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Information on this page is provided by Purdue Tourism & Hospitality Research Center (PTHRC) and Grant County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Permission to use the information, partially or in whole, can be obtained by contacting PTHRC.
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF GRANT COUNTY VISITORS
Demographically, the majority of visitors to Grant County are in the
25-49 year age group, work in professional/technical jobs, have high school
diploma or college degrees, and reside in the East North Central census region
(IN, MI, OH, IL, and WI). Although this general profile tends to apply
throughout the year, there are some noticeable exceptions by season. In the
following paragraphs, the highlights of this analysis for 1994-95 and by
season are presented. Age Groups
In 1994-95, about 73 % of respondents were aged 35 or more. By season,
this proportion of over‑35s did not deviate more than five percentage
point from the annual weighted average, ranging from a low of 68.7% in Winter
'94 to a high of 78.6% in Fall '94. Only 8.8% of 1994-95 respondents were
under the age of 25. When looking at the age compositions of entire travel
parties, some interesting seasonal variations were noted. The percentage of
teenagers and younger children was at its highest in Winter '94 (28% of all
travel party members) and at its lowest in Fall '94 (12.3%) with the annual
average at 19%. The proportions of 55 or older persons were at their highest
in Spring '95 (24.7% of all travel party members) and lowest in Winter '94
(15.2%) with the annual average at 20.8%.
For the year of 1994-95, 65.7% of respondents and 54.6% of all travel
party members were aged between the 25 and 54. The largest single age bracket
of respondents was those visitors between 35 and 44 at 24.9%. For all travel
party members, annually there was a close tie between the 35-44 age group
(20.4%) and 45-54 age group (20.6%). The season variation for the 35-44 age
group was negligible. However it was not so for the 45-54 age group, which was
at its highest at 27.9% in Fall 94, and at its lowest, 14.8%, in Summer
95. Educational Backgrounds
Overall, the educational level of 1994-95 visitors to Grant County
appeared to be around that of the average U.S. traveler. About 65% of all
respondents had some college experience. Approximately 33% of the respondents
had earned college degrees. Only 10.8% of the total sample had postgraduate
degrees. The smallest proportion with earned college degrees was noted in Fall
94 (24.4%) and the highest in Spring 95 (49.5%). Respondents that had
high school diplomas only formed the largest group of visitors to Grant
County, accounting for 30% of the total interviewed. Occupations
The majority of Grant County's visitors were from three occupational
groupings of professional/technical (28.6%), skilled or unskilled workers
(15.5%), and retired (13.5%). There were also smaller, but nevertheless
significant, portions of managers and executives (10.8%) and clerical and
sales persons (10.7%). The
distributions of occupational groupings were not consistent from season to
season. While the professional and technical occupation was the largest
visitor group throughout the year, the second largest group shifted from
managers and executives (15.6%) in Spring 95 to skilled and unskilled
workers (20%) in Fall 94, and to retirees (17%) in Summer 95. There were
also noticeable seasonal variations within each occupational group. In Spring
95, the professional and technical group made up 39% of the total
respondents, but the percent dropped to 24.4% in Fall 94. Household Incomes
Visitors to the Grant County area in 1994-95 were slightly above the
average U.S. traveler in their household incomes. While 27.5% of the
respondents were not willing to divulge income range information, the
remaining 72.5% did. Approximately 42.5% of all respondents indicated that
their household incomes were $40,000 or more. This group represented 58.6% of
those who provided the income data (622 persons). About 21% of all respondents
-- and 28.9% of those providing income data -- reported incomes of $60,000 or
more, with nearly 10% of all respondents having incomes in the $80,000 and
over range. The portion of all the respondents that claimed annual,
before tax household incomes below $20,000 was also close to 10%. The
three most frequently encountered income brackets in $10,000 increments were
$30,000-$39,999 (12%), $80,000 and over (9.2%) and $20,000-$29,999
(9%). This pattern did not hold stable in each of the four seasons of 1994-95.
1.
In Fall
94 $60,000-$69,999 (8.7%) replaced $80,000 and over (7.6%) in the top
three. 2.
The number
of respondents that were in the $20,000-$29,999 income bracket (11.1%)
exceeded that of respondents in the next higher bracket (10.6%) in Winter
94. 3.
The top
three groups in Summer 95 did not include the $80,000 and over bracket. 4.
