Tourism and Shopping Centers

Data di pubblicazione: Ottobre 2003
Zeta Consulting / Bologna - info@infocommercio.it pag. 1

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July 2000 _
International Council of
Shopping Centers
A working paper prepared by ICSC Research Department
TOURISM AND SHOPPING CENTERS
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Table of Contents
Introduction.. 3
Tourism in a National Context... 3
The Importance of Tourism to Retail And Vice Versa... 3
The Data Dilemma. 4
Government Agencies Evidence for Shopping as a Tourist Activity. 5
Reasons Why Shopping is High on the Tourist Itinerary... 6
Tourist Purchasing... 7
How Owners Market Shopping Centers to Tourists.. 8
How Governments Market Shopping Centers to Tourists.. 10
How Other Organizations Market Shopping Centers to Tourists... 11
Latest Trends in the Shopping-Tourist Connection: Airport Retailing and
Gambling.... 12
Conclusion..... 12
Appendix 1: Shopping Centers that Rank Among State and Local Top Tourist
Attractions....... 13
Appendix 2: Other Examples of Tourist-Oriented Centers..... 14
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INTRODUCTION
In recent years, ICSC has compiled a resource database in response to member questions
on the close and growing relationship between tourism and shopping centers. In an
attempt to create a comprehensive picture from these varied materials, ICSC presents this
Working Paper. It summarizes the latest available data from national, state, and local
government sources, including numbers on visitor spending; explores why shopping has
become such an important part of tourists travel plans; analyzes how shopping center
owners, government agencies, and other organizations are marketing centers to tourists;
and discusses trends that have developed over the last several years.
TOURISM IN A NATIONAL CONTEXT
The travel and tourism industry is a major contributor to the American economy. The
Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) estimates travel expenditures of nearly
$544.1 billion by domestic and international tourists in the United States in 1999. These
expenditures generated nearly $92.5 billion in federal, state and local taxes. In addition,
they sustained about 7.7 million jobs.
Tourism can be seen as an outgrowth of the worlds interest in leisure/entertainment
activities over the last decade. Several factors have influenced the growth of the industry,
including increased wealth at home and abroad; a larger older population with more leisure
time and money; the fall of political barriers such as Communism that once restricted the
movement of people and information; and technology that has fueled air travel and new
entertainment venues.
These trends have strengthened the shopping-tourism connection in recent years, taking it
in directions entirely unexpected as recently as a decade ago. In one way, this should not
be entirely surprisingly. Shopping involves experiences as much as it does commodities
and, as it has evolved in the trend toward entertainment in recent years, it shares with
tourism the elements of stimulation and fantasy.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM TO RETAIL AND VICE VERSA
Detailing the connection between tourism and shopping centers is problematic because
only recently have data been collected in depth, and these data continue to be reported in
a fragmentary manner by a variety of different sources. However, information from the
national government, state and local tourist agencies, and shopping centers themselves
suggests that shopping is a very significant tourist activity. For example:
Domestic and international travelers accounted for an estimated $35.35 billion in
general retail expenditures in 1998, according to a study published by the TIA.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) estimates that 24,466,000 overseas
visitors spent an average of $333 each on gifts and souvenirs, for a total of $8.15
billion in 1999. In addition, these visitors spent another $281 on food and beverages
for a total of $6.85 billion.
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The Mall of America annually attracts more than 42.5 million visitors. Tourism from
outside a 150-mile radius accounts for more than 37 percent of all traffic.
A study released in 1999 by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Taubman
Company estimated that 89% of overseas travelersthat is, visitors from countries
other than Canada or Mexicoengaged in shopping during a 1997 visit to the U.S.
Factory outlets, centers in which manufacturers sell goods at a discount from their
normal price, function as tourist destinations even when located miles away from
urban areas. In a 1997 study conducted by the Gallup Organization for ICSC, 20%
of factory outlet shoppers interviewed at five outlet centers around the country said
that their visit was part of a vacation.
