How To Turn a "Where's That?" Into a "Must-See!" Destination - By Harvey Chipkin (HSMAI Marketing Review)

Now destinations as little known as Curitiba and as important as New York are seeking to emulate Bilbao's cultural coup. And travel industry executives—hoteliers, tour operators, convention and visitor bureau officials—are learning how to make the most of blockbuster cultural attractions that literally create—or at least enhance or reshape the images and appeal of destinations.

The phenomenon that shook up the travel world was the opening of the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum in 1997. Bilbao is the fourth largest city in Spain and the largest in Basque Country, which in recent years has gained a certain amount of autonomy from the national government.

While Bilbao had been an important port and industrial center it was not, to put it kindly, on the itinerary of many visitors to Spain. Seeking to remake the city as a cultural and visitor attraction, the Basque administration fully funded the museum's construction and subsidized the annual budget. The Guggenheim operates the facility, providing curatorial and administrative expertise—as well as the core art collection and program.

The men credited with providing the sizzle to the Bilbao project are Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; and Frank Gehry, the innovative Los Angeles-based architect. Krens has successfully sought to globalize the Guggenheim—opening branches in Venice, and Berlin—and, soon, Las Vegas. And Gehry is one of a group of brand-name architects who seems to be a necessary element in the formula of creating trailblazing touristic developments.

Much of the excitement around Guggenheim Bilbao emanates from the building's other-worldly appearance. It is composed of interconnected building shapes clad in limestone. The individual building components are unified into a single architectural composition by a signature roof—a composition of twisting, curving and jutting forms clad in titanium—reminiscent of a "Metallic Flower." The structure is surrounded by a water garden that integrates the site with the river and promenade.

Three levels of galleries are organized around a light-filled central atrium more than one-and-a-half times the height of the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. A series of unique exhibition halls are designed for the presentation of large-scale works of modern and contemporary art and site-specific installations. The largest space is an enormous boat-shaped gallery 450 feet by 80 feet that is free of structural columns, giving the museum the capacity to stage installations that could not be presented in more conventional museums.

Herbert Muschamp, chief architecture critic of The New York Times, deemed it "a miracle;" Ada Louise Huxtable, architectural correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, classified it "one of the most significant, as well as one of the most beautiful museums in the world."

But descriptions and adulation pale in the face of an edifice that broke the rules for design and that seems to present an irresistible appeal for visitors from all over the world. As one tour operator says, "If you go to northern Spain and don't see it, friends will ask 'you went to northern Spain and didn't go to Bilbao?'"

That is a convention and visitor bureau's dream. Also dreamy are tourism statistics for Bilbao:

• The total number of visitors during 2000 was 975,000. As was the case in 1999, almost six of every seven visitors (82%) came from outside the Basque region; and one in every two was foreign (46%). From its opening in October of 1997 through 2000, the museum welcomed 3.6 million visitors.
• Of those 3.6 visitors, 83 percent came to Bilbao exclusively to see the museum.

And the excitement has not ebbed. Be-tween January and April 2000, there were 25 percent more visitors than the previous year due to the "Art of the Motorcycle" exhibit, which has drawn crowds wherever it has been placed on display.

The Bilbao impact has been worldwide. Typical was a big splash on the NBC show, USA Today, in May of 2000—broadcast live from the museum. During the following two months, visitors from the United States increased by 45 percent compared to the previous year.

And there's the big financial picture: the economic impact on the Basque region was seven times higher than the investment of $100 million within three years of opening.

According to The New York Times, just one year after opening, "the Guggenheim Bilbao has completely transformed its host city by surpassing all projections for visitorship. Hailed by critics as an architectural masterpiece, the museum and its dynamic program of exhibitions have met with unprecedented success."

This success has had a couple of effects on the travel industry: one is a desire to "get another Bilbao;" and the other, a drive by every travel segment to make the most of marketing opportunities when a blockbuster attraction like a Guggenheim Bilbao arrives on the scene.

Of course, cultural tourism has been a hot topic for years—following on wildly popular exhibitions at museums like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and theatrical phenomena such as the "Lion King." But here we are talking about attractions that either create, reinvent or reshape the image of a destination in a dramatic, rapid, and, ideally, long-term fashion.

According to a story in The New York Times, "Brazilians appear dazzled by the prospect of a Guggenheim branch in their country, anticipating that it would prove as much a boon to tourism as the celebrated branch in Bilbao. One result, as the news magazine Veja observed, is a four-way race that 'seems more and more like the competition to choose the site of the Olympics,' with the local authorities falling over themselves to roll out the red carpet for the Americans."

