Montana Warm Season Television Conversion Study

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Montana Warm Season Television Conversion Study
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• Executive Summary
• January 2003

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Purposes and Methodology
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• Measure Effectiveness of Montanas Advertising
  Campaign (visit or plan to visit Montana).
• Profile Montana Visitors (demographics, visitor
  patterns, trip purpose, transportation, travel
  party composition, accommodations, spending).
• Image of Montana.
• Influence of Montana Information on Decision to
  Visit and Behavior Once There.
• Telephone Data Collection 406 Respondents 100
  Interviews Each of Four Major Census Regions,
  Weighted to Reflect True Population Proportions.

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Demographics and Travel Patterns
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Montana Visitors Slightly Upscale Compared to
Non-Visitors

• Slightly higher median incomes (55,000 vs.
  52,000).
• More education (44 college grads vs. 33).
• Somewhat older (58 vs. 51) and less likely to
  have children at home (35 vs. 40).
• In comparison, total U.S. leisure travelers (from
  NFO Plog Researchs annual syndicated study, The
  American Traveler Survey) are younger (48), tend
  to earn more (57,400), represent fewer college
  grads (37), and have similar household
  compositions.

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Montana Visitors Slightly Upscale Compared to
Non-Visitors
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Visitor Origin

• Inquirers from the West are more likely to visit
  than those from other regions. Most visitors
  consider Montana as their primary vacation
  destination (not shown).

Travel to Montana (Q4, Q5) Base (406) Travel
Patterns in Past 12 Months
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Effect of Information
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Influence of Information to Visit

• Of those that inquired for information about
  Montana, 28 actually visited Montana.

• Of the 28 of inquirers that visited, 7 report
  that the information they received influenced
  their decision to visit Montana.
• 18 report the information influenced them to
  lengthen their stay in Montana

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Gross/ Net Inquiry Conversion

• Overall, the information positively influences
  25 of visitors -- either to travel to Montana
  (7) or to stay longer (18).

Inquiry/ Advertising Conversion (Q7-10) Base
Total Inquirers/ Visitors
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Image of Montana
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Image of Montana

• Visitors and non-visitors alike consider natural
  beauty, mountains, and open spaces as dominant
  images of the state.

Image Montana Vacation (Q23) Base All
Respondents (406) / Visitors (113)
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About the Montana Visit
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Trip Characteristics

• Most visitors are here to sightsee (25).
• Friend/family event (21) ranks second.
• Relaxation/escape (14) and recreation/activities
  (13) are other popular reasons to visit.
• Most PI TV warm season inquirers visit in the
  summer (65) or fall (23).
• Visitors usually travel in pairs (61), without
  children (77).

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Transportation to Montana

• Depending on distance from Montana, most drive
  there (68), especially Midwesterners. Air
  travel is an option for many in the Northeast and
  South.

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Accommodations in Montana

• Averaging 4.5 nights per visit, Montana visitors
  typically stay in a hotel/motel. Campgrounds
  rank as a distant second-place, but this is more
  frequently an option for those living in the West.

Accommodations in Montana (Q17)
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Spending Per Day on Montana Trip

• Excluding the transportation costs of getting to
  Montana, visiting travel parties estimate they
  spend 360 per day, varying somewhat by region.

Spending Per Day by Category (Q18) Base (113)
Visited Montana in Past 12 Months
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Visitor Value to Montana

• On average, each visiting travel party is worth
  about 1,620 -- 360 per day x 4.5 days per
  visit.

Spending in Montana (Q14, 15, 18)
Total Northeast Central South West Per
Day 360 372 414 349 323 Avg.
Days 4.5 5.2 4.3 4.7 4.4 Total Visitor
Value 1,620 1,934 1,780 1,640 1,421
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Satisfaction/ Plans to Return
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Satisfaction/ Likely to Return

• As a vacation destination, Montana nearly
  universally satisfies visitors. As a result, the
  vast majority (92) expect to come back again.

Satisfaction/ Likely to Return (Q19, Q20)
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Non-visitors Reasons for Not Visiting and
Future Plans
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Reasons to Not Visit Montana

• Inquirers who did not visit Montana fall into two
  groups - non-travelers and travelers who did not
  visit Montana.
• Non-travelers usually cite lack of time (51),
  financial (49), or illness/personal problem
  (40) for not traveling -- reasons unrelated to
  the destination.
• Montana non-visitors were most likely to simply
  choose some other destination (56), followed by
  a lack of time (51) and preference for someplace
  closer (13).

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Contributing Reasons to Not Visit Montana
Contributing Reasons to Not Travel or Not Visit
Montana (Q21) Base Non-Travelers (47)/
Non-Visitors (246)
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Non-Visitors Future Plans for Montana

• Four out of five non-visitors state that they
  will definitely/ probably visit Montana in the
  next two years. Like past visitors, most expect
  to visit in Summer (57) or Fall (26).

Plans to Visit Montana Within Two Years
(Q22) Base (248) Took Trip, Did Not Visit
Montana in Past 12 Months
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Lewis Clark Attractions
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Interest in Lewis Clark Attractions

• While on a Montana vacation, more than four out
  of five (84) express interest in visiting a
  Lewis Clark attraction.

Interest in Lewis Clark Attractions (Q26)
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Summary/ Implications from Current Research
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Strengths/ Opportunities

• Based on a sample of inquirers, who have enough
  interest in Montana to request more information,
  visitors and non-visitors alike are very much
  aware of Montanas beauty, mountains, open
  spaces, rivers, and lakes.
• Montana not only provides a high level of
  satisfaction to visitors, but it fosters desire
  for a return visit.
• High scores on satisfaction and intent to return
  suggest good word-of-mouth advertising probably
  occurs. Plus, it also implies that visitors get
  what they expect -- Montanas image and
  advertising appears on-target.
• Montanas location is both a strength and an
  opportunity. Most travelers do not just pass
  through to somewhere else, so it misses the
  incidental benefits of that type of travel.
  However, people tend to stay several days
  (average 4.5 days) when they do visit.

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Strengths/ Opportunities (contd)

• Inquiry information has its strongest influence
  by encouraging a longer stay.
• These measures of inquirers understate the impact
  of promotions and advertising. They represent
  only a portion of the people who observe the
  advertising and who may have other positive
  reactions besides calling for more information,
  such as deciding to visit without getting
  information, lengthening an already planned trip,
  adding the destination as a possible place to
  visit in the future, encouraging others to go
  there, or another positive result. Just the
  ability to recall the ad suggests some impact and
  interest.

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• This study will be available at
• travelmontana.state.mt.us