Conventions Bureau Tees Up Promotion For Overheated Golfers

The next time sweaty Arizona golfers get teed off at expensive green fees, the Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau wants to remind them of something: Spokane courses are cheap, comfortable and relatively undiscovered.

The bureau launched its 1995 golf campaign this month, and for the first time, marketers are targeting non-Northwest golfers, especially those in the scorched Southwest and muggy Midwest.

“We’re going to tell them to come to Spokane and beat the heat,” said Martha Lou Wheatley of the Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau.

But the new marketing strategy - aimed at Americans to counteract a diminishing supply of Canadian tourists - has obstacles. Many people have never even heard of Spokane, and those who do often carry misperceptions.

Also, Spokane’s dirt-cheap fees - which have been been a lure for traditional golf vacationers from Montana and Canada - may give out-of-towners the impression that Spokane links are second rate, some travel agents say.

Marketers are still working out the kinks in the new tactic, said Carolyn Ogden, director of tourism and development for the bureau.

The bureau has bought advertising space in out-of-state newspapers, AAA books, regional golf digests and national travel publications. It also has created press releases with golf maps and course summaries for the promotion, which began April 1.

Bureau employees began thinking about non-Northwest advertising based on the number of calls it’s received from vacationers and retirees in the Midwest and the Southwest.

Out-of-town travel agents warned that it might take a lot to convince golfers who are not familiar with Spokane.

“Palm Springs, Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, that’s where I send people,” said Peggy Christiansen, senior travel counselor at Carlson Travel Network of Arlington Heights, Ill. Carlson Travel Network operates about 20 offices throughout metropolitan Chicago.

“I’ve never even thought of Washington as being a golf place. I’ve been here 22 years and I’ve never had anybody who has wanted to go to the Spokane area to golf,” Christiansen said.

A major stumbling block for the Spokane golf marketers will be image. Often, people who have never been to the Inland Northwest think Seattle-like drizzle is ubiquitous throughout the state.

“Doesn’t it always rain there?” Christiansen asked.