However,
in Spring 95 visitors that had household incomes of $80,000 and over were
the most dominant group (16.1%). Gender
The majority of respondents in the five interviewing periods were male,
at the annual weighted average of 51.3%. The male to female ratio was highest
in Winter 94 at 5.4:4.6 and lowest in Summer, when there were slightly more
female (50.5%) than male respondents. This can be attributed to one special
Summer event (Quilt Celebration) that was attended by more women than men.
GEOGRAPHIC ORIGINS OF VISITORS
In 1994-95, the majority (81.0%) of Grant County's U.S. visitors were
from six states; Indiana (57.1%), Ohio (11.3%), Michigan (7.7%), Illinois
(4.5%), and Texas and Kentucky (1.8% each). The leading census region was East
North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI), accounting for 81.8% of all U.S. visitors,
or 79.9% of all visitors. Only two other census regions generated what could
be considered a significant volume of visitors -- South Atlantic (3.3%) and
East South Central (3.8%). Only 2.3% of all respondents were from outside of
the United States.
The average travel party size for 1994-95 was 3 persons. About 66.3% of
all respondents were return visitors to Grant County, while only one third
were visiting for the very first time. 46.4% of visitors were on
short duration trips of between one and four nights, while another 45.1%
were on day trips only. Size of Travel Parties
Travel party sizes ranged from just one traveler to one group of 50
visitors. The majority (85%) of visitors to Grant County in 1994-95 were in
party sizes of 4 persons or less. There was some variation in party size by
season. For example, the estimated average travel party size reached a high of
3.6 persons in Fall 94 but fell to a low of 2.6 persons in Spring 95.
The most frequently encountered party sizes were two persons (37.5% of
respondents), followed by solo travelers (22.7%) and three persons (14%). This
pattern held true across seasons except in Summer 95 when the number of
solo travelers (33.5%) exceeded that of two-person
parties (30.6%). In terms of the annual weighted average, a full 15% of all
respondents were in groups of five or more people; and there were more
10-person or larger travel parties in Fall 95 (6.6%) than in any other
seasons. Spring seemed to attract the least number of large parties (0.6%). Type of Travel Party
The majority (60%) of Grant County's 1994-95 visitors were traveling as
families, with or without friends. Solo travelers were the next largest group
at 22.7%. The third largest party type was a group of friends (9.6%). There
were marked differences in travel party compositions by season. While 68.4% of
the respondents in Fall 94 were with their families with or without
friends, this proportion fell to 48% in Summer 95. In contrast, in Summer
95 solo travelers reached a high of 33.5% of respondents, but represented
only 17.9% in Fall 94.
When combining this party composition data with the age information
discussed earlier, the inference is that Fall is the season when the largest
proportion of families with older family members tend to visit Grant County.
During Summer the amount of family travel drops, but more teenagers are
involved. Winter is the season when family travelers (58.1%) are more likely
to bring younger children along: 16.5% of the visitors in the season were
children below the age of 12. Trip Purposes
Approximately 75% of all Grant County's 1994-95 visitors indicated that
their main trip purpose was pleasure (i.e., vacation). Business travelers
accounted for about 15% and visitors traveling for personal reasons for 5.2%.
As might be expected, there were significant differences in trip purposes by
season. Fall 94 had the highest proportion of pleasure travelers at nearly
80%. Winter 94 had the next highest proportion of pleasure travelers at
close to 77%, while Summer 95 had the lowest percentage at 69%. The
proportion of business travelers to total travelers was highest in Spring
95 (18.4%). Business travelers were at their lowest relative level in
Summer 95 (12.1%). The seasonal variations in the number of visitors
traveling on personal matters ranged from 4% to 7%. The number of people who
were employed or engaged in temporary jobs in Grant County varied greatly from
season to season with the highest rate in Summer 95 (12.1%) and the lowest
in Fall 94 (0.7%).
The most frequently cited specific trip purposes were attending
special event or festival (31%), vacationing
in Grant County (17.6%), visiting
relative or friend in Grant County (17.5%), visiting an attraction (15.1%), attending
convention, conference, meeting or trade show (8.1%), making sales call on local businesses (5.6%), and shopping (5.5%).
