World class scenery: third world amenities?

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

Roger Brooks is the tourism guru. He recently visited Emery County and went on a Secret Shopper expedition. He was impressed with the World Class scenery of the area but less impressed with the third world like accommodations and amenities.
He said the signage in the county is very poor or in some cases nonexistent. At night-time everything is closed there’s no where to spend money. Shopping is the number one activity of visitors. Shopping is very limited in Emery County. “If you’re not going to monetize visitors, there’s no reason to get tourism,” said Brooks.
Brooks said he has worked with 1,500 communities in 48 states and has done assessments with them to help them improve their visitor experiences in their area. “It is very difficult to find stuff here. Work on gateways and entrances to the communities. Help people find the attractions, activities and the amenities. Some areas were well signed, getting to the dinosaur quarry and the Wedge. The south end of the county is poorly signed. We can’t go see it, if we don’t know it exists. You need a better method of signing.”
Signing isn’t easy because on state roads you have to work with the Utah Department of Transportation and their rules along state highways are very strict. Brooks suggested getting the state, county and cities together to form a task force to work on this problem. He said a lot of the attractions are down dirt roads. People need to know if these roads are passable for passenger cars or if they need a high clearance vehicle or 4-wheel drive. He drove a SUV and still had trouble in some spots. People need to know these things before they start out exploring.
He said he had a hard time finding guides and brochures. They need to be at every kiosk, in every store and everywhere around the communities so they are easily accessed by visitors.
Brooks said there were too many brochures of the area. He recommended one main guide for the entire county with less text and more pictures. The detailed descriptions of how to find places aren’t needed. Google maps has these attractions and their directions are a lot easier to follow. The map in the brochure was good.
“You can’t just promote the San Rafael Swell, it’s too big. You have to break it down. Make a list of all the must sees while a visitor is in the county, the very best of the San Rafael. Make a list of the hidden gems. Prior to travel 32 percent of the decisions concerning travel are determined by brochures, after arriving at a destination, 81 percent of all decisions on what to visit is determined by brochures. At one time we were looking at 16 brochures trying to find things, it needs to be easier. Determine what’s worth the trip and what isn’t. How would a visitor know what to do when visiting your area?”
Brooks suggested someone put the hidden gems of San Rafael Country into book form so a tourist could use the book for a self-guided tour. These hidden gems can also include businesses, places to eat. Create itineraries of what to do each day in the county. Create different iteneraries for different groups, families with small kids, families with older kids, couples, friends, seniors, etc.
Brooks said he wasn’t fond of the name Wedge or Little Grand Canyon. He liked Another Grand Canyon. “Tourism needs to benefit local businesses or why do it. For an itinerary start with a trip to the Forbidden Fruit store in Cleveland for some chocolate, go to the KFJ-C store for picnic supplies and a tank of gas, head to the dino quarry, check first to see if it’s open. We drove all the way out there and it was closed. (Quarry opens full time from Memorial Day to Labor Day) That would be frustrating to visitors to find it closed.
“Remember 70 percent of all first time sales come from curb appeal. From the signs at the store, we didn’t know they had carry-out meals. Raise the quality and variety of what’s offered.
“If you are going to promote private businesses the quality must be there. Forbidden Fruit has limited hours, noon-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is not taking advantage of tourism.
“You can use QR codes to show what’s at a location. Cedar Mountain has a picnic area. Show people in all your brochure pictures, it adds scale to a picture.
“Itineraries build anticipation. Bring your own toilet paper, many of the restrooms were out of toilet paper. Maintain the registers at trail heads, this is important information.
“There are some of the most stunning sites in North America here, we were blown away. We were confused as to where the Good Water rim trail is. That could be an itinerary, Forbidden Fruit, Cedar Mountain and the Wedge. The Wedge is a must see spot for any visitor. Another Grand Canyon. We went to Fatty’s for dinner. The food was good. I didn’t like the name.
“While in Green River we stayed at the River Terrace. We rarely stay at non-name brand motels. It was very good. It was our homebase while in Green River. There weren’t enough tables at the breakfast room and it was cook to order and very slow with a long line. One of the workers handled the sausage without gloves. These things are important, you need to get it right. We ate breakfast at the Tamarisk and it was great. It was a beautiful setting. It was fantastic, the best restaurant in the area,” said Brooks.
He said the museums in the area need to keep the visitor information in a more prominent place and have brochures outside the museum for when the museum is closed.
Most visitors do not specifically go to an area for the museums. It is something they do since they are already there. Eighty-five percent of those who visit the Smithsonian museum are there for other things. “I’ve been to 2,000 museums and there are not many worth a two hour drive,” said Brooks.
