[Editor's Note: This is part 2 of a two-part series on the Silver City Arts and Cultural District Tourism Town Hall held on April 13, 2018.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The first part of the presentation was given by New Mexico Tourism Department Deputy Secretary Audrey Herrera-Castillo introducing the various programs available to the public through the department.

The second portion featured two panels. They spoke about tourism and then answered questions.

The first panel included Silver City Arts and Culture District Executive Director Colleen Morton, Sabrina Pack of SkyWest Media, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments Executive Director Priscilla Lucero and Becky O'Connor of Casitas de Gila.

Pack, who is working on a Ph.D. in marketing, brought up slides of data.

"We track the economic impact of events," Pack said. "We looked at some of the smaller events and looked at how many days and nights people stayed, how much they spent. A team asks survey questions on accommodations, complaints, what they did while visiting, what they enjoyed most and their return plans, as well as suggestions for improvement."

The data provides value to the event managers looking at growth for the events, as well as value to visitors and locals.

The smaller events include the Gem and Mineral Show, the Gila River Festival, the Southwest Festival of the Written Word, the Red Dot Gallery Tour, and the Gran Fondo.

"We found most visitors were from New Mexico, with some from neighboring states," Pack said. "We also analyze the big events, like the Tour of the Gila; Blues Festival; Wild, Wild West Pro Rodeo; Fiesta Latina; and the Clay Festival. The focus this year is on the Tour of the Gila. It's the third largest bicycle race in the U.S. We have 17 UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) men's teams registered this year and 10 UCI women's teams. The Tour of the Gila is as difficult as the Tour de France, according to riders. We also develop amateurs. We are up on numbers of amateurs this year. We make known to all the teams that we are open to bicycling all year."

She announced that for the first time, NBC Sports and USA Today would be coming to town to cover the race.

"We want to get spectators here, too," Pack said. "The Blues Festival put on by Mimbres Region Arts Council is always a huge attraction. We will be studying all these events."

The region has a tremendous asset with outdoor recreation, she said, as well as experiential tourism, such as fishing, history, hunting camping, hiking.

"Art is a big draw to Silver City," Pack said.

There are things to do in New Mexico, she said. The traffic on the Continental Divide Trail is improving. She noted that when asked about their perception of New Mexico, 67 percent of those who have never been to the state say it's desert.

"My dissertation is on millennial travel and the Gila National Forest," Pack said. "I monitor similar communities and do overall continual analysis of comparisons of tourism destinations."

Lucero said she represents the four counties of Grant, Luna, Hidalgo and Catron. "I look at tourism from a regional perspective. We see increasing numbers in outdoor recreation. We are especially seeing more activity in archery, in the schools and in the facility here. We see people bringing their families for fishing, hiking and riding on ATVs. From my perspective, I see what is unique to us is that we are not right off the Interstate. Astronomy is big. We have the Cosmic Campground in Catron County, with ties in with the Pie Town Pie Festival. In southern Hidalgo County, they have one of the big telescopes from Hawaii off Highway 9. Trails were mentioned. We're looking at astronomy as a piece of that. Other things I've seen more activity around are shrines, which we have in Hurley and San Lorenzo, similar to the one in Chimayo. Our historic churches could be a draw. We have had contacts with those interested in how many birding trails we have in the four counties. Right along the Interstate, Deming is developing lakes. We know a great number of people traverse the Interstate. We need to pull them here. We have a lot of room for improvement in outdoor recreation economic development."

O'Connor said she and her husband have owned Casitas de Gila for 19 years. "I'm on the Grant County Lodger's Tax Advisory Board. Marketing is the issue. We try some things and they work, and some don't. We have tried to weed out what doesn't work."

She referred to Pack's statistics. "You said the 60+ demographic comes for art. I can see that. We market the Gila Cliff Dwellings. People like history and cultural history. Our focus is the cliff dwellings. We use print and social media."

Morton opened up the panel for questions, but first asked the panelists a question to answer.

"What actions should we take to link things together to make sure we get the whole picture?" she asked. "Most of what we do is individual attractions. What are ways to tie them together as an identity?"

"That's an important topic to figure out," Pack said. "I'm sold on digital marketing. We have to have individual event promotions, but we need a strong digital identity. New Mexico True has given us a path. We must make a solid platform with branding and bring everything back to a central website to show everything. I see us working collaboratively."

Lucero said: "The Number One thing is to agree on a unified effort. We need it from a regional perspective, with Grant County as the hub. Regional collaboration is important. Grant County is rich in culture."

O'Connor said events bring people here. "Once they're here, we need a really good visitor guide."

Morton said the ACD has one, and O'Connor asked for copies.