The daily O Estado de Sao Paulo, in introducing Thomas Krens to its readers, wrote, "The most coveted man in the country at this moment is bald and gangly, wears old suits and is knock-kneed, giving the impression he may fall over at any moment. He has received more attention than the King of Spain."

While the favored venue for a Brazilian Guggenheim is Rio—the mayor offered $100 million to build it—three other cities are in contention: Recife, Salvador and, of course, Curitiba.

Rio's interest in a Guggenheim demonstrates that it is not just little known cities seeking a place in the sun that are determined to land blockbuster cultural monuments. Take Los Angeles—certainly not a town in need of visitor appeal. But it was the arrival of the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1997 that recast "Tinseltown" as a cultural attraction. Los Angeles had great art museums before, but it was the stunning architecture and setting of the Getty and the resulting hype that upped the artistic ante.

The museum is as well known for its views as for the works inside — the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains— downtown skyline, city neighborhoods, Santa Catalina Island and sunsets over the Pacific Ocean. Signs even point the way to the most panoramic views.

A CNN report at the time noted that (the Getty) "doesn't invent Los Angeles as an art center," but that its coming "really ratchets the whole thing up several degrees."

At the time of the Getty's opening, New Yorker magazine art critic Kurt Andersen wrote, "It will do a lot, I think, to disabuse the world that Los Angeles is nothing but freeways and hamburgers and Rodeo Drive vulgarity."

With the success of the Getty, other areas of Los Angeles perked up and decided they could reshape their own neighborhoods with the addition of dramatic new structures. John Duel, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, notes that another Gehry building—the Walt Disney Concert Hall—will open in 2003 "and will really attract attention to downtown. We are hoping it becomes as recognizable an icon as the Sydney Opera House. It will be the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and will provide visitors a chance to hear a world class philharmonic orchestra in a building designed to be acoustically perfect."

The Disney hall—part of the Los Angeles Performing Arts Center—will be clad in stainless steel with the exterior reflecting the interior forms in a series of curved sculptural surfaces that wrap the entire building, presenting multiple facades to the surrounding neighborhood.

Long before ground was broken for the Disney hall, Los Angeles was trumpeting its arrival, with inclusion in the CVB's regular "What's New" release, and with numerous press tours.

"We are always trying to build on the cultural side of Los Angeles," says Duel. "One reason is that even press who are not tourism oriented want to know what's new. If a convention is coming to town, delegates are looking for things to do and meeting trade magazines let them know."

In fact, Los Angeles is rushing to introduce several world-beater attractions. A development called Hollywood & Highland, right under the famed Hollywood sign, seeks to make the most of one of the great brands on earth—Hollywood.

Beth Harris, director of marketing for TrizecHahn, the developer of Hollywood & Highland, notes, "Hollywood may be the best known brand name in the world. Every year, more than nine million visitors come to this block to see Mann's Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame and then they get back on the bus because there is nothing else to do."

Seeking to attract more people and to get them to stay, Hollywood & Highland is a development that will include not only shopping and restaurants but the new Kodak Theatre, which has signed a deal to host the Academy Awards presentation for the next 20 years. A retail complex and new Renaissance Hollywood Hotel will open later this year; the first Academy Awards ceremony will be held in 2002.

Building on that one night of ultimate glamour, the theater will host many nights of entertainment. More, it will be a selling point for meeting and convention groups that will, for instance, be able to hold their own awards ceremonies on the very stage where Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts might have collected Oscars.

Harris sees a direct parallel with Times Square in New York—a place that had enormous and worldwide name recognition and strong appeal—but little to hold tourists for longer than a visit to the theater.

While Times Square has managed to become an overwhelming—and overwhelmed with visitors—destination without a blockbuster building, it has used the cumulative effect of neon, attractions such as Madame Tussaud's, and the famed New Year's Eve celebration to reshape itself. Says Harris, "We see this (Hollywood & Highland) as the West Coast Times Square, a unique public gathering space."

According to Harris, her company has a marketing team "entirely dedicated to tourism; that is their only job. Everything will focus on the Hollywood myth and legend. In addition to an expanded Chinese theater, there will be a functioning television studio and a movie theater showing at least 15 real film premieres a year. We are aiming for authenticity; we will be the real Hollywood, not a theme park."

Typical of these kinds of developments, taxpayer money is heavily involved. Los Angeles has poured $90 million into a parking garage and the Kodak Theater.

