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Information on this page is provided by Purdue Tourism & Hospitality Research Center (PTHRC) and Brown County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Permission to use the information, partially or in whole, can be obtained by contacting PTHRC.
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF BROWN COUNTY VISITORSDemographically,
the majority of visitors (63.3%) to Brown County in 1996-97 were in the 45 and
above age group (Table 1). Some 84.4% of the respondents were 35 or older. A
slight majority of the respondents, at 54.3%, were male (Table 2). In terms of
the highest educational levels achieved, the two major categories were high
school diploma (29.9%) and Bachelor’s degree holders (21.5%) (Table 4). The
largest of the occupational groupings among the respondents were retired
persons (22.3%), followed by people in professional/technical positions
(15.2%) and skilled workers (11.7%) (Table 5). AGE GROUPS In
1996-97, about 84.4% of respondents were aged 35 or more (Table 1). This
proportion of over 35s varied slightly by season, ranging from a low of
79.5% in Spring 1997 to a high of 90.5% in Fall
1996. Only 6.6% of all the
1996-97 respondents were under the age of 25. The Fall 1996 and Spring 1997
seasons had noticeably higher percentages of the 65 and above group, at 24.5%
and 22.9% respectively. The Summer 1996 season showed a relatively high
percentage of the 25-44 age group (33.5%). When
looking at the age compositions of all travel party members, some interesting
seasonal variations were noted. For the entire 1996-97, the percentage of
teenagers and younger children was 11% of all travel party members. This
percentage of under 20s was at its highest in Summer 1996 (17.7% of all travel
party members) and at its lowest in Spring 1997 (4.3%) (Table 3). In contrast,
the proportion of 55 or older persons was at its highest in Spring 1997 (57.3%
of all travel party members) and at its lowest in Summer 1996 (28.0%). For
the 1996-97 period, 84.4% of respondents (Table 1) and 72.3% of all travel
party members (Table 3) were aged between 35 and above. The largest individual
age bracket of respondents was those visitors between 35 and 44 at 21.1%
(Table 1). For all travel party members, the largest individual age group was
65 and above at 23.2% (Table 3). The 45 and above group represented more than
60% of the respondents and all travel party members at 63.3% and 60.2%
respectively. EDUCATIONAL
BACKGROUNDS Some
59.2% of all respondents had some college experience, while 33.8% had only had
a high-school education (Table 4). The two single largest groups were people
with high school diplomas and Bachelor’s degrees, at 29.9% and 21.5%
respectively. Some 41.4% of the respondents had earned college degrees ranging
from Associates to Doctorates. The
largest proportion of visitors with earned high school diplomas was in Spring
1997 (32.8%) and the lowest in Fall 1996 (26.3%). The largest proportion with
earned Bachelor’s degrees was in Fall 1996 (24.0%) and the lowest proportion
in Spring 1997 (17.2%). The proportion of respondents with earned degrees was
highest in Winter 1997 at 43.5% and lowest in Spring 1997 at 37.3%. OCCUPATIONS The
majority of Brown County's visitors were from two occupational groupings;
retired (22.3%) and professional/technical (15.2%) (Table 5). There were also
smaller, but nevertheless significant, portions of skilled workers (11.7%) and
managers/executives (9.6%). The distribution of occupations varied from season
to season. Retired persons were more likely
to visit Brown County in the Fall and Spring seasons (31.4% and 29.1%
respectively) when the weather is milder. The proportions of retired persons
in the other two seasons were lower (at 3.4% in Winter 1997 and 22.6% in
Summer 1996). The
professional/technical group was at its highest proportions in Summer 1996 at
24.9%. Those in clerical/sales and unskilled worker positions were at a peak
in Winter 1997, at 12.2% and 23.5% respectively. HOUSEHOLD
INCOMES Approximately
two-thirds of the respondents provided information on their household income
levels, while the remaining 32.3% were unwilling to provide these details
(Table 6). Approximately 63% of the respondents who provided this information
had household incomes of $40,000 or more. About 33.6% of those providing
income data reported incomes of $60,000 or more. Some 16.4% of the respondents
providing information had household incomes in the $80,000 and over range,
while 9% of these respondents had incomes of $100,000 or more. Only 8.4% of
all the respondents providing income data reported annual, before tax
household incomes below $20,000. The
three most frequently encountered income brackets among the respondents
providing income data were $40,000-$49,999 (17.6%), $30,000 $39,999
(17%), and $50,000 $59,999 (11.8%). There was some seasonal variations in the
patterns of household incomes. For example, the under $40,000 group was at its
highest in Summer 1996, at 39.9%, and at its lowest in Fall 1996, at 34.8%.
