Blue Ridge Scenic Railway- Tourism, Campaign Management
Situation
The Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, a scenic mountain train ride, had never reached $1 million in annual revenue. Their goal was to attract 45,000 people to ride the train and achieve the million-dollar mark.
Action
O’Neill Communications managed the marketing, promotions, and media relations in 2004 and 2005. We developed an integrated campaign that used traditional radio and print, new Web strategies, and extensive media relations to promote sales. Strategies focused on the poorest performing months, March, April and May, and improving performance on Mondays, the lowest volume day of the week.
Beginning with a “Spring Time in the Mountains” campaign to capture the spring break market and introducing “half-price Mondays”, ridership dramatically increased. More special events were developed to attract both local residents as well as metro Atlanta residents to the “Pumpkin Train” for Halloween and other activities. Weekly measurement of ridership, revenue, and weather kept the numbers on track.
In 2005, with revenue and numbers lagging due to hurricanes and unseasonal rain, O’Neill Communications shifted media spending from print and radio into television to boost attendance in June and July. The results were immediate and measurable.
Results
The firm’s efforts increased “ridership” by 27 percent and revenue by 29 percent over the two-year period. In its first year, O’Neill Communications attracted over 50,000 riders and over $1 million in revenue. In the second year, the turnaround campaign produced an immediate 30 percent growth in ridership, which stabilized the year-to-date volume, and annual revenue grew nine percent over the previous year.