Las Vegas—the Venice of the West For Los Angeles to make itself into an arts center and build on a name like Hollywood are not big stretches.

Well, legendary marketer Stephen Wynn turned a wing of his Bellagio (before he was bought out by MGM) into a home for masterpieces; lines snaked out the door longer than those for the old $2.95 buffets.

But the spectacular Venetian Resort Hotel-Casino is going Wynn one better with a Guggenheim of its own. The Venetian will also house a mini-version of the great Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Krens said he was skeptical at first about the possibility of Vegas as a suitable arts venue—until, on his first visit, he saw the lines at the Bellagio gallery. "I got it in a flash," he said.

The Venetian project will consist of two museums designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Rem Koolhaas (again the brand name architect). The smaller, the Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum (opening this spring), will be a collaboration between the Guggenheim and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and will be inserted into the front wall of The Venetian, between the porte cochere and the reception desk.

The other museum will be the Guggenheim Las Vegas (opening this summer), which Krens said will be "a little bit bigger than Grand Central Station in New York City;" it will be in the space where a pedestrian bridge now connects the parking garage and resort.

It is estimated that the art that will hang in the two museums will have a value well in excess of $1 billion—more than it cost to build the entire Venetian resort. Masterpieces from some of the world's greatest artists will hang several hundred feet away from the casino floor, including works by Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Renoir and Gauguin.

Krens recently visited Las Vegas to inspect his latest conquest and, according to a report in the Las Vegas Sun, "Krens talks like a businessman, at home discussing such items as visitor traffic estimates, capital expenditures, joint ventures and revenue projections."

"He also," the article continued, "has a flair for trying to push the envelope—he's currently negotiating with New York City officials to build a $900 million art museum along the banks of the East River in Manhattan, a 44-story metal behemoth that stands out even against the New York skyline, with a design Krens says will transform architecture in the 21st century."

Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Venetian parent company Las Vegas Sands Inc. and recognized as a marketing genius himself, said of Krens, "If he competed head-to-head with me, I'd have a serious challenge."

Krens does have his critics. Capitalist stronghold Forbes magazine, referring to his strategy as "McGuggenheim," charged that the impresario "has transformed the Guggenheim from an aloof art museum into an expansion-minded, fast-buck corporation looking for all the world like a chain of theme parks."

Adelson is quick to defend his newest business partner, saying, "History will write that he was one of the most revolutionary thinkers in art and culture in the 21st century. He is a visionary ... in the evolution of how art is brought to the people."

In coming to the Strip, Krens also says he's reacting to an economic reality for nonprofit museums such as the Guggenheim and the Hermitage. "I do not expect to get support from the government," Krens said. "I expect that government (assistance) for art will be declining. We're transferring to the private sector. We have to look at this with an open mind and evolve as we go along."

By Krens' estimates, the Guggenheim could pull in $15 million a year for his foundation and the Hermitage. The $7.5 million share for the Hermitage would be massive for a museum that currently receives just $7 million a year in endowments, Krens said. "They're starving to death," he said, adding: "One of the greatest art collections on Earth is struggling. If the museum in Las Vegas can help reverse that, I feel good about it."

Even New York—possibly the world's most popular tourist city—is also eager to get in on the action. And, while the Big Apple is one of the last places to need its artsy image enhanced, the city sees another Gehry-designed Guggenheim as a way to open up a slice of waterfront that has become dormant at best.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani backed the Guggenheim's plan to build a huge arts complex designed by Gehry on three city-owned piers in lower Manhattan. It would be ten times the size of the original Guggenheim in New York with two theaters, a skating rink and a public plaza.

The complex would be built on stilts on the edge of the East River, with a tower surrounded by swirls of shimmering "ribbons." Gehry says of the design, "I think of it as a building that's floating above a park, that has a cloudlike quality." One critic said it would be an "exuberant counterpoint to nearby buttoned-down skyscrapers."

Giuliani, speaking of providing $68 million to the Guggenheim as part of $1.2 billion for cultural projects, said, "So many people come here especially to see our museums, to see our centers for art. This is in part to bolster that industry because it is such a major component of the city."

Another great arts center, Vienna, has also seen fit to build on its reputation with a massive cultural complex. A project called MuseumsQuartier involves adding four new buildings to an existing culture hub—bringing 25 different institutions to the center of town. It all opens this spring.

