have the time to complete the research on their own.
The residual economic impact trickles throughout all of Coronado. Many restaurants see substantial spikes while the teams are visiting. The BBMAC also encourages the teams to utilize different cross training activities such as kayaking, SUP and biking. These activities require rented equipment from local vendors.
The CTID sponsored campaign will focus on attracting elite and Olympic swimming teams that the BBMAC has not been able to target before. These teams have more flexibility with their scheduling.
By creating a focused marketing campaign paired with date specific special packages, all of the involved parties hope to drive substantial economic improvement during the slowest of the slow season. The special package pricing will start after Martin Luther King Jr. Day and run through the end of February (excluding Presidents Day weekend).
LetÂ’s dive into the impact that one team can have:
Each team ranges from 18 to 40 swimmers plus coaches. If we choose an average team size of 28 and add two coaches, you have 30 people. Each coach will have their own hotel room, with swimmers occupying 4 to a room. ThatÂ’s nine hotel rooms for a minimum of one week.
You also have 30 individuals who need 7 lunches and 7 dinners (many times breakfast is offered through the hotel). Keep in mind these are elite college athletes who are burning 2,000-3,000 calories a day. To say they are hungry is an understatement. Typically, teams also enjoy various tourist activities including shopping, renting outdoor equipment, or visiting major attractions on the island.
Increasing marketing through modernized and targeted measures has historically shown to drastically increase both outside revenue and college team bookings. The BMMAC partnered with Raindrop Marketing in 2014 to spearhead these efforts.
2014 saw a 116% increase in college team bookings.
In 2010 the BBMAC rented the entire facility to 7 teams. The next three years saw between 12 and 15 teams each year. Marketing efforts in 2014 more than doubled that to 26 teams.
Additionally, approximately 50% of teams re-book for the following year shortly after their training camp concludes. Some teams come every other year. Both the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and University of Nevada Las Vegas will be celebrating their 8th year training in Coronado this winter.
The new campaign will reach 400 elite and Olympic teams. Once the CTID sponsored campaign ends, all these teams will be integrated to ongoing BBMAC digital marketing efforts.
Raindrop founder and Coronado local Jacques Spitzer highlights the effectiveness of the ongoing e-mail marketing campaign for BBMAC, “Our international email marketing campaign drove over 80 leads in 2014, more leads than the previous 5 years combined.”
He continued, “This outreach is unique in that we are targeting higher caliber athletes to stay during some of the only times of the winter when the BBMAC is not sold out. The goal is for it to be a win-win for both the Glorietta Bay Inn and the BBMAC next year.”
By reaching out to these new teams through the partnership with the CTID, the BBMAC has the potential to continue to drive substantial economic impact for Coronado during the slowest economic time of the year. As these teams commit to training in Coronado the following year and as the BBMAC increases their outreach, Coronado will enjoy the financial benefits for decades to come.