The middle income range, from $40,000 to $79,999, was at its highest in Fall
1996, at 54.4%, and at its lowest in Summer 1996, at 38.8%. GENDER Overall, the majority of respondents in 1996-97 were males at 54.3% (Table 2). This proportion was relatively consistent throughout the year, with the highest proportion of female respondents being in Fall 1996 at 48.8%. GEOGRAPHIC ORIGINS OF VISITORSGeographically,
the majority of the visitors to Brown County in 1996-97 came from 30 of the
states in the U.S. In particular, the data showed that Brown County’s market
is strongest in Indiana and its neighboring states. The majority (86.6%) of
Brown County's U.S. visitors were from just four states: Indiana (58.7%), Ohio
(12.7%), Illinois (9.2%), and Kentucky (6.0%) (Table 9). The only other state
with more than 2% of the respondents was Michigan (2.8%). The
leading census region was East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, and WI),
accounting for 84.3% of all U.S. visitors to Brown County in 1996-97 (Table
8). The only other significant census region was
East South Central (6.6%), which includes Kentucky. The top two census
regions generated 90.9% of all Brown County U.S. visitors. The
smallest-generating census regions were New England (0.1%) and Mountain
(0.7%). Less than 1% of Brown County’s visitors were from outside of the
U.S. (Table 7). There
were significant changes in geographic origins by season. For example, the
proportion from Indiana was at a high of 75.4% in Winter 1997 and at a low of
49.6% in Spring 1997. The percentage from the four-state area of Indiana,
Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky peaked in Winter 1997 at 92.6% and was lowest in
Summer 1996 at 80.8%. Some 23 states were represented in Summer 1996 compared
to just 11 in Winter 1997. The
most-frequently mentioned 3-digit zip code areas of the respondents were in
Indianapolis (460-462 = 23.7%) and Bloomington (474 = 7.3%) (Table 10). Other
Indiana zip codes with significant numbers of visitors were Columbus (6.2%),
Gary (5.2%), Fort Wayne (5.0%), Lafayette (4.8%), and South Bend (4.5%). The
out-of-state zips with the most respondents were Cincinnati (8.5%) and
Louisville (4.0%). The Chicago area zips accounted for 5.1% of all the
respondents included in Table 10. All the other 3-digit zip codes each
accounted for less than 4% of the respondents. The Indianapolis area zip codes
were at a high proportion of 37.6% in Winter 1997. The
average travel party size for 1996 was 3.8 persons (Table 11). About 76.7% of
all respondents were repeat visitors to Brown County, while only 23.3% were
visiting for the very first time (Table 15). It was noticeable that 50% of all
visitors were very frequent visitors and had visited Brown County five or more
times. A majority of
visitors (60.2%) were on short duration trips of one to four
nights stay in Brown County, while another 29.3% were on day trips to Brown
County (Table 21). SIZE OF TRAVEL
PARTIES Travel
party sizes ranged from just one traveler to a group of 31 and more visitors
(Table 11). The average party size in 1996-97 was 3.8 persons. The highest
average party size was in Spring 1997 (5.2 persons). The mode for travel party
size, or the most frequently encountered party size, however, was two persons
with the highest proportion of 47.5%, followed by four (16.5%) and three
(11.9%) persons. Solo travelers only accounted for 8.2% of the respondents.
The overwhelming majority (88.2%) of visitors to Brown County in 1996-97 were in travel parties of five or less persons. The average travel party size was the smallest in Fall 1996 (2.7 persons) and Winter 1997 (3.6 persons). The highest average party sizes were in Spring 1997 (5.2 persons) and Summer 1996 (4 persons). TYPES OF TRAVEL
PARTIES The
majority (76.8%) of Brown County's 1996-97 visitors were traveling as
families, with or without friends. Groups of friends were the next largest
group at 11.8% (Table 12). As stated above, those traveling alone accounted
for about 8% of the respondents. There
were marked differences in travel party compositions by season. While 81.5% of
the respondents in Fall 1996 were with their families, with or without
friends, this proportion fell to 68.8% in Spring 1997. Groups of friends
ranged from a high of 14.4% in Summer 1996 to a low of 8.6% in Fall 1996. The
proportion of solo travelers did not vary much from season to season,
representing around 7 to 8%. Combining
this party composition data with the age information discussed earlier, the
inference is that Summer 1996 was the season when the largest proportion of
families (17.7% of all travel party members in Table 3) with younger children
(under 13 years) and teenagers tended to visit Brown County. The Spring 1997
season had the largest average group size due to the presence of more larger
conference groups. TRIP PURPOSES Approximately
80.7% of all Brown County's 1996-97 visitors indicated that their main trip
purpose was pleasure (i.e., vacation) (Table 13). Business travelers accounted
for only 8.6% and visitors traveling for personal reasons for 9.0%. There were
some interesting differences in trip purposes by season. Winter 1997 had the
highest proportion of pleasure travelers at 85.1%. Spring 1997 had the next
highest proportion of pleasure travelers at 81.5%, while Fall 1996 had the
lowest percentage at 77.1%. The proportions of business travelers to total
travelers were highest in Spring 1997 (13.3%) and lowest in Summer 1996
(3.8%). Persons traveling on personal business reached a high of 13.3% in Fall
1996, and was lowest in Winter 1997 (4.5%). The
most frequently cited specific trip purposes were shopping in Nashville
(61.7%), staying in Brown County on vacation (29.5%), visiting Brown County
State Park (28.6%), visiting Little Nashville Opry (8.8%), other pleasure
purpose (8.4%), visiting art galleries (8%), attending a special event or
festival in Brown County (6.2%), and attending a convention, conference,
meeting or trade show (5.7%) (Table 14). All other trip purposes each
accounted for less than 5% of the respondents. These
data clearly confirmed the key importance of the shopping and art galleries in
Nashville as Brown County’s primary pleasure travel attractions. Next to
this, Brown County State Park was the other major attraction. All other
attractions, with the possible exception of the Little Nashville Opry, appear
to play a secondary role to downtown Nashville and Brown County State Park.
The data also confirm the role of Brown County as a tourism destination,
rather than as a place to pass through en route to another destination. Only
5% of the respondents indicated that they were passing by or through Brown
County. There
were significant differences in specific trip purposes according to season.
For example, the percentage of respondents staying in Brown County on vacation
was at a high of 43.9% in Summer 1996, but dropped to a low of 12.3% in Winter
1997. The proportion visiting Brown County State Park was at a high of 35.8%
in Spring 1997 and at a low of 18.9% in Winter 1997. The percentage of
respondents shopping in Nashville reached a peak of 77.7% in Spring 1997. The
proportion who were attending conventions, conferences, meetings, or trade
shows was also highest in Spring 1997, at 11.3%. Apart from these meetings,
very low percentages of the 1996-97 visitors were in Brown County for other
business purposes. NUMBER OF
PREVIOUS VISITS TO BROWN COUNTY As was mentioned earlier, the majority (76.7%) of respondents
in 1996-97 had visited Brown County on at least one previous occasion (Table
15). In fact, half of the respondents had visited Brown County on four or more
previous occasions. Generally, this pattern held true in each of the four
seasons. In Winter 1997, return visitors reached a peak of 84.9% of all
respondents. The very frequent visitors (those with five or more visits) were
at a high of 61.3% in Winter 1997 and at a low of 40.6% in Fall 1996. FINAL
DESTINATIONS AND PRIOR TRAVEL STOPS Some
84.3% of all the 1996-97 respondents stated that Brown County was their final
destination on their current trips (Table 16). The remaining 15.7% had other
final destinations. This relationship held fairly stable for each of the four
seasons, reaching a high of 87.8% in Spring 1997 and a low of 82.4% in Fall
1996. The
most popular final destinations within Indiana other than Brown County were
Bloomington (17.9%), Indianapolis (15.9%), and Columbus (9.7%) (Table 17-1).