According to the Vienna Tourist Board, a million visitors a year are forecast for MuseumsQuartier—making it one of the city's top attractions. And it's understandable why a city would want to build on its most potent visitor draw. According to the board, a whopping 81 percent of visitors express a particular interest in museums and exhibitions—against just 31 percent for the next favorite activity, festivals and events.

A full-scale marketing campaign has been in play for MuseumsQuartier. In addition to a prominent presence at art fairs, a series of presentations are taking place around the world in cooperation with the Vienna Tourist Board and the foreign affairs department of the city of Vienna.

Press has been visiting the site daily, according to Dr. Wolfgang Waldner, CEO of MuseumsQuartier, and the complex is working on packages with tour operators and attending many travel trade fairs. Also, a number of hotels are moving into the area.

The Vienna Tourist Board makes no bones about the connection between tourism and art, noting in a press release, "Art is an important economic factor in tourism (and not only here). Year after year, the appeal which Vienna exerts as a result of its art treasures attracts more than three million people to the city. This translates into more than 7.5 million overnights with a turnover of nearly $275 million for the city's hotel trade."

"The total turnover generated by Vienna's incoming tourism is estimated at around $1.375 billion. In order to ensure, in return, that tourism also plays a key role in the world of art, the taxes paid by Vienna's tourist industry make a significant contribution to the city's and nation's cultural budget."

These days, marketing means branding and culture is no exception. Edemar Cid Ferreira, a Sao Paulo banker and art patron and one of the Brazilians seeking to land a Guggenheim, says, "The Gug-genheim is a powerful brand name in the world of museums and we are very enthusiastic about being associated with it."

Cultural branding has been taken to new heights at Vienna's MuseumsQuartier with a fun and innovative red-dot logo with the initials MQ in white. The logo is found on shopping bags, mugs, and even Frisbees.

Saying that he met resistance to this branding at first, Waldner says, "This is not an artistic brand; it is a commercial brand, a label that we have created to denote where culture and economy meet. We want people to consider this red dot to become the synonym for a place where they can relax, shop and satisfy other needs." The campaign, he says, has won several prizes and is being copied by other companies.

Bilbao stands out for its immediate and stunning success, but it is no fluke; there are other examples of little known places gaining international renown with the addition of a single—remarkable—building.

Take Shigaraki, Japan. It is only 20 miles from Kyoto, a popular stop. But it is also on a mountain in a national forest preserve and had been little visited.

Several years ago a spiritual group opened the Miho Museum—designed by I.M. Pei—yes, brand name again. This museum has proven to be such a success that travel marketers have had to play catch up with the public.

According to Marion Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the Japanese National Tourist Office in New York, the Miho Museum hired a public relations firm to promote it. They brought over top architecture and design writers—business class—and hosted major New York and Los Angeles media events. And, although it is a hassle to get to Miho—requiring a train from Kyoto and then a bus, tourists were drawn there as soon as they started reading the resultant articles. This happened, says Goldberg, despite the fact that "the tourist office had to be pressed to bring travel writers along on a press trip." The Japanese, she says, "could not believe the coverage in the American press."

Finally, after recognizing the appeal of the Miho, the JNTO is getting on board—organizing a fam trip for U.S. tour operators.

Typical of response to public demand was that of a major tour operator called Saga Holidays, which decided to add the museum to itineraries just as many tour operators were driven to add Bilbao to theirs. Kerry Crisley, a spokesperson for Saga, says, "The Miho became a must-see very quickly. We highlight the fact that it was designed by Pei and a photo is included in our brochure."

Saga, she says, had learned to react quickly to this kind of situation when Bilbao became such a draw. Bilbao was added to several itineraries shortly after opening "specially to see the new museum."

Similarly, one of the great names in the tour operator business, Tauck World Discovery (formerly Tauck Tours) has tried to be as nimble as possible in anticipating new destination "stars" for logistical reasons: brochures are printed 18 months in advance. But Bilbao happened so fast that it was hurriedly substituted for a previous sightseeing program.

Says Brian Stacey, senior manager, new product development for Tauck, "We have to try to anticipate as well as we can what will be a hot destination."

But with Guggenheim Bilbao, says Stacey, "I don't think anybody really anticipated the incredible exposure and tremendous positive press it would get. We didn't even have a chance to market it the first year. Now it is definitely a marketable product."

While it's no wonder that other destinations are seeking to recreate the success of Bilbao, some of this has a long tradition. The Sydney Opera House in Australia opened in 1973 and became an instant icon for what had been a relatively quiet city for international tourism.

At the Renaