CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Social media seems to be the driving force behind getting more people, specifically millennials, to visit the Capital City, according to the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau’s 2016 annual report.
“We have triple digit growth in engagement and really targeting the millennials. We’ve had double digit increase in their usage of our website,” said Alisa Bailey, president and CEO of the CVB.
Social media engagement, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram followers, increased by 10 percent this year. Website traffic increased by 5 percent.
The CVB held its annual business meeting Wednesday where Bailey reported that hotel room bookings throughout the city increased for a fourth year in a row.
“We had a goal of 28,000 some odd room nights and we exceeded that goal by booking almost 29,000. That’s millions and millions of dollars that’s going to have a future impact on Charleston as people are going to come in, they’re going to see the new Convention Center, they’re going to have great meetings and they’re going to spend time and money in our city” she said.
According to the report, the CVB had a 33 percent increase in room bookings since 2012 where the CVB booked about 21,700 rooms.
Additionally this year, the CVB launched the largest sales blitz in the organization’s history by attending over a dozen trade shows, scheduling just less than 400 appointments and by presenting promotional videos to more than 2,000 people.
Bailey says they want to continue reaching out to millennials through videos and social media.
“Seventy eight percent of millennials will spend more on experience than on material goods, so eating, beverages, fun, music — but they want it authentic. So our video is very authentic in showing what all Charleston has to offer,” she said.
The CVB’s goal for this coming year is to make more digital platforms available through its ongoing digital-only advertising campaign. Bailey said the campaign will be extended to increase partnership.
“Instead of just running it in the spring, which we did do, it will run all the way through December,” she said.
New ride sharing services around the city have also gained popularity by young people this year, including Autopods and Uber. On Tuesday, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin welcomed Uber to Charleston — the first city in West Virginia to allow for the service. He signed a bill earlier this year to make companies like Uber and Lyft legal in the state.
Bailey said she believes those services will make Charleston a more sophisticated place to live.
“With these two new means of transportation that are really primarily driven through smart devices, this is going to be a game changer for Charleston,” she said.
Since Autopods were introduced in May, Bailey said there have been about 1,600 rides, mostly for young people. She said nearly 37 percent of passengers were millennials. The most popular rides were to the 7-Eleven on the city’s East End and Sam’s Cafe in the downtown area.
The visitor center in Charleston had 1,062 sign ins this year — exceeding the CVB’s goal of 1,000. Over 20,000 travel guides, about 8,000 walking maps, over 100 media kits and a lot of new signage has been distributed throughout the city this year, according to the report.