Other final destinations with some significant proportions of respondents were
Chicago (4.1%), Nashville, TN (4.1%), and Terre Haute (3.5%). The
most popular places visited within Indiana on the respondents’ trips prior
to Brown County were Indianapolis (40 respondents), Bloomington (37
respondents), and Columbus (20 respondents) (Table 18). MODES OF
TRANSPORTATION
Given Brown County's location and transportation facilities, it could
be expected that the visitors’ predominant mode of transportation would be
the automobile. In fact, 92.4% of all respondents indicated that private or
rented vehicles were used (Table 19). Among the other transportation modes
used, the most popular was motor home or travel trailer (3.2%). These patterns
were fairly consistent throughout the year. There was some seasonal variation
in other transportation mode usage. Motor home usage reached highs of 5.8% and
4.9% in Spring 1997 and Fall 1996, but was only 0.4% in Winter 1997. HIGHWAYS AND
ROADS USED The
highways and roads used most frequently to get to Brown County were Highway 46
(39.8%), I-65 (23.1%), Highway 135 (8.7%), and Highway 37 (6.1%), and I-74
(5.6%) (Table 20). Other highways and roads used by significant numbers of
respondents were I-465 (4.2%) and Highway 31 (3%). LENGTHS OF STAY
The majority of visitors in 1996-97 stayed overnight in Brown County
(63.9%) (Table 21). Most people stayed one to two nights in Brown County
(43.5%). Day trips to Brown County accounted for
29.3% of the respondents. There was not much variation in lengths of
stay throughout the year. The median length of stay of those respondents
staying overnight in Brown County was estimated to be just over 2 nights. AC The
majority of the 1996 visitors to Brown County who remained overnight stayed in
local hotels and motels (67.5%) (Table 22-1). The other major types of
accommodation were the State Park (9.7%), rental cabins (7.1%), campgrounds
(6.8%), and the homes of friends
or relatives (6%). The most frequently used hotels were as follows (Table
22-2): ACCOMMODATIONS
pERCENTAGE
Abe
Martin Lodge
34.6% Comfort
Inn
17.6% Season’s
Lodge
11.8% Brown
County Inn 11.4% Hotel
Nashville
6.9% Other specific lodging establishments were mentioned by less than 3% of
visitors who remained overnight in Brown County. VISITOR
EXPENDITURE PATTERNS Respondents
were given the alternative of estimating their travel expenditures in Brown
County for themselves only or for their travel parties as a whole. For
respondents only, some 81.7% expected to spend less than $250, while the
remaining 18.3% expected to spend $250 or more in the city (Table 23). The
largest single expected spending categories for individuals were under $100
(46.7%), $100 to $249.99 (35%), and $250 to $399.99 (11.7%). The
pattern of expenditures for groups was different from the individual spending
pattern. For those estimating for their travel parties as a whole, 60.8%
expected to spend less than $250 and the remaining 39.2% to spend $250 or more
(Table 24). The largest expected
spending category for entire travel parties was $100 to $249.99 (33.3%). The
next largest spending category was $250 to $499.99 at 28%. The under $100
category ranked third at 27.5%, followed by the $500 and more category
(11.3%). There was some significant seasonal variations in the spending estimates of this study’s respondents. For the entire year of 1996-97, the median expenditure range for travel parties was in the $200 to $249.99 category. However, the Winter 1997 and Spring 1997 median travel parties were lower at $100 to $149.99 and $150 to $199.99 respectively. Overall, the Winter 1997 season had the lowest travel party expenditure figures. Some 57.6% of the travel parties in Winter 1997 spent less than $150 in Brown County, while only 21.4% spent $250 or more. The expenditure levels appeared to be at their highest in Fall and Summer 1996, when 46.9% and 46.4% of the travel parties spent $250 or more compared to the annual average figure of 39.2%. MEDIA AND TRAVEL INFORMATION USAGEFor
advertising and marketing purposes, it was felt to be important to ask
respondents about their media habits. Therefore, the questionnaire included
questions on usage of magazines, newspapers, radio formats, and cable TV
stations. Respondents were also asked about their use of the World Wide Web,
and their awareness of Brown County CVB’s television advertisements.