Over the years, developers have experimented with several new types of centers
that have capitalized on fun and amusement, a main component of attracting
tourists. Festival marketplaces, such as New Yorks South Street Seaport and
Bostons Faneuil Hall, have revitalized city waterfronts even since they were first
developed in the 1970s. In fact, tourists comprise 70% or more of the traffic at
Faneuil Hall, Bayside Marketplace in Miami, and Riverwalk in New Orleans,
according to the Rouse Company, the owner of all three centers. More recently,
entertainment centers have been at the forefront of the movement toward offering
shoppers the means of amusing the family inexpensively while satisfying their need
for basic goods. The National Research Bureau, combining the two types, estimates
that there are 147 such centers in the U.S.
Shopping, therefore, is often an important segment of most travelers time away from
home, whether they are taking a one-day trip or an extended vacation.
THE DATA DILEMMA
Among the federal, state, and local government agencies and industry consultants that still
report travel statistics are ITA and the TIA. The ITA takes as its starting point for defining
tourist the term visitor used by the United Nations Department for Economic and Social
Information and Policy Analysis and World Tourism Organization: any person traveling to
a place other than that of his/her usual environment for less than 12 months and whose
main purpose of trip is other than the exercise of an activity renumerated from within the
place visited. The ITA further subdivides visitors into same-day visitors and overnight
visitors, or tourists.
For this report ICSC also obtained data from travel and tourism offices in 42 out of 50
states and also contacted numerous city offices and individual centers. Unfortunately, the
task is complicated by the fact that data collection and definitions are not uniform across
these groups at the retail spending level.
In part, the problem results from the fact that the travel and tourism industry is in reality a
compilation of several different businesses that share a common purpose of serving the
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traveling public. Since restaurants and retailers receive only a portion of their total receipts
from travelers, it is difficult to segment the portion of sales that comes from vacationers.
While retail spending estimates from tourists are problematic, it is still more difficult to
assess just how much shopping centers form a part of the tourist experience. Because
tourism is often associated with sightseeing, shopping centers are not usually considered
tourist attractions by departments or by tourists themselves, causing tourist authorities to
ask few questions about them.
Since, as noted, hard national statistics on retail spending by tourists are for the most part
unavailable, the remainder of this report consists of information gleaned from a review of
the literature and from speaking directly with state and local agencies and shopping center
representatives.
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES EVIDENCE FOR SHOPPING AS A TOURIST ACTIVITY
According to the TIA, shopping was the most popular activity among U.S. resident
travelers in 1997-1998. About 33% of person-trips activities came from shopping, while
outdoor and historical activities compiled 17% and 15%, respectively.
More evidence of tourists strong preference for shopping came from responses by state
and metro areas to ICSCs survey, as summarized in Chart 1 below:
1
Chart 1
Tourists/Leisure Travelers Rated Shopping As The Number-One Activity In:
States
Maryland (source: TravelScope survey)
Alabama (in 1997, source: Bureau of Tourism and Travel)
New Mexico (source: 1994-1996 TravelScope survey)
Oklahoma (source: 1998 Travelscope survey)
Tennessee (source: Department of Tourist Development)
Metro Areas
Chicago, IL (source: DK Shifflet & Associates, Ltd, 1999)
Houston, TX (source: Convention and Visitors Bureau)
Minneapolis, MN (source: Office of Tourism, Research)
Corpus Christi, TX (source: Convention and Tourism Bureau)

1
Additional details from responses to ICSCs survey can be found in Appendices 1 and 2.
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REASONS WHY SHOPPING IS HIGH ON THE TOURIST ITINERARY
There are several reasons why shopping is such an integral part of the tourist experience.
First, tourists shop out of necessity. Away from home, they still have a compelling need
for convenience goods such as groceries that must be satisfied. This is particularly true of
the segment of travelers that stay with family or friends while away.