Other trip
purposes in the questionnaire were mentioned by very few people. 8.2% of the
respondents passed by or through Grant County while vacationing, or attending
personal or business matters in surrounding counties and elsewhere. Number of Previous Visits to Grant County
As was mentioned earlier, the majority (67.3%) of respondents in
1994-95 had visited Grant County on at least one previous occasion. In fact,
some 57.8% had visited the area at least twice previously. However, this
pattern did not hold across the four seasons. The number of return visitors
was the highest at 76.8% in Winter 94 whereas first-time visitors made up
of only 23.2% of respondents; but was lowest at 57.4% in Summer 95 where
first‑time visitors reached a high of nearly 42.6%. Final Destinations and Prior Travel Stops
Some 81.6% of all the 1994-95 respondents stated that Grant County was
their final destination on their current trip. The remaining 18.4% had other
final destinations. The ratio varied considerably from season to season. In
Winter 94, nearly 90% of the respondents indicated Grant County as their
destination, and in Summer 95 the percentage lowered to 74.8%.
Those respondents with final destinations other than Grant County were
primarily headed for other places in Indiana (67.7% ). The other 32.3% were
headed for other states, with 6.5% for Michigan, 4% for Illinois, and a little
over 3% for Kentucky. Less than 10% of the respondents (70 persons) indicated
that they had visited other places before arriving in Grant County. Of those
other places, 61% were Indiana locations, followed by Michigan at 10%. Modes of Transportation
Given Grant County's location and transportation facilities, it could
be expected that the visitor's predominant mode of transportation would be the
automobile. In fact, 95.1% of all respondents indicated that private or rented
vehicles were used. The only other significant transportation mode used was
commercial airline at 3.2%. The patterns were consistent throughout the year,
except in Fall 94 when motor coach replaced commercial airlines to trail
the private or rented vehicle. Commercial airline usage during this season
dropped to 0.4%. There were seasonal variations in other transportation mode
usage. Motorcycle usage reached 2.2% in Fall 94, but none in Winter 94
and in Spring 95. There was some usage of motor homes in Fall 94 (1.5%)
and Summer 95 (1.0%), and little usage of private aircraft both in Spring
and Summer 95 (0.5% each) There was no usage of limousine service and taxi. Lengths of Stay
As mentioned above, trips to Grant County tended to be of relatively
short duration; 45.1% of the respondents were on day trips involving no
overnight stays, while one and two night stays accounted for
another 34.8% of the respondents. Of those respondents staying overnight in
Grant County, two-night stays accounted for 36.2%, and two or more overnight
stays totaled 69.7%. The average length of stay was estimated to be
approximately 2.32 nights. By season, the highest proportion of stays of two
or more nights was noted in Fall 94 (74.4% of respondents) followed by that
in Summer 95 (61.7%); and the lowest proportion in Winter 94 (33.2%).
Yet, the average length of stay was longest in Summer 95 (2.66 nights), and
shortest in Spring 95 (1.94 nights). Accommodation Usage
The majority of 1994-95 visitors to Grant County who remained overnight
·
Holiday
Inn Marion 33.5% ·
Days Inn
Marion 31.5% ·
Broadmoor
Motel 7.7% ·
Hart Motel
Marion
2.6%
It should be noted that lodging places in other nearby counties were
mentioned by some visitors to Grant County, but they accounted for less than
2% of all the overnight respondents, and
the responses were more concentrated in Fall 94. Visitor Expenditure Patterns
Respondents were given the alternative of estimating their travel
expenditures in Grant County for themselves only or for their travel parties
as a whole. For respondents only, some 80.8% expected to spend less than $250,
while the remaining 19.2% expected to spend $250 or more in the community. For
those estimating for their whole travel parties as a group, 79.2% expected to
spend less than $250 and the remaining 21.8% to spend $250 or more. The
largest single expected spending categories for individuals and groups were
under $50 (42.7% and 38.6% respectively), $50 to $99.99 (17.6% and 15%), and
$100 to $149.99 (8.2% and 11.4%).
Although smaller in relative proportions, there was a significant
number (5.4%) of respondents who themselves expected to spend $400 to $749.99.
The group spending estimate in the $400-$749.99 bracket was 8.1%. Of the
respondents themselves, 4.7% expected to spend $750 or more in Grant county,
the percentage was 3.8% for the group estimate.
There was considerable seasonal variation in this spending estimate
data. The highest proportion of spending estimates below $100 for respondents
was in Spring 95 (69.1%); that for groups was 75.3% in Winter 94. For
both individuals and groups, the estimate below $100 was lowest in Fall 94
at 41.2% and 38%, respectively. Accordingly, spending estimates appeared to be
higher in Fall 94 (20.2% and 23.3% at $350 and above) for respondents and
entire parties, respectively. MEDIA AND TRAVEL INFORMATION USAGE
For 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, and radio stations. Magazines, Newspapers, Radio Stations
The most popular magazines read by what could be considered a
significant proportion of respondents were Reader's Digest (21.1%), Sports
Illustrated (15.2%), Better Homes & Gardens (14.6%), Newsweek (13.8%),
People (12.4%), Country Living (11.1%), National Geographic (9.6%), U.S. News
& World Report (8.1%), Redbook (6.0%), Business Week (5.9%), Midwest
Living (5.6%), Modern Maturity (5.1%), Good Housekeeping (4.6%), and Time
(4.2%). Among newspapers, the most frequently mentioned were USA Today
(23.3%), Indianapolis Star (20.4%), Marion Chronicle-Tribune (12.9%), Wall
Street Journal (9.3%), Chicago Tribune (6.2%), Fort Wayne Sentinel (4.9%),
Anderson Herald-Bulletin (4.6%), Muncie Star Press (4.6%).
Radio station listening patterns were similar to newspaper readership,
but more dispersed than for magazine readership. Only two radio stations were
mentioned by more than 10% of the respondents (558) who answered the question.
They were WFBQ-FM 94.7 Indianapolis (17.4%) and WWKI-FM 100.5 Kokomo (11.1%).
Eight other stations were cited by more than 4% of the respondents: WMRI-FM
103.3 Marion (7.9%), WCJC-FM 99.3 Marion (7.0%), WRZX-FM 103.3 Indianapolis
(6.3%), WAJI-FM 95.1 Fort Wayne (6.3%), WKLR-FM 93.1 Indianapolis (5.9%),
WOWO-AM 1190 Fort Wayne (5.2%), WFMS-FM 95.5 Indianapolis (4.7%), WBAT-AM 1400
Marion (4.3%). Travel Information Sources
Given the very high proportion of repeat visits noted earlier, it is
not surprising that a large proportion of the 1994-95 respondents did not
actively seek travel‑related information for their current visits. In
fact, 65.6% of all the respondents indicated that they "didn't look for
or receive any information" or they "already knew about Grant
County." The information source of friends or relatives was very
significant at 28% of respondents. Other information sources used by visitors
included the AAA Travel Guides at 3.7%, newspaper (2%), GCCVB (1.8%) and the
Indiana Tourism Division (1.7%). All other information sources were used very
infrequently. VISITS, AWARENESS, AND RATINGS OF GRANT COUNTY'S ATTRACTIONS AND FACILITIES
To get some idea of the respondents' usage and ratings of local
attractions, events, and facilities, they were asked if they had visited
specific locations and, if so, to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10
being their highest possible rating. The results discussed below 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.
Given the large proportion of return visitors among the respondents,
the previous visitation to most local attractions was relatively low
indicating that more needs to be done to convince Grant County's visitors to
visit its attractions and events when they are in the community. For example,
the highest single percentage of previous visits to any individual attraction
or event within Grant County was at 20% for the International Walkway of
Lights, although it was 54.4% in Winter 95 when the event took place. The
next highest event was Fairmount Museum Days at 11.8%, followed by Converse
Fair (10.5%), Marion Easter Pageant (10.52%), Riverwalk (10.2%), and James
Dean Gallery (10%). Other events, attractions and places were previously
visited by less than 10% of the respondents. 22.7% and 14.7% of the
respondents did indicate that they had been to Grant County's restaurants and
hotels respectively on previous trips. However, these aggregate statistics do
not apply to any specific eating place or lodging property.
When asked about visitation on current trips, the places and
events that had been or were to be visited by more than 10% of the respondents
included the James Dean Gallery (23.4%), Fairmount Historical Museum (16.32%),
International Walkway of Lights (12.8%), Fairmount Antique Mall (12.2%), and
Olde Tyme Toy Mall (10.75%). Other individual events, attractions and places
had been or were to be visited by fewer than 10% of the respondents. As can be
seen, except for International Walkway of Lights, the above-10% visitation was
all associated with attraction sites rather than events. By season, there were
more events that had been attended or were to be attended by more than 10% of
respondents. For example, in Fall 94, Fairmount Museum Days was attended by
33.8% of visitors on their current trips. For Mississinewa 1812, the
percentage was 13.9%. In Winter 94, the International Walkway of Lights
attracted 56% of visitors which might include 20.7% of visitors who had
visited or plan to visit Riverwalk on the current trip. In Spring 95, over
32% of respondents indicated that they had been to or planned to be at the
Marion Easter Pageant. The Quilt Celebration in Summer 95 was attended by
18% of visitors during their current trips to Grant County. It is interesting
to note that although the celebration of Mississinewa 1812 took place in Fall
94, there were actually more visitors who had been to or intended to visit
the battleground site in Winter 94 (16.6%)
than in Fall 94 (13.9%).
As mentioned above, the previous visitation to most local attractions
was relatively low. This might be largely due to the lack of awareness of most
of the events or attractions. When asked if they were aware of these
attractions and places but had not visited nor intended to visit them, except
for three events/sites (Fairmount Historical Museum, Fairmount Museum Days,
and James Dean Gallery), all other events, attractions and places were not
known by more than 8% of the respondents who answered the question.
Generally, the respondents gave fairly high ratings to Grant County
attractions, events, facilities, and services. The highest ratings were
attached to:
It should be noted, however, that some of the most highly-rated items
had low response rates, e.g., Street Elite Car Show with only 14 respondents.
Expecting a tendency for respondents to grade favorably, say at least
at 7.5 out of 10, it is suggested that any scores averaging less than 7.5 and
especially those with sizable percentages (more than 10% of the respondents
rating the item) rating less than 5 should be of concern to the involved
organizations and GCCVB. These would include the following:
Some service items were also rated less than 7.5, for example, Grant
County as a destination (7.28), hotels/motels/B&B (7.17), and restaurants
(7.48), but less than 10% of the respondents who rated them gave a less-than-5
rating.
What seemed to be satisfactory or unsatisfactory ratings should be
evaluated in conjunction with the analysis of the relationship between the
awareness and actual visitation. PERCEPTIONS OF GRANT COUNTY AS A DESTINATION
Seventeen
Likert-scale questions were included to get an idea of visitors' perceptions
of various aspects of Grant County as a travel destination. Respondents were
also asked to make their own suggestions on what could be added or improved in
Grant County to make it a more attractive destination for visitors. Perceptions of Grant County
Based upon the opinions of these respondents, Grant County was seen as
an affordable and safe destination, and is known as James Deans hometown.
They also believed that Grant County has a relatively high degree of
accessibility. On the other hand, nearly 23% of the respondents did not agree
that Grant County was a unique destination. Nor did nearly 18% of them agree
that Grant County was a good destination for family weekends. These points are
highlighted in the following table which provides a score out of five for each
statement and also indicates the percentage of respondents who indicated that
they either "disagreed" or "strongly disagreed" with the
statements. The lower the score, the greater is the level of agreement with
the statement:
Six other statements were worded in a negative rather than a positive
manner. In this case, high scores represent agreement with the statement.
Therefore, lower scores out of 5 are considered better and more favorable than
higher scores. The results showed that the greatest problem area is in the
perception of the lack of enough quality hotels and restaurants. The perceived
limitation of a lack of variety of activities appeared to be another major
problem. These results are highlighted in the following table which indicates
the mean score out of 5 and the percentages of respondents agreeing with the
statements:
Respondents' Suggested Improvements
Most of the suggested improvements were related and consistent with the
low perceptual ratings of Grant County. For example, the most mentioned
improvement to make Grant County a more attractive destination was more and
better lodging and eating places. The following were the specific improvements
that were suggested by more than 2% of the respondents:
It should be noted that the percentages are relative to the total
number of those respondents who made any suggestions at all (594). Respondent's Verbatim Descriptions of Grant County
Respondents were asked to describe Grant County as a place to visit as
it is now. In general, Grant County was seen as a nice and beautiful place.
The towns are clean, quiet and peaceful. People were warm and friendly.
Visitors' experiences in Grant County were pleasant, delightful and enjoyable.
The 15 most popular descriptions are listed below. Again the percentages are
based on the number of those respondents who answered this question (794).
Important Factors in Selecting Destinations and the Respondents' Intention to Return
Respondents were asked to indicate the five most important factors that
they consider when selecting a travel destination. The factor of attractions/events/festivals
was mentioned the most frequently, followed by accessibility, and type and availability of accommodation. Price/affordability ranked as the fourth important
factor for the visitors to Grant County, which seemed to correspond with the
average household income level of the 1994-95 respondents. The most frequently
mentioned factors were as follows:
It was mentioned at the beginning of this report that the majority of the respondents were return visitors. This trend should continue according to this study. When asked if they intended to come back to Grant County, 95% of the respondents gave a positive response. The remaining 5% indicated that they were unlikely to come back to Grant County in the future. Among the reasons for them not to come back were Rebel Run is moving, Not fun, boring, Nothing to do, Too far, and Bad hotel accommodation. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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