Herrera-Castillo challenged the panelists to think in the mind of the traveler. "Don't overlook Trip Advisor, Yelp and Google searches. When I go to another state, I don't look at the Tourism website, I go to Yelp or Trip Advisor. Google yourself; Yelp yourself; see what Trip Advisor says about you."

O'Connor asked: "As a tourism-based business, I want to know what you do to make things available to guests."

Morton replied that each tourism-based entity should go by the Visitor Center in Silver City to see what's available to tourists. "And look at our website."

Kitty Stolzenbach, who does social media for the SCACD, said she has been doing a lot of website research in other communities. "I see a lot of three-day itineraries, five-day itineraries. You need to build itineraries."

Al Gamboa, a native, who returned after being gone for years, said: "We do have overwhelming activity here, but no centralized location for giving out information, other than perhaps the Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce. Our Visitor Center is our best kept secret."

Morton said the SCACD had two different calendars—one for events and one for submitting events. "We try to make sure the events and the links to the events are live. We are doing online awareness seminars. It's important to place an event a long time in advance because travelers plan ahead."

Stolzenbach said she updates the SCACD Facebook page for Friday, Saturday and Sunday events. "They link to your event Facebook page."

Jaime Ramirez, who works at the Silver City Daily Press and Independent, said the Independent is free. He alleged the Independent Facebook page has more hits than anyone one else in town, except for the ACD. "We must have diversity but consistency. We can put video on CATS (Community Access Television of Silver City) free."

Kim Clark of the Grant County Association of Realtors said one of the best things Silver City developed was the 100 Things to Do in Grant County. "We need to create a brand. My favorite is four gentle seasons."

Pack agreed the next step is to define the brand.

Herrera-Castillo said the words brand and identity are used a lot. "The New Mexico True brand is a big umbrella. Think about the visitor and what they're seeing."

Morton said Silver City and Grant County have benefitted from using the New Mexico True brand and sticking with the standards. "I would like to see us build on it. What is the process for building a brand for the region?"

The second panel consisted of Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce Director Scott Terry, Silver City MainStreet Project Director Charmeine Wait, Grant County Commissioner Alicia Edwards and Joe Saenz of Wolfhorse Outfitters.

Terry said he is proud to be able to talk to people outside the area about using "this facility (the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center, where the town hall was being held). We recently held a Karate tournament here. We had people coming from New Mexico and Arizona. They plan to come back next year. We also will have a cornhole tournament. There are leagues working on a tournament over three days. You don't know what cornhole is? It's basically throwing beanbags through a hole."

Wait said the Silver City MainStreet Project has a new publication all about downtown. "It was done by a group of WILL (Western Institute of Lifelong Learning) students. New Mexico True is also bringing Stories from the Streets. They are not just for tourists, but also for locals. We will be doing a big to-do on the stories in June. We have 145 businesses downtown."

Edwards said the county and the town should be partnering, "especially on the outdoor recreation piece. Silver City has the dining and lodging, but the things to see and do are in the county."

Saenz said he is following his family history. "My horseback rides promote the area. I have international tourists. I use it as a format to promote native culture. When you were talking about things to do, I did not hear about the Apache Wall, the Geronimo Memorial. There are three native groups trying to get back into the area. The pueblo people passed through. The Apache have been here forever. We need to promote the area as a living culture. You have a human being sitting here telling you our history. Where we've been; what we do, but I don't see that brought up. I don't understand. It broke my heart to see the powwow stop."

"I haven't given up on the powwow," Saenz continued. "I gave up on Silver City. Now I'm working on Fort Bayard. I want to bring back native events. When we held the first powwow, Fran Land, who owned a lodging in the Mimbres, offered to help me. She said: 'You put on the powwow, we'll raise the money.' We have ideas to bring a museum and cultural center to Fort Bayard. The Apache culture is here."

He said New Mexico True has been great for his business. "Bring back our culture. We need help.

Terry said: "Joe brings up barriers. The barrier is sitting in Santa Fe. We've been trying for years to get the state to give Fort Bayard to Santa Clara. The state isn't going to do anything. They're broke. Santa Clara put together an economic plan. We'd like to see the Apache out there. They want a museum at Fort Bayard. We want to bring back the golf course. It's gonna take the community uprising a bit to get the state to do something. As somebody not originally from here, Fort Bayard is a wonderful place, and the state is letting it get worse and worse."

Morton, said, on behalf of the Silver City Arts and Cultural District, "we're all about collaboration. I've been writing grants and creating proposals with other organizations, not just for marketing, but also for economic development. Tourism is important. We need investment in it. We have to have a there there. We have lots of theres there, but we can't exploit them. We need all kinds of tourism amenities. The merchants have to have consistent open hours. We're making great strides. I've only been here since September, but everyone has told me, we have been making great strides."