Brooks was very impressed with Goblin Valley and had many ideas for ad campaigns among the Goblins. He stressed the need for people in the pictures of Goblin Valley so people can tell how massive the Goblins are. “Front and center that’s your best attraction, there’s no place like it on earth. What’s your story? Running with the Goblins, it’s other worldly. People could tell all sorts of fun stories about the Goblins. Have fun with it. Promote the Yurts at Goblin Valley. They are Glamping at its best. Bring in porta potties, the lines to the bathroom are way too long at Goblin Valley. Monetize Goblin Valley, there’s no place to spend money, no food trucks, you can’t even buy a bottle of water, no souvenirs. Monetize tourism. I saw cars from 11 other states while we were there.
“At the Little Wild Horse trail head there were license plates from nine states.
“At Black Dragon Canyon there was not enough signage, is it safe for cars? do you need high clearance vehicles. You need to make people aware of the rough roads, you need directional signing. We found the petroglyphs and they were incredible. The stuff in this county, blows you away,” said Brooks.
Brooks didn’t enjoy the trip on the Sinbad road, it was 23 miles long and he liked the views off the freeway along I-70 better. It was a poorly maintained rough road.
He enjoyed Green River State Park, it was well maintained and very nice. Get visitor information out at the state parks. He suggested portable visitor centers that could be taken around to events. Boxes at every kiosk that hold brochures. Small kiosks in all the downtown areas with visitor information. He said there was no signage at the Green River golf course to indicate if it was a public course, if it was open, if you could rent clubs, what the hours are? no info.
Give people information.
Brooks said if you have a best of in your advertising, make sure it really is the best or you lose credibility. A best of should not be something someone can pay money to get listed as best of. Lodging should never be on the best of list. He enjoyed Ray’s Tavern it was a family friendly cool place.
Views that you have to drive two hours to see, shouldn’t be on the best of list. That’s too much time investment for a tourist. In Lower Gray’s canyon it was 18 miles each way, there needs to be more signage.
Crystal Geyser is worth the drive even if it doesn’t erupt, which it doesn’t very much any more, but the noise it makes and the mineral formations are worth seeing. There should be brochures at the Geyser.
Green River should never promote Moab. Green River needs an anchor tenant. Brooks suggested an ATV dealer be approached to start a mega store there. With a test track through the downtown. Trails leading out of the city. Boulders to climb with the ATVs, a swamp, a kids track, obstacles, mud, rocks, anything to do with ATVs and make it the ATV capital of Utah. Train people on ATVs, have classes, certifications, sell gear and accessories.
There are many tourists escaping to the area every weekend, capitalize on them. “Do this one thing, give them a reason to come to Green River. Clean up Green River, get rid of all the stuff. There’s a lot of junk. On the watermelon stands, put up signs that tell when they will be open. When the watermelon season is and to please come back.
Redo the bill board for Green River. One graphic and eight words max. You can’t see much of the town from the freeway. Get them off the freeway. Easy through access, lodging, dining, gas. That’s all you need to say.
Brooks enjoyed the Rochester Panel, but thought the signage was poor.
He said the museums need to tell stories. Create videos for the museum. Find a video that shows how the Swell was formed. He liked the kids area at the Museum of the San Rafael. But, he thought there was just too much stuff and not enough stories. If you can get someone to spend two hours in your town, their spending will double.
Brooks told of a veteran’s museum in Nevada that would bring in Veteran’s to tell their personal stories to the visitors of the museum. He said it was fascinating and people lingered in the museum for hours. Tell the stories of the pioneers and the outlaws. Butch Cassidy and others could be highlighted.
There needs to be more signage at the Millsite golf course, is it open? what are the hours? can you rent clubs? Is there a restaurant, get a big sign to catch the visitors to Millsite state park. Promote the views of the golf course. Let people walk it.
Promote the world’s best bouldering at Joe’s Valley. There’s no signs for the boulders. Get a sign, Welcome to Joe’s Valley, home of the world’s best boulders.
Be all over social media, get people taking pictures by all your signs and they will go worldwide.
“We couldn’t find the bouldering guide. See that local stores and museums have the bouldering guide.
“Get some signs up, you don’t want people to have frustrating experiences,” said Brooks.
Brooks said while visiting the west side of the county, they stayed in Price. He wondered if the local motels were even open, they didn’t have much life to them. He did eat in Emery County. He emphasized signs again to advertise the next event at the fair grounds.
Brooks said the county needs more curb appeal and beautification. He suggested a county-wide clean-up.
The top 15 percent of lodging accommodations house 85 percent of the leisure visitors. “Make things look better. It’s hard to tell if some of these places are in business. Plant some flowers. There are too many junk cars in the county. Take down the sign at the restaurant that says under new management, that only means they’ve had some trouble. Beautify, make your businesses welcoming. The message will be someone cares about this business.
Brooks suggested building a team, promoting the county with one brochure, emphasize the hidden gems and don’t try to promote everything. “The businesses need to come up to the quality of what’s here,” said Brooks.”It’s incredible, quit trying to be all things to all people. It’s a challenge to spend money here.”
Brooks findings and suggestions will be put in a final report. He said the businesses need to step up to benefit from tourism. If there’s no place to spend money then it hasn’t done the county any good.