MTO: Downtown overhaul urged

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Downtown overhaul urged
Report suggests unified vision, marketing effort

By Anna Clark
The Macon Telegraph

A study of downtown Macon released late Monday found that despite the city's identity as a charming, Southern town rich in history, architecture and music, it needs a marketing overhaul to help "Macon get its act together."

The makeover proposal includes such suggestions as putting up better signs to help people find their way and creating public strategic plans for all downtown attractions and events.

Specifically, residents reported that they wanted downtown promoters to have a single vision for the future, and a unified plan and timeline to realize the goals.

The cohesive vision should include a more streamlined management of downtown development and marketing.

Currently, a handful of independent groups have hands in the management, which business owners and residents see as duplication of efforts.

A coalition of groups involved in various aspects of marketing and developing downtown Macon commissioned the study. The Downtown Council, Macon Cherry Blossom Festival, Macon-Bibb County Convention & Visitors Bureau and NewTown Macon paid for the $55,000, six-month study.

For the study, residents, business owners and tourists were interviewed and surveyed about their impressions of downtown in focus groups, random surveys and a write-in newspaper survey.

Tom Wight, chairman of the committee steering the study, said civic leaders interested in drawing more people downtown learned a hard lesson from the financial failure of Georgia On My Plate, when tourists to the Olympic games in Atlanta were not lured to Macon to support the culinary event.

"It became real clear that if you're going to do a marketing study, you've got to ask the people who are going to buy," Wight said. "You've got to ask your customers."

Results from the surveys and focus groups show that tourists come to Macon primarily for its heritage, historical architecture and music history. Thus, marketing efforts need to focus more on those selling points.

The study highlighted the need for all downtown attractions and events to center on those strong points and to do strategic planning with publicly announced timelines, goals that can be measured and budgets to accomplish their plans.

Wight said he hopes all area attractions realize the study shows they need to work together to succeed.

Other themes included the need for more parking, lighting and security in addition to more shops and restaurants.

The next step is for the committee to meet and decide how to act on the findings.

The full report won't be released to the public until all committee members have received a copy.

Randall Travel Marketing Inc. out of Charlotte, N.C., did the study. Georgia clients of the consulting group include Alpine Helen-White County Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Gainesville-Hall County Chamber of Commerce.

"I think the consultants have done a super job talking to so many different people," said Dale Matthews, a member of the committee overseeing the study and longtime board member of the Macon-Bibb County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"It's always so good to have fresh eyes."