Second, tourists can find a wide array of GAFO (general merchandise, apparel, home
furnishings, and other merchandise) items while still realizing significant savings.
In the United States, visitors from other nations find a wealth of goods that are either
unavailable in their lands or less expensive here because of the favorable exchange rates.
U.S. tourists visiting other states may want to purchase an item that cant be bought back
home. Savvy, cost-conscious U.S. consumers are often willing to drive far from their
homes to achieve greater savings on goods. This latter factor helps explain why many
consumers visit factory outlets for instance.
Third, shopping is an extension of the leisure and entertainment elements that form
the core of tourisms allure. Even the architecture of malls is meant to stimulate and
entertain, with fountains, landscaping, high ceilings with dramatic lighting, and music. In
addition, however, shopping centers have become an increasingly prominent provider of
leisure-time activities. Whether through movie multiplexes, food courts, ice-skating rinks,
carousels, indoor lakes, virtual-reality exhibits, or planned promotional events, Americans
have discovered that shopping centers offer a low-cost way to take the family out for a day
of recreation. The Mall of America, with its Knotts Camp Snoopy, nightclubs, indoor golf
courses, and other amusements, and Universal City Walk, located next to adjacent to
Burbanks popular Universal Studios tour, are just two of the most notable examples of this
trend. Festival marketplaces, such as Baltimores Gallery at Harborplace and San
Franciscos Pier 39, offer waterfront developments in which tourists can sample specialty
shops, try dozens of small restaurants, or simply enjoy the passing parade of jugglers and
singers. Following the opening of what is commonly accepted as the pioneering festival
marketplace, Faneuil Hall, in 1976, many more centers of this type have been created.
More recently, Park Meadows, a retail resort in Denver, was designed to fit into its
pristine Colorado surroundings.
Fourth, particularly for tourists whose major interest is sightseeing, shopping centers
have become as much a touchstone of urban life as government buildings,
churches, or skyscrapers that house major financial institutions. Numerous
shopping centers not only represent a variety of architectural styles, but also have been
designed to reflect the ambiance, culture and economic history of their local communities.
Many such centers are conveniently located in downtown areas, readily accessible to
major hotels and commuter hubs through which tourist will pass. Examples include: San
Diegos Westfield Shoppingtown--Horton Plaza, Chicagos Water Tower Place, Houstons
Galleria, San Franciscos Ghirardelli Square, Underground Atlanta and St. Louis Union
Station. The recent revival of interest in downtown development holds promise for injecting
further momentum in building such locations.
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Fifth, tourists simply have more time. Granted a temporary reprieve from their everyday
routine of work and family commitments, tourists enjoy more unscheduled time to indulge
in browsing and purchasing.
TOURIST PURCHASING
A number of centers contacted for this report reported that tourists spent a significantly
larger amount of money than the shopper average. The increases vary widelyfrom 11%
more in the case of Water Tower Place to tenfold more in the case of The Galleria at
Sunset in Las Vegas. The results, limited as they are, suggest a potential avenue of new
research.
Several possible reasons might be proposed for why spending by tourists is greater than
for non-tourists in the above instances:
Chart 2
Reasons For Tourism Spending Exceeding The Shopper Norm
Many tourists go to centers already intending to purchase gifts and merchandise, unlike
a regular consumer who is going to assess bargains and may do comparative shopping
at other centers.
Tourists are on holiday and therefore more in the mood for impulse spending.
Domestic and overseas tourists want to capitalize on lower sales tax rates, sales and
inexpensive merchandise not found at home.
Tourists have more money than the average shopper. The ITA reported that overseas
leisure travelers to the U.S. had a median household income of $60,200 in 1999. In
comparison, according to the Census Bureau, the median income of U.S. households
was $38,885 in 1998 (the most recent year for which data are available).
