A lucrative target market for our clients:
The following is an overview of the greater Charlottesville Region, where City Select provides brochure/menu distribution, publishes several visitor guides, and our front desk Regional Map. This area served includes Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Greene, Louisa, Fluvanna, Nelson and Orange.
The lodging we serve in this region includes: hotels, inns, bed & breakfasts, cabins, timeshares, campgrounds, cabins, commercial private home rentals, and many rental properties like Vrbo and Airbnb.
Size and Impact of Overnight Lodging:
How we market to 2,451,632 people.
| 6,050 | Lodging rooms in Charlottesville-metro area |
| X 69.4% | 2019 average occupancy (STR / VA State reports) |
| 4,198 | Avg. number of rooms occupied per day |
| X 1.6 | Avg. number of persons per room (State/Nation Avg.) |
| 6,716 | Avg. Number of Visitors spending each night in area lodging |
| X 365 | Days in a year |
| 2,451,632* | Estimated number of visitors using commercial lodging in 2019 |
Visitors to the area can be categorized by the 5 types:
Historic and Gardens. A traditional visitor segment, consistent but flat growth.
UVA Related. Academic, Sports, Medical. Wide variety of visitors from parents reviewing schools to football games and hundreds of thousands here for medical reasons.
Business. Military, UVA, business conferences, and other Non-Leisure travel. Typically 20-25% of visitors, many here for weeks of training, use lodging in this area due to its central VA location.
Wedding Guests. Weddings and their guests are the fasted growing segment to our visitor profile. Important segment due to flex time and desire to check out the area.
Lifestyle Leisure. Wine, Breweries, Music, Restaurants. Traditional weekend visitor and arrives by car 95% of the time. The area’s strongest return visitor prospect.
Survey of Lodging General Managers:
Relevance of Visitor Information Sources in the Lobby:
In commercial lodging, there are 3 points of contact where visitors can learn about local places: their room, the front lobby, and at the front desk.
Being the only in-room publication approved by all major lodging brands and in over 6,000 rooms, Discover Charlottesville is THE in-room visitor resource.
That leaves the front lobby and front desk as the remaining points of contact for local information to be disseminated to the visitor.
Due to hotel brand standards, what is on and available at the front desk is very limited and in all cases only hotel branded information is on the front desk. The current trend in lodging today is smaller, more person-to-person check-in architecture. This minimalist trend severely limits storage and visitor resource opportunities. In most cases, space only allows for one resource and typically that is a regional map where guests can ask and staff can share their local insight with their guests.
Similar to branded front desk standards, hotel brands have adopted a sleek and uncluttered approach to their lobbies. Wire racks, counter tops, tables and acrylic brochure holders – all not approved in today’s branded lobby standards.
Since 2000, City Select has had a permanent brochure and menu display in all area lodging lobbies. Sometimes located by the elevator, many times near the front desk – but always there, visible and available to guests 24/7.
What do hotels themselves say about information and relevancy? General Managers shared their opinions about publications found in area lodging lobbies:
