Escanaba Recreation Survey-Opportunities for Tourism and Local Satisfaction

Surveys help provide feedback to administrators to make decisions that better utilize community resources for a beneficial end. Escanaba just released its 5-Year Recreation Plan Survey. You can fill it out HERE. If you live in the area and frequent amenities/activities than your input would be helpful to gain insight. On the same point, if you don't live in the area this may not be the one you want to fill out.  To capture tourist sediments might require a different kind of survey designed and administered at some point during their trip. The city may be able to reorient a few of its current activities to improving the appeal to tourists (and target tourism markets) to raise visitor satisfaction and return/spending rates.

You can read a little study on how sports and recreation influence the branding and enjoyment of the area HERE (The general principles will apply across tourism industries).

Three ways of looking at this issue are...

1. 5-Year Recreation Plan Survey

2. Visitor/Tourism Survey (One could collect amount spend, time, activities enjoyed, missed opportunities, problems, etc....)

3. Reviewing International Tourism Trends/Info (Making sure we are understanding what digital nomads and others want from the market to create greater alignment. See Delta County Digital Nomads and Delta County Adventure Venture Capitalists

Having Fun Activities for Community and Visitors:

Having fun activities that improve health moves beyond a positive lifestyle because it also impacts the appeal of the area for family/employee retention and business development. No one wants to live in a town without fun things to do (i.e. Young people moving away and qualified professions unable to be attracted and retained). There are certain occupations and businesses the city may want to attract to restock its population/small business community and the type of recreational activities offered throughout the 4 seasons that influence the city's overall appeal. 

There are two things that might be helpful to consider. 

1. Publicly show all of the activities (whether by the recreation department or not) in a single place that victors and/or locals can easily find. Robust recreational programs will need an interested base to keep them active. People love to show up to activities that have people already engaged. If people are positive and happy to see new people many of these activities will grow and diversify local activities.

2. One might also might ensure activities include teens (keep them engaged in the community) as well as adults (exercise and socializing). Some of these activities could be as simple as walking groups, biking groups, canoeing (might need to partner with a business) or other fun activities like beach volley ball. It is also possible to utilize volunteers that run these activities (Kind of like Meetup that is super popular in cities.) thereby reducing the expenses of the department and expanding the recreational reach.

3. Align activities with branding activities and coordinate with community stakeholders (i.e. marina and hotels) to create a more seamless customer service experience that leads to people returning over and over (i.e. getting businesses to promote certain key branding activities and ensuring everyone is meeting the needs).