Retail spending also varies according to whether the traveler is a leisure visitor or business
traveler. According to the ITA, leisure visitors averaged less on food and beverages than
business travelers in 1999 ($268 per visitor vs. $330), but more on gifts/souvenirs ($353
vs. $299). The different spending patterns among these two groups vary because of their
activities: business travelers will eat and drink as part of their normal at meetings and
conferences, while leisure travelers have more time to shop for trinkets for relatives back
home. Similarly, tourists who are visiting friends and relatives (the so-called VFR niche)
can spend more than tourists who stay at a hotel.
One type of center in which tourist spending plays a major role is the factory outlet center.
Projecting from a survey of 1,200 U.S. adults conducted in December 1997, the TIA
reported that 37% of U.S. travelers visited a discount outlet mall during a trip more than
100 miles away from home. The TIA estimated that one out of ten travelers who visited a
factory outlet center considered discount shopping to be the primary reason for their trip.
About 79% of travelers said it was a secondary reason, while 11% indicated that it was not
a reason for their trip at all. Those who cited discount shopping as the primary or
secondary reason for their trip spent an average of $183 at an outlet center on their most
recent visit. Approximately one in five (18%) spent $250 or more.
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HOW OWNERS MARKET SHOPPING CENTERS TO TOURISTS
Aside from statistics collected by state and municipal authorities, one of the best ways of
measuring the importance of shopping to tourism is by looking at the broad range of highly
sophisticated marketing programs undertaken to promote shopping centers to visitors, as
seen in Chart 3 below.
Chart 3
Marketing Programs Undertaken by Shopping Centers to Attract Tourists:
Creation of Tourism Coordinator positions within the center
Providing language/translation assistance at centers
Advertising in visitor publications distributed at area hotels, car rental agencies
Establishing links with airlines, tourist organizations, area hotels and restaurants to
create incentives
Providing vacation planning/tour group information on centers Web site
Further details on these programs are offered in the discussion that follows.
Special Positions at the Center
At the simplest level, the centers management may have created special positions for
targeting this particular clientele on an ongoing basis. Centers have appointed marketing
or bus tour coordinators whose sole responsibility is the tourist marketing. Such
coordination may involve providing special food discounts for motorcoach guest, or
providing benefits for busy drivers such as a bus lounge and lunch certificates, as the
Taubman Company does.
Good examples of this are the Mills projects (Gurnee, Franklin, Sawgrass, Ontario, Opry,
Potomac, Grapevine, and Arizona Mills), which mix outlet, off-price, and full-price retailers
in large-scale developments with well over 1 million square feet of gross leasable area.
Busloads of visitors have made each of these projects among the most heavily visited sites
in their states. Foremost among the Mills projects as a draw for tourists is Sawgrass Mills
in Florida, recording 25 million shoppers in 1998.
Shopping center marketing personnel may also be employed in other ways, such as at
MainPlace/Santa Ana, which features a concierge desk service. Here, visitors can obtain
translation assistance in multiple languages.
Advertising in Tourist Publications
In addition, many tourist-oriented centers either distribute their own brochures to area
hotels, car rental agencies and airports and/or advertise heavily in visitor publications
found in those locations. Among centers that participate in this form of marketing are
Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver, Great Lakes Crossing, Prime Outlets in
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Hagerstown (Maryland), Horizon Outlet Center in Somerset, PA, Dallas Galleria, Aventura
Mall, Waccamaw Factory Shoppes in Myrtle Beach, SC, Biltmore Fashion Park in
Phoenix, AZ, Copley Place and various Mills Corporation centers.
Alliances with Area Hotels, Restaurants, Convention Centers
Tourism-oriented shopping centers also link up with area hotels, motels and restaurants to
create travel package deals, with such incentives as reduced room rates, free gifts,
discount coupons and complimentary breakfast. Sunland Park Mall in El Paso, TX has
developed a preferred-customer program aimed at Mexican natives, drawing shoppers
from as far away as Mexico City, a 10-hour drive. Center personnel may also frequently
attend trade shows such as Pow Wow, Vaccacoines, and La Cumbre. A number of
centers are linked to downtown areas, convention centers, or hotels by shuttle bus,
including Westfield Shoppingtown--Horton Plaza, Las Vegas Factory Outlet Stores,
Meadowood Mall in Reno, NV, MainPlace/Santa Ana in Santa Ana, CA, and Circle Centre
in Indianapolis, IN. Rehoboth Outlets, an outlet complex in Rehoboth, DL, not only offers
promotions such as coupon books with the local bus company, but also with a ferry service
that brings visitors from New Jersey.