Finally, respondents provided information on their sources of travel
information, and about the people or organizations that influenced them to
travel to Brown County. THE PRINT
MEDIA: MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS The
ten most popular magazines read by what could be considered a significant
proportion of respondents were: Reader's Digest (267), Better Homes and
Gardens (184), Modern Maturity (162), National Geographic (162), Country
Living (130), People (112), Newsweek (106), Woman’s Day (100), Sports
Illustrated (90), and Midwest Living (88) (Table 32-1). Other magazines read
by 50 or more of the respondents were: U.S. News & World Report (68),
Country Home (62), Business Week (60), Redbook (56), and Home & Away/AAA
(54). Among
newspapers, the most frequently mentioned were the Indianapolis Star (204),
USA Today (149), Wall Street Journal (71), Chicago Tribune (48), Cincinnati
Enquirer (41), Indianapolis News
(38), Louisville Courier Journal (34), and the Lafayette Journal Courier (28).
The Indianapolis Star readers were at a peak of 33% in Winter 1997. THE ELECTRONIC
MEDIA: RADIO, CABLE TV, AND WORLD WIDE WEB The
type of radio station format most frequently listened to was country (513)
(Table 33). The other popular radio station formats were easy listening (290),
classical (214), classical rock (211), rock/popular (Top 40) (183), talk radio
(150), and jazz/blues (137). The
ten most popular cable television subscriptions among the respondents were CNN
(658), ESPN (640), A & E (602), Discovery Channel (593), TNN (598), TBS
(590), Family Channel (553), USA Network (548), Nickelodeon (514), and CNBC
(512). Other cable TV stations with significant numbers of respondents were
The Learning Channel (437), Travel Channel (315), Disney Channel (293), HBO
(286), and Cinemax (174). When
asked about Brown County CVB’s television advertising campaign, 14.3% of the
respondents said they had seen these ads. The proportions varied significantly
by season, from a high of 21.1% in Winter 1997 to a low of 8.7% in Summer
1996. When asked where they had seen the Brown County CVB’s TV ads, the most
frequently mentioned markets were Indianapolis, Bedford, and Bloomington. Some
9.1% of the respondents said these TV ads influenced their decisions to visit
Brown County (Table 34-3). A very significant 23.4% of the Spring 1997
visitors were influenced by the TV ads. Some
43.7% (461) of the respondents said that they had used the Internet/World Wide
Web in their homes or places of business, while the remaining 56.3% (593) had
never used this computer-based medium. The majority of the Internet users had
been online at work (49%), at home via America Online (16.3%), at a library,
school or college (15.4%), or at home via CompuServe (5.4%). This implies that
a significant portion of visitors have potential access to Brown County
CVB’s World Wide Web site. TRAVEL
INFORMATION SOURCES Given
the very high proportion of repeat visits noted earlier, it is not surprising
that a large proportion of the 1996-97 visitors did not actively seek travel
related information for their current trips. In fact, 68.8% of all the
respondents indicated that they "didn't look for or receive any
information" or they "already knew about Brown County" (Table
31) Significant information sources used were friends or relatives at 20.1% of
respondents and AAA travel guides at 4.6%. Some 2.2% of respondents obtained
information from the Indiana Division of Tourism
and 1.4% from Brown County CVB. All other information sources were used
very infrequently. MOST
INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN TRAVEL DECISION-MAKING The two most influential groups of persons in influencing the travel decisions to Brown County were spouses/partners/companions (36.2%) and friends (22.3%). Other significant influences were other relatives (10.6%), organization for which you work (8.5%), myself (8.1%), and children (6.1%). VISITS, AWARENESS, AND RATINGS OF BROWN COUNTY'S ATTRACTIONS AND FACILITIES ACTIVITY
PARTICIPATION The
respondents were supplied with a list of 33 activities and were asked if they
participated in them during their trips to Brown County. The ten most
activities with the highest participation rates among 1996-97 visitors were: ACTIVITIES
PARTICIPATION RATES 1.
Shop (general shopping)
79.1% 2.