She opened it up to questions from the audience.

Trent Bohl of Cactus Jack's and Smokey Joe's said he came from Utah, where two small communities did an off-road jamboree. "Off roaders spend four times more than other tourists, buying fuel and food and lodging. Maybe we should explore off-road tourism. Especially for older folks who can't hike anymore, but they can ride an ATV or side-by-side."

Terry said the Forest Service has closed roads, but the county is looking at developing trails for ATV. "We also need someone here, who works on, sells and rents ATVs. Did you know there is a place in town where one can rent kayaks and camping equipment? The university has a place, but that's it."

A man, who said he has a real estate office downtown, said tourists come in his office and say they almost missed downtown. "What about signage? We need some leading to downtown. We're sitting next door to Boston Hill. It needs attention to bring in more people and keep them here longer. The third thing is that the museum really doesn't have much. How about something on the great flood?"

Wait said MainStreet is working on signage with Rural Pathways on how to get people downtown. "The signs will be going up on US 180 and NM 90 to direct people to shopping, dining and for walking tours. We have a brochure being printed now on Boston Hill. As for the museum, I know they are challenged by limited funds."

Mike Barragree agreed he would like to see the powwow resurrected in an outdoor setting, "not inside. It is my understanding that a powwow circuit in the region might be opening."

"The reason we had our powwow in the winter was as a gift to Silver City to bring people to town in the winter," Saenz said. "I was confounded when it was not appreciated. I'm not looking at just putting on our powwow, but to piggyback on other powwows. We are talking to other nations and tribes. Las Cruces and Mescalero used to have powwows. It was a pretty decent circuit. The last year we held the powwow, people attending were having to go to Lordsburg and Deming for lodging. Fran Land did a survey and gathered data. She estimated it was pretty close to a $3 million economic stimulation to the area."

Doug Dinwiddie, Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society vice president, said he believes the group made significant progress in the Legislature this year. "We even got the director of the General Services Department to support Fort Bayard going to Santa Clara, but the calendar ran out. Since this is an election year, we might have to start over. We have petitions to present to the new administration. The Fort Bayard Historic Preservation Society and Santa Clara will open a visitor center at the old armory to promote Fort Bayard and Santa Clara. It will be staffed by volunteers. We have an active preservation society. We hold tours every Saturday at 9:30 a.m. from the museum. Fort Bayard is not totally forgotten. We're making sure it isn't."

Martin Miller, resident, said maps are available at the Forest Service for ATVs, and for what roads can be used for what vehicles.

A resident who has been coming to Silver City for 12 years, said: "We are here by design. We've seen changes in the 12 years. When we first came, we couldn't find the university. Now we see collaboration between the university and the town. The Silver City Museum should collaborate with the University Museum, and the town and university libraries should collaborate. I was at the last powwow, which we very much enjoyed. What you call winter, we call May. We came here to hike and bicycle. There is so much focus on through hikers. How about hiking sections of the CDT (Continental Divide Trail)? You should be putting together a brochure of three-to-four-day hikes, starting at Little Walnut trailhead. Talk to some local hikers for short section hikes."

Morton suggested he talk to Dan Roper, who is the local representative for the CDT. "Also talk to Carmen Vendelin of the Silver City Museum. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, which is very rare for a museum of its size. It's one of our gems. It attracts a lot of people."

She asked for one last comment from each panelist. Terry noted that he gets calls from people asking where they can charge their electric cars. "We now have a charging station for two vehicles at the Visitor Center. Thank you to PNM for installing it. I worked with Becky O'Connor on marketing. We noticed that all the photos of people at events showed their backsides. So, we hired Jay Hemphill to take some photos. The cover of the New Mexico Magazine is a photo by Jay. We have made strides over the past year."

Wait said she feels lucky to have lived here for 26 years. "I choose to live here."

Edwards said she found it a great conversation. "I would like to see it continue."

Saenz said his business has benefitted from New Mexico True, but it doesn't have a format or platform on the proposed fly-overs over the Gila Wilderness. "I've already lost business because of Trump's election and the military hawkishness. I don't know why they chose the Gila Wilderness for fly-overs and training."

Herrera-Castillo said she wants to know about everything going on in the area "to make it easier for us to do our job. Help us know what's going on. I thank you for allowing us as visitors to see you and your area. You are amazing and awesome."

Morton thanked those who participated throughout the morning. "I'm learning as I go along. I'm a grant writer and all about collaboration. I would love to get feedback on the session."

Herrera-Castillo encouraged everyone to take pens and magazines on their way out, because she wasn't going to take them back.