Links with Airlines
Besides bus promotions, owners have also linked up with airlines to promote centers.
Urban Retail Properties Co. has run a frequent shopper program that allows visitors who
reside in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America to earn 500
Continental Airlines OnePass miles for every $500 spent at the Houston Galleria. The
program enables the center to capitalize on its proximity to Mexico, the source of 20% of
its shopper base.
Shopping and Travel Incentive Programs
Urban Retail Properties Co. has also become involved in another marketing program
aimed at travelers. Spree, developed by R. Blocki & Associates, a Chicago-based
marketing and advertising agency, is a free service that allows consumers to plan
shopping trips through a wide range of travel venues, including hotels, restaurants, cultural
attractions, museums, theater, sporting events, and sightseeing. Customers can also use
Spree cards at Urban malls participating in the program.
The Internet
Nor have tourism-oriented centers neglected cyberspace. A number of center owners are
using Web sites to serve users who wish to research centers other than the one nearest to
them. Thus, a trip to the mall becomes an element of vacation planning. The sites will often
detail arrangements for tour groups, such as the availability of motorcoach parking and
prepaid meal vouchers, and advertise special incentives for tour group leaders and bus
drivers. Some sites list nearby hotels, museums, restaurants, golf courses and other
vacation travel destinations. Others may offer specific information such as prices for
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theater tickets or the admission cost of amusement parks. Among owner-developers that
have added tourism information to their corporate and/or center sites are:
Chart 4
Owner/Developers with Tourist Information on their Corporate or Center Web
sites
Chelsea GCA, Realty, Inc
Forest City Enterprises
Glimcher Realty Trust
Kravco Co.
The Mills Corp
Prime Retail
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc
Taubman Centers
The Rouse Company
Urban Retail Properties Co.
Westcor Partners
That number will almost surely grow over time.
HOW GOVERNMENTS MARKET SHOPPING CENTERS TO TOURISTS
Shopping centers have also established special relationships with tourist organizations. In
Cleveland, spousal programs involving shopping are offered during conventions. In
addition, nontraditional non-retail tenants with particular appeal to tourists are now
tenanting shopping centers. Napa Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau is a tenant at
the Napa Town Center. Three of the five locations of the Shreveport-Bossier Convention
& Tourist Bureau in Louisiana are area malls: Pierre Bossier Mall, South Park Mall and
Mall St. Vincent. Biltmore Fashion Park hosts a Visitor Information Center in conjunction
with the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau. Cherry Creek in Denver,
features a convention bureau visitors center.
Besides metro areas, states have tried innovative ways either of promoting their services
to tourists in centers or of obtaining the tourist dollar. One of Californias state welcome
centers is located in Beverly Center. A particularly interesting program has been
implemented in Louisiana, the first state to refund sales taxes to international visitors on
purchases made at participating stores. Data for 1999 indicate that the program had an
economic impact of approximately $274.7 million, including 4,900 jobs and $86.4 million in
earnings for Louisiana residents.
The motivations for state and local organizations to ally with area shopping centers are
obvious: shopping centers, because they are located in high-visibility locations, represent a
vibrant part of a municipality, and they contribute significantly to the economy. ICSCs
Scope USA 2000 estimated that shopping centers generated $47.5 billion in sales tax
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revenues in 1999 and directly employed 10.5 million peopleabout 8% of all nonfarm
employees in the U.S.
