Downtown Redevelopment School Now Open

One of the most traumatic and educational lectures that I ever heard was at London School of Economics, where I learned that most Americans simply don't understand the basics of marketing and can easily be taken advantage of. After all, we're learning in a relatively new (only a couple hundred years old) market and the rules of our market are always changing. Americans will never figure out that the “Buy American” campaign best benefited the British and Dutch that owned more than 5 times as much as the Japanese.

Tourism Business Solutions research and development is displayed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where the business worked with the downtown merchants, Chambers, Main Street Programs in three successful downtowns including Bay St. Louis and Ocean Springs beginning in 1996 and Pass Christian since 1994.

The research developed greatly as the business venture located touch screens in welcome centers, airports, chambers, military bases and gas stations. We introduced over 100 Mississippi small business web publication before any Mississippi casino had a web page in 1995. Most of our clients had not yet bought their first PC. Hearing about their page on the web inspired technological advancement to so many retailers. The local CVB leaders simply showed no interest in new technologies or the tourism interests reports generated by presentation technology. These political apointees competed in every fashion imaginable. Ain't that strange!

Tourism Business Solutions (TBS) is currently developing stage one of progress for the City of Gulfport. The Downtown Association and Gulfport Chamber and City Urban Development are hiring TBS to breathe life into their desperate downtown. Their currently abandoned real estate is simply worth fortunes in retail and condominiums. While the TBS system sends tourists into this downtown, we'd like to show you how it can be done for less than $100,000 in your home town.

As we work our magic over the stifled downtown of Gulfport, we want to train your city/county/state leadership and an entrepreneur (at least third generation local, good sales skills) so he/she can be trained to perfect the art of economic development with heritage preservation.

Every downtown was built on the most fertile soil. Our job as an economic development consultant is to simply till and fertilize the soil for economic and community development. When it comes to community development, do you know what a green thumb looks like? It’s not rocket science, we call it a marketing management strategy and trained team leadership.

TBS is currently designing a real estate investment corporation that profits by owning downtown real estate and maintaining the professional marketing leadership among the attraction, accommodations, shopping, entertainment and art community to maximize profits to all companies involved. By developing a trained board of third generation locals in each community, our systems of marketing management can be easily maintained in a bulletproof manner to build on your heritage.

With two busy casinos, 1000 rooms at Grand Casino Gulfport on the edge of downtown, national chain hotels, two of MS's oldest and best known tourist attractions, the high-rise headquarters of Hancock Bank, 6 other banks, two museums, world's largest fishing rodeo, county courthouse, federal courthouse, new parking garage, wide streets, historic buildings, geographical center of South Mississippi Beaches (15,000 rooms), etc., you would be shocked to witness the vacancy rate of the commercial buildings.

It looks like a ghost town all around Mississippi's busiest intersection (Hwy 49 and Hwy 90) at the Port and Harbor/Downtown. I call this in my future book, “a destructured economy”. A simple restructure strategy can be implemented.

While Mississippi has well earned the distinction as the most corrupt state in the nation, it's the stupidity in charge that is hurting the economy. On several occasions, our business has received direct competition from the local county tourism tax organization (CVB). It's like there is room for only one leader in tourism, and he is government appointed as well as his Board (rather than elected by the businesses that collect retail taxes). Some people, like economist Joseph Schumpeter, call this socialism.

All marketing consulting that reaches the Board is screened through a local advertising agency which sells fortunes to this CVB (tax and spend program) and local community. It’s like trusting a fox to guard the hen house. Millions of dollars are at hand to destroy the competition to the advertising industry (marketing management).

Since our goal includes building the economy and reducing advertising costs by over 50% for all local businesses with better marketing management technologies, I've had a hard time as venture capitalist in Mississippi. Without a five year plan of this type of government/advertising agency intervention program, no consultant can predict his client’s future.

Neither U.S.M. nor many of the other most respected business colleges require a course in advertising to earn a marketing degree. The insanity of managing tax receipts/ marketing dollars through an advertising agency explains the average income in the community and the failure of so many talented artists. Why should we tolerate political interference with marketing management in our economy?

Around eight months after my business began helping two downtowns just outside Harrison County, I approached Stephen Richer, executive director of the Harrison County CVB. "What is a fair way for the public to judge your performance?" I asked
The proud Princeton graduate responded, "economic and community development."

Have you noticed Bay St. Louis and Ocean Springs downtowns?" I asked.

As he glowingly remarked about their amazing growth (just outside his county), like he was ready to take some credit, I carefully opened my briefcase and stole the wind from his sail. I demonstrated a written testimonial of TBS contribution and from each of the downtown leaders and handed him the two community brochures that my business used to help implement my strategy.

Because we did not trust him, I only told him only of the brochure and map marketing part of my activities and asked for his help to develop the other four downtowns in Harrison County. We proposed and spelled out a viable solution that was very affordable. He directly refused any cooperation or consideration and would not allow me to approach the Board. He swore to fight any project that did not go through him. As a fifth generation local, I was left powerless in front of this un-welcomed Yankee and an nuntouchable board with unlimited financial resources.

A day or so later, I watched on the local news as he introduced his brilliant idea to get his organization involved in producing more brochures and other copy cat publications, (with no consideration for the current distribution problems). Once again government tries to compete with our business to keep the leadership position, and destroys countless artists. If only the Feds could prosecute stupidity marketing management in Government, Americans would live like kings.

