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FALL RIVER — Businesses need to step up and support cultural organizations in Fall River, local arts figure Patrick Norton told an audience of city leaders, tourism professionals and arts organizations at a recent summit on tourism.
“Local government and the business community don’t believe that arts and culture is economic development,” said the executive director of the Narrows Center for the Performing Arts. “Until they believe that, it won’t happen.”
Citing organizations like the Little Theatre of Fall River, Spindle City Ballet and others, Norton said Fall River has an existing footprint of attractive destinations but that organizations need more support from corporate sponsors.
The Narrows brings about 35,000 people to the city each year, about 80 percent of whom come from outside a 15-mile radius, he said. The nearly 300-seat venue is busy at least three nights a week with audiences that are both “well-heeled and well-cultured.”
Norton’s push for support of the arts was one of several messages delivered at the June 28 summit organized by the city and held at Heritage State Park. The day-long agenda addressed the future of tourism in the city and featured Betsy Wall, executive director of the Massachusetts Office of Travel Tourism, and state Rep. Sarah Peake (D-Provincetown), chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, among speakers.
The event was organized by City Council member David Dennis who is chair of the council’s Committee on Economic Development and Tourism. Dennis recently proposed that the city hire a tourism director based, he said, on conversations he’s had with a “cross-section of individuals.”
The resolution has been referred to the tourism committee, he said.
Follow-up steps related to summit recommendations will be ongoing, Dennis said. “In conjunction with the resolution for a tourism director, BCC has expressed willingness to assist us and partner with us,” he said, explaining that the college has a tourism and hospitality program. “We’re going to follow up with them and sit down and create a long-term strategic plan to address specific issues raised.”
At the summit, Lizzie Borden Bed Breakfast manager Lee-Ann Wilber said that despite bringing about 20,000 visitors to Fall River annually, she runs into resistance when she looks for help in promoting the venue. “It’s like running uphill around here to get our business noticed,” said Wilber. “(People I approached) didn’t want to promote Lizzie. They were embarrassed by her.”
As one example of the obstacles she has encountered, Wilber said a sign directing traffic off the Braga Bridge to specific destinations including her BB was recently replaced by a more generic version that only references waterfront attractions. “That one sign brought us 2,000 people and now it’s gone,” she said.
Others in the audience also lamented the sign’s disappearance including Norton and Brad King, executive director of Battleship Cove.
“The problem with the (current) sign is that it doesn’t tell you what the waterfront attractions are,” said King. “We need much more help than being generic. They need to be specific.”
One of the recommendations made at the summit was to reach out to international markets. International visitors spend twice as much money as U.S. tourists and “do twice as many things as Americans,” said Larry Meehan, vice president of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitor Bureau.
Meehan also recommended that the city make more announcements about its attractions, toning down its political messages and focusing more on marketing the city’s attractions. He also urged the city to consider forming a Fall River attractions group or a regional attractions group that would focus on promoting the city.
“It could start tomorrow,” he said.
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