Eat in downtown Nashville
70.2% 3.
Shop for local arts and handicrafts
68.2% 4.
Shop for antiques in downtown Nashville
60.9% 5.
Observe wildlife/bird watch 26.4% 6.
Hike 23.1% 7.
Visit an art gallery 19.8% 8.
Attend a country music theater 15.6% 9.
Visit friends or relatives 12.5% 10.
Visit a resort 11.5% The
most popular activities were definitely shopping and eating in restaurants in
Nashville. Generally, more than 70% of the 1996-97 respondents participated in
these two activities. About one quarter of the respondents participated in
outdoor recreation activities including hiking, observing wildlife, and bird
watching. As
might be expected, there were some seasonal variations in activity
participation that might be attributed partly to changes in the weather
conditions. The following exhibit shows the top ten activities by
participation rates for each of the four seasons. ACTIVITIES
SummeR fall winter spring year 1996 1996 1997 1997 Shop
(general shopping)
2
1
1
1
1 Eat
in downtown Nashville
1
4
3
2
2 Shop
for local arts and handicrafts
3
2
2 3
3 Shop
for antiques in downtown Nashville 4
3
4
4 4 Observe
wildlife/bird watch
6
5
7
5
5 Hike
5
6
6
6
6 Visit
an art gallery
6
7
9 7
7 Attend
a country music theater
9
10
5
9
8 Visit
friends or relatives
11
10
8 10 9 Visit
a resort
8
9
10 Visit
a winery
10
11 Visit
a theme or amusement park
8
8 12 Attend
a conference or meeting
10
13 ATTRACTION AND
EVENT USAGE To
get an idea of the respondents' usage and ratings of local attractions,
events, and facilities, they were asked if they visited specific locations
and, if so, to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest
possible rating. The results give an indication of the most popular
attractions and events and, in addition, may indicate where some specific
improvements are needed in certain attractions or facilities. Once
more, the data confirmed the primary importance of shopping in downtown
Nashville and Brown County State Park as Brown County’s two major tourism
attractions. The two most frequently mentioned attractions visited on current
trips were shopping in Nashville and Brown County State Park (Table 26). This
was also the case for previous trips (Table 25) and for places still to be
visited on current trips (Table 27). Other
individual attractions within Brown County generally scored rather low on
usage and awareness. Of these, the Gnaw Bone flea markets, Brown County
Playhouse, Little Nashville Opry, and the Nashville Express Train seemed to
have the highest levels of use and recognition. Other attractions such as the
Historical Society Complex/Old Log Jail, Ski World Complex, Lloyd Wood
Show/Country Time Music Hall, Pinebox Theater, Sheila Stephen Red Barn
Jamboree, T.C. Steele State Historic Site, Melchior Marionette Theater, and
Nashville Follies Theater had relatively low attendance rates and recognition
among the 1996-97 visitors to Brown County. The
awareness and attendance at major local festivals and events were also
relatively low. With respect to awareness levels, less than 10% of the
visitors indicated that they were aware of the six specified events and
festivals (Table 28). Table 25 indicates that the most-visited event on
previous trips by the 1996-97 respondents was the Christmas in Brown County
Festival. These results clearly suggest that more could be done to promote the
County’s local events and festivals, and attractions other than the
Nashville shopping and Brown County State Park. Generally,
respondents gave fairly high ratings to Brown County’s attractions, events,
and festivals (Table 29-5). The highest ratings were given to the following: Attractions
rating
Responses Brown
County State Park
9.15
772 Little
Nashville Opry
9.03
148 Shopping
in Nashville
8.58
818 Brown
County Playhouse
8.56
153 Lloyd
Wood Show/Country Time Music Hall 8.51
70 Pinebox
Theater
8.49
49 Golf
courses 8.48
104 Sheila
Stephen Red Barn Jamboree 8.38
21 T.C.
Steele Historic Site 8.21
67 Nashville
Follies Theater 8.18 34 Nashville
Express Train 7.99 147 Historical
Society Complex/Old Log Jail 7.96
97 EVENTS
AND FESTIVALS Christmas
in Brown County Festival 8.97 109 Arts
Renaissance Festival 8.78 23 Log
Cabin Tour 8.57 31 Historical
Society Quilt Show 8.56 16 Bill
& James Monroe Bluegrass Festival 8.53 33 Spring
Blossom Parade 8.48 35
The attractions with the lowest overall ratings among the 1996-97 visitors to
Brown County were as follows: ·
Ski World
Complex (7.29) ·
Gnaw Bone
flea markets (7.41) ·
Melchior
Marionette Theater (7.64) Among out-of-town attractions, the most-highly rated were The Children’s Museum in Indianapolis (9.21), Spring Mill State Park (8.95), Hoosier National Forest (8.75), McCormick’s Creek State Park (8.64), and the architectural tour of Columbus (8.62) (Table 29-5). The most-visited out-of-town attractions on prior trips were the Circle Centre Mall (38.8%), Indianapolis 500 Speedway (26.3%), Children’s Museum (23%), Indianapolis Zoo (22%), and Spring Mill State Park (21.5%), and Lake Monroe (19.7%) (Table 25). PERCEPTIONS OF BROWN COUNTY AS A DESTINATION One
of the major objectives of this Visitor Profile Study was to gather
information on the image of Brown County as a visitor destination.
Twenty-seven Likert-scale questions were included in the questionnaire to get
an idea of visitors' perceptions of various aspects of Brown County as a
travel destination. Respondents were also asked to provide their own
suggestions on what could be added or improved in Brown County to make it a
more attractive destination for visitors. PERCEPTIONS OF
BROWN COUNTY Based
upon the opinions of these respondents, Brown County was seen as being a good
place for a day trip, and as a safe, affordable, and unique travel destination
(Table 36). Brown County was also perceived by the vast majority of 1996-97
visitors to be a good place to enjoy outdoor activities. Nashville’s
downtown shopping area was judged to be a unique place for shopping, dining,
and entertainment. A majority of respondents also agreed that Brown County has
a high degree of accessibility by road, offers several unique attractions for
vacationers, and is a good place to take children. However, less than half of
the respondents agreed that Brown County has adequate parking or restroom
facilities. perceptual
Statements on Brown County AND BLOOMINGTON
Agree (positively-worded) 1.
Brown County is a good place for a day
trip
84.8% 2.
Brown County is safe as a travel
destination
84.1% 3.
Brown County is a unique vacation travel
destination
83.8% 4.
Brown County is a good place to enjoy outdoor
activities
83.5% 5.
Nashville’s downtown area is a unique shopping, dining, and entertainment
area 83.0% 6.
Brown County is affordable as a travel
destination
82.0% 7.
Brown County has a high degree of accessibility by
road
79.3% 8.
Brown County has several unique attractions for
vacationers 77.7% 9.
Brown County is a good place to take
children 63.7% 10.
Brown County has adequate restroom
facilities 59.2% 11.
The shopping available in Nashville is a major reason for my
visit
57.3% 12.
Brown County is a good place for attending country music
shows
52.0% 13.
Brown County is a good place to use as a base for visiting
Bloomington
51.0% 14.
Brown County has adequate parking
locations 49.4% 15.
Brown County is a good place to use as a base for visiting Columbus
IN 47.7% 16.
The opportunity for outdoor recreation at the lakes, national
forest,
43.9% or parks is the major reason for my visit 17.
Bloomington is a good place to visit for a few hours on the way to
Brown 42.3% County
18.
Brown County is a good place to use as a base for visiting
Indianapolis
34.7% While
the overall perceptions of Brown County as a destination were favorable, a
central tendency was noticed for several of the perceptual statements. These
statements tended to have significant neutral ratings (at 3.0). For example,
when asked whether Brown County is a good place to use as a base for visiting
Columbus IN, 43.9% of the respondents gave a neutral rating. In addition,
42.8% and 41.2% respectively of respondents were neutral with regard to
whether Brown County was a good place to use as a base for visiting
Indianapolis and Bloomington. Other statements that drew mainly neutral
responses were “it is difficult to find overnight accommodation in
Bloomington” (69.2% neither agreed or disagreed), “Bloomington is a good
place to visit for a few hours while on the way to Brown County” (52.4%),
“Brown County is a good place for attending country music shows” (45.4%),
“Brown County does not have enough high-quality hotels and motels”
(35.6%), and “it is difficult to find overnight accommodation in Brown
County” (35.5%). There
were only small proportions of respondents who had negative perceptions of
Brown County as a travel destination. The less favorable perceptual ratings
are highlighted in the following table. The table indicates the percentage of
respondents who said that they either "disagreed" or "strongly
disagreed" with the statements when the statements were positively worded
or “agreed” or “strongly agreed” when the statements were negatively
worded. PERCEPTUAL STATEMENTS
REE
DIS-AGREE 1.