His next brilliant idea came in the spring of 1999, when he addressed the tourism business associations and asked all hoteliers and Chambers to distribute "Where Magazine" of New Orleans in MS Gulf Coast hotels and distribution points. In August of 1999, the Beau Rivage concierge was complaining of a limited number of 3000 copies. She was running out of this New Orleans magazine (of which they owned the back cover advertisement) in the first 10 days.

For the three years following, that magazine simply cross marketed New Orleans with over 90% Louisiana advertisements. The only Mississippi money makers were the petroleum companies, advertising agencies and the tour bus company that takes Mississippi’s tourists to tour Louisiana. Beau Rivage was making life easier by the minute for Harrah’s of New Orleans investors and management.

The concept of mixing two competing tourism destinations in one magazine can be destructive to both economies and the environment. Fortunately for New Orleans, the convention hoteliers blacklisted such a publication from confusing their guests with beach and competing casino advertisements.

Paul Buckley, the general manager of the Hilton Riverside (largest hotel in N.O.) was quoted "I don't see it as something we want to be involved with, you don't bite the hand that feeds you." The Andre Program, 870 AM, stifled all previously advertised discussion on the topic, as announced on the previous day. In 2004, their family tourism growth was measured at 226% increase according to U.N.O. research, as Mississippi Gulf Coast’s optimistic economic reports are of family tourism stagnation.

On the MS Gulf Coast, this sort of leadership destroyed years of our team’s efforts to increase the average length of stay and repeat visitation rate, which are the 2 most important statistics to measure economic progress in a tourism community that desires heritage preservation. As proven in the track record on the MS Gulf Coast, occupancy rate can be completely irrelevant to the survival of mom and pop businesses.

To this day, Mississippi’s number one recognized tourist attraction saw their greatest number count in 1990, when we had less than 35% of today’s hotel rooms. If there were no tourism tax, this suppression of economic development would pass quickly as our business would give the local ownership of their business environment back to the business community, rather than government and a local advertising vendor.

Just last week, I listened as an internet sales professional tell of Mr. Stephen Richer’s testimonial that His CVB offers the same services for free to the restaurant association (who already signed on with his company). Once again, we have direct competition with the venture capitalist.

In your welcome center, when a tourist entering the state asks for a coupon book, they are directed to the Mississippi Traveler discount coupon guide (includes Louisiana). The summer season front cover has a picture of New Orleans. The back cover has a message from Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana. The magazine has far more coupons of Louisiana than Mississippi.

This plants the seed of a future phenomenon that happens in a day or two. The tourist picks up Where Magazine or anything like it, and decides to change original vacation plans. Then they book the next night in the competing state from the same coupon book. This courtesy helped shorten the average length of stay and repeat visitation rate in the local community. This rapes every Mississippi downtown business of an opportunity of discovery, since mom and pops are usually discovered on the 3rd, 4th and 5th day of the vacation. Remember the 1970s, 1980s, 1990,s?

Thanks to that state welcome center, vacation changes were made easy and resulted in a depressed economy. Sometimes Mississippians are just too hospitable. Petroleum companies really appreciate our hospitality and marketing ignorance.

It is quite brilliant for any and every national chain gas station to market this type of manic and dysfunctional publication, but not a state government that calls the managing division Mississippi Development Authority. As a tax payer in Mississippi, my business never gave them authority to cross market Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee or Arkansas to the people that my clients spent money to draw to Mississippi. No ifs, ands or buts accepted. The price of gas is high enough, why market more consumption on vacation if you don't have to? Alabama does not cross-market any other state, why should Mississippi.

Since Mississippi also holds the distinction as the lowest per capita income in America, my business stands on the most fertile soil for educating mayors, civic leaders, entrepreneurs, land owners, casino investors, environmentalists, etc. on team approaches to economic and community development as I work with Gulfport and Grand Casinos to revitalize their downtown, while reducing petroleum emissions. The basic negatives that hold Mississippi back will be made obvious to all my students.

TBS current goal is to host a tourism and downtown redevelopment school for current leaders and investors that are looking for the answers. Before publishing my book, which includes a section about revitalizing downtowns for an average of less than $50,000, TBS would like to prove a point, expand our horizons and educate your city at the same time. We want to play a strong roll in the redevelopment of over 100 communities in the next 10 years.

By making arrangements to send your leaders on an educational venture into a great tourism destination, TBS wants to demonstrate the simplicity of protecting your economy from the economic viruses that plague Mississippi’s progress. It’s not Governor Barbour’s fault, it started in the 1960s and has grown ever since. It involves international industrial marketing strategy design. Stop wondering about the price of the euro, and lets work together to build on the dollar.

According to TBS research, Grand Casinos alone has had the strongest impact on the downtowns of Pass Christian, Bay St Louis and Ocean Springs. Their stock price was never hurt as a result as we worked together for years to maximize the value of a night’s stay. While we are working together to rebuild downtown Gulfport, the entire city will be the greatest benefactors.

Come close and watch us rebuild this desperate downtown for under $100,000 outlay. That’s what we want to do for your downtown, and we don’t always need a casino to make it happen. Give us a chance to improve your decision makers’ confidence by awarding a $5,000 one week (4 nights) guided economic and community development tour beginning in September, 2005.

For making reservations on the list, simply email: tourismguru21@hotmail.com and tell us whether you are from a convention, natural tourism community or combination community so we can design the right education course. Classes begin in September. Class sizes are limited. Make reservations a.s.a.p.

Henry Ward
Downtown Alchemist
Tourism Business Solutions
P.O. Box 1242
Gulfport, MS 39502