Since the last recession, tourism organizations and destinations have been talking about the value of instate tourism. And why not? It makes sense.
The best customers are your existing customers or are those who already believe in the product. Living in New Mexico means we like it here. Frederick Weller (who played the character Marshall Mann on the USA Network program In Plain Sight, filmed in Albuquerque) told the ABQ Journal that Albuquerque is “like a little decoder ring or spy ring of funkiness. Once you decode it, there’s a lot offered.”
As a part of the 2012 Garrity Perception Survey we “decoded” the perceptions of New Mexico residents about events, festivals, SpacePort America and where they like traveling in New Mexico.
The results will be introduced first to the New Mexico Tourism Commission as a part of its meeting on May 14th in Taos. Additional, new information, will be presented to the Governors Conference on Tourism as a part of a luncheon presentation later in the week.
When preliminary information was presented to representatives from the State Department of Tourism and Spaceport America it was nice to see that some of the data surprised them. Be sure to keep an eye on our newsletter to see how you can get a copy of our findings.
But research is just that, research. What is important is what you do with the information. We are in the process of developing outreach programs that cater to the income levels and geographic areas of New Mexico residents planning to take more than three leisure trips over the next twelve months.
Finally, on the event and festival front, we were really surprised to see how one “staple” New Mexico event is perceived by New Mexico residents. Stay turned. Information is fast approaching… just in time for the summer travel season!
The PR Perspective 
I live in T or C (Spaceport America NM) and I observe that the large population of elderly/retired are there because they could AFFORD to live somewhere safely. What do you think is going to happen to these many people when land, home, mom/pop business (that are patient with their slow, cane-wielding & check-writing elderly customer base) – all become unaffordable because of this “economic boom” called spaceport. I would love to write ethnography reports “as it happens” and follow a group of the old-timers… what will happen 2-3 years from now and where will they go? Just like these people, everything exploitable is for sale, but there are real people in front of the bulldozers who can’t move out of the way very fast. It reminds me a bit of the Mora County resistance but now is great time to record the deconstruction (er… reconstruction) of a small quaint little town with a few stoplights and many crosswalks. — Curious Anthropologist