Traffic congestion is a problem in
Nashville
54.5% 25.2% 2.
Brown County does not have enough quality
restaurants
34.5% 42.5% 3.
It is difficult to find overnight accommodation in Brown
County
27.4% 37.1% 4.
The directional signs within Brown County need to be
improved
26.5% 42.6% 5.
Brown County does not have enough high-quality hotels and motels
25.8% 38.7% 6.
Brown County does not offer many activities for vacation
travelers 19.1% 58.2% 7.
It is difficult to find your way around Brown
County 18.7% 37.1% 8.
Brown County is not a good place for family
weekends 14.2% 67.6% a.
Brown County has adequate parking
locations 49.4% 35.6% b.
Brown County is a good place to use as a base to visit
Indianapolis 34.7% 22.6% c.
Brown County has adequate restroom
facilities 59.2% 18.9% RESPONDENTS'
SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS Most
of the suggested improvements were related to and consistent with the lower
perceptual ratings of Brown County. For example, one of the most frequently
mentioned improvements to make Brown County a more attractive destination was
to provide more free parking spaces and a greater selection of restaurants and
food stores (Table 37). The specific suggestions were as follow: Suggested
Improvements
Mentions More
parking spaces
(free)
133 More
restaurants/food
stores
95 More
improvement on
motels
53 More
restrooms
42 Variety
of shops
(change/increase)
58 Hours
of business
(modify) 29 Improve
the
roads 26 Keeping
current status (small town and
spirit) 23 Need
more signs and signals
(traffic) 22 Drop
prices 17 More
things for younger
people 15 RESPONDENT'S
VERBATIM DESCRIPTIONS OF BROWN COUNTY Respondents
were asked to describe Brown County as a place to visit as it is now. In
general, Brown County was seen as a great, nice, scenic, and wonderful place
to visit (Table 38). Other descriptors frequently used were “relaxing,”
“comfortable,” “peaceful,” “unique,” and “charming or pretty.”
The ten most popular descriptions are listed below. The percentages were based
on the total number of respondents in this study. Verbatim
Descriptions
Mentions
% Great,
nice, scenic,
wonderful
598
53.2% Relaxing,
comfortable
128
11.4% Peaceful
81
7.2% Unique
65
5.8% Charming,
pretty
62
5.5% Enjoyable
60
5.3% Great
place for a day
trip
59
5.2% Fun,
interesting 47
4.2% Friendly 41
3.6% Great
shops 32
2.8% RESPONDENTS'
INTENTIONS TO RETURN It
was mentioned earlier that the majority of the respondents were return
visitors. This trend should continue according to the findings of this study.
When asked if they intended to come back to Brown County, 97.6% of the
respondents provided a positive response (Table 39). Only 2.4% of the
respondents said they would not be making future trips to Brown County. IMPORTANT
FACTORS IN SELECTING DESTINATIONS Respondents
were asked to indicate the five most important factors that they consider when
selecting a travel destination. The four most important factors were: 1)
natural beauty and scenery, 2) price and affordability, and 3) attractions,
events, and festivals, and 4) accommodation and lodging (type and
availability) (Table 40). The most frequently mentioned factors were as
follows: Destination
Selection Factors
% Natural
beauty/scenery
13.0% Price/affordability 12.1% Attractions/events/festivals 12.1% Accommodation/lodging
(type and
availability) 11.0% Accessibility
(by highway,
airline)
9.7% Weather/climate 8.8% Restaurants 7.8% Uniqueness
of a
destination
6.6% Range
of
activities 5.9% Hospitality/friendliness 5.1% Safety/security 5.1% |
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