HOW OTHER ORGANIZATIONS MARKET SHOPPING CENTERS TO TOURISTS
The shopping center industrys tourism efforts have reached such as level of critical mass
that many centers of different types have formed a partnership. Formed in 1999, the Shop
America Alliance is a tourism marketing cooperative that represents more than 300
shopping and dining destinations. It develops partnership opportunities and facilitates
communications between these destinations and the media. It also provides training and
partnership development for retailers, restaurants, downtown retail districts, and shopping
centers of all types. Among the major shopping center companies involved with this
partnership are Tanger Outlets, The Mills Corporation, Taubman World Class Shopping,
Glimcher, the Rouse Company, Chelsea Premium Outlets, Urban Retail Properties and
Prime Outlets.
A fascinating recent outgrowth of how centers are marketing to tourists relates to
Overnighters Association, a Punta Gorda, FL-based organization that is dedicated to
offering its recreational vehicle (RV)-driving members an inexpensive way to travel the
U.S. Permitting only stops of one night at each facility, the organization has targeted
shopping centers near interstate highways and other routes to provide overnight parking
for RVs. Hosting malls receive $3 out of each $5 fee charged to association members for
the stay, plus any revenues generated by the tourists while they are at the mall.
Overnighters claims to have 40 shopping centers now participating in its program.
LATEST TRENDS IN THE SHOPPING-TOURIST CONNECTION: AIRPORT RETAILING
AND GAMBLING
Tourists/travelers are also spurring sales in other locations that had been relatively
untapped until recently: airports. In contrast to establishments that for so long offered poor-
quality products at steep prices, these new ventures offer greater convenience, broader
variety, street pricing and customer servicein other words, they more closely resemble
traditional malls than ever before. Airports in Portland, Pittsburgh, and Denver are among
the pioneers in this rapidly evolving retail type.
Several factors are fueling the rise of these new retail locations. Deregulation has
increased air traffic by stimulating the growth of discount carriers, thus making travel more
affordable. At the same time, a substantial portion of this traffic continues to consist of
business travelers who are among the worlds most affluent consumers. In addition, these
travelers are often a captive audience. With weather problems and delays, travelers can
often spend a couple of hours waiting for their flights.
2
Another element of tourism as entertainment experience is the gaming industry. The issue
of whether the spread of gambling is an economic plus or minus for society remains hotly
debated. But indisputably, gambling venues have themselves become tourist meccas.

2
An article Airport Retailing--An Expanding Industry appeared in the Fall 1999 issue of ICSC Research
Quarterly. Vol. 6, Number 3.
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But the growth of gambling can be traced in part to the same instincts for amusement and
leisure that have fueled travel and tourism. In turn, partly because the most popular activity
for gambling travelers after gambling is shopping, casinos have spurred retail
development. Shopping centers are seen as an integral element of a complex of
entertainment centers, hotels and casinos designed to make gambling part of a larger
family entertainment experience. Forum Shops at Caesars may be the most prominent
example of this phenomenon. The introduction of gambling in the 1990s has also spurred
retail development in the Biloxi, MS area, which has seen the construction of Crossroads
Shopping Center and Prime Outlets at Gulfport and the expansion of Edgewater Mall, and
Shreveport, LA, which has witnessed the opening of Bayou Walk Shopping Center.
CONCLUSION: A CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF THE TOURIST MIX
The examples cited above demonstrate that shopper-tourists have had a major impact on
the U.S. economy, particularly as they make purchases in shops and restaurants. As this
report makes clear, much more research needs to be done in quantifying the relationship
between tourism and shopping centers, with an emphasis on standardizing reporting
categories. At the very least, however, ICSC believes that shopping centers form a major
component of one of this nations most dynamic industries. As new museums, historical
sites, casinos, and other establishments that cater to Americas appetite for leisure activity
increase in the years ahead, that role can only grow.
