Friday, July 23, 2004
Hamburg, PA was hoping that the opening of a Cabela's nearby would prove to be a boom to tourism. They learned, however, that nothing comes for free. Hambrug must market -- build its brand -- in order to lure Cabela shopers for a visit.
In addition, the folks in Hamburg are considering more focused strategies like bus tours. Packaging attractions is a standard, practical approach to building tourism. The bus tours will link visits to Cabela's with tours of Hamburg.
As one civic leader noted: "I think their lesson was the (customers) from Cabela's are not going to come to Hamburg without you doing things. You have to be aggressive with marketing yourself to (the store's visitors)."
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Leveraging Cabela's to build a small town brand