In some ways, this finding should surprise no one. After all, shopping centers sustain
visitors with a variety of goods and services. They enable visitors to discover new fashions
or other exciting new consumer products, in settings that often place a premium on
convenience and value. They offer a relaxed setting for entertainment and dinner. Finally,
through gift-buying, they enable tourists to present souvenirs to those at home, and to
keep such reminders of the trips themselves.
This report was prepared by Michael Tubridy (646-728-3671) and Bindu Nair (646-
728-3680), with additional research assistance by David Brand, based on earlier
work by Diane Kutyla.
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APPENDIX 1: SHOPPING CENTERS THAT RANK AMONG STATE AND LOCAL TOP
TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
Despite the fact that malls often attract large amounts of tourists, many state and local
tourism authorities do not include them in ranking top attractions in their areas. Part of the
reason why relates to the difficulty in comparing traffic at different types of attractions, and
often just obtaining accurate traffic counts to begin with. How, for instance, does one
compare attendance at a museum, which charges admission, with a mall, which does not?
Moreover, different shopping centers have used varying methods for determining visitor
counts.
Nevertheless, anecdotal evidence garnered from state and local tourism boards points to
shopping centers as key points on visitors itineraries. Of the 42 states which responded
to ICSCs survey, several cited specific centers as among the top attractions for either the
state or metro area where they were located. These include:
Circle Center Mall and Lighthouse Place (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Bass Pro Outdoor World, Factory Outlet Village of Osage Beach, The Country Club
Plaza and the Galleria (Missouri)
West Acres (Fargo, North Dakota)
Lincoln City Outlet Mall and Pioneer Place (Oregon)
Empire Mall (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)
San Mateo Outlet Mall (Texas)
A few municipal agencies also pointed to shopping centers among their metros major
attractions. Cherry Creek Shopping Center and the 16
th
Street Mall rank as the top
attractions for tourists in Denver. Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg, IL, another
mall in the Taubman portfolio, recorded 27 million visitors in 1999. The Chicago Office of
Tourism reports that Navy Pier, with an attendance of 8.2 million, led all attractions in
Chicago in 1998.
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APPENDIX 2: OTHER EXAMPLES OF TOURIST-ORIENTED CENTERS:
In Philadelphia the Franklin Mills outlet attracted over 19 million people in 1998.
On their way to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and Dollywood, created
by singer Dolly Parton, approximately 12 million people visited Pigeon Forge, TN, a
village with about 200 outlet shops, in 1999.
Even at Niagara Falls, with its two big outlet malls, falling water often gives place to
shopping.
With a permanent population of only 5,000, Branson, MO would not normally have
enough people to warrant much retail. But the 7 million tourists who come each
year to see this country-music entertainment showcase have sparked the creation
of three outlet centers in Branson and nearby Branson Meadows.
Great Lakes Crossing in Michigan estimates that approximately 30% of its shoppers
are visitors who have traveled 50 or more miles.
Tourists account for between 40% and 50% of all visitors to Beverly Center in Los
Angeles.
Many of the above examples relate to urban centers. In addition, several communities
feature a cluster of factory outlet centers that are known to draw many visitors. They have
not so much capitalized on existing tourist traffic as become a tourist generator
themselves. These include Freeport and Kittery in Maine; Boaz in Alabama; North Conway
and Tilton in New Hampshire; and Flemington-Liberty Village and Secaucus in New
Jersey.
An especially dramatic instance of the importance of outlets is Reading, PA, often
regarded as the birthplace of outlet shopping and possessing the official trademark of
Outlet Capital of the World. The 300 outlet stores in the area form a shopping mecca for
travelers, many of whom are one-day visitors. Several of these centers built to benefit
from that tourist draw are tourist attractions in their own right, notably Belz Factory Outlet
World and Belz Designer Outlet Center in Orlando, FL, with 15.3 million visitors combined
annually in 1998, the last date for which figures are available.

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Data di pubblicazione: Ottobre 2003

Zeta Consulting / Bologna - info@infocommercio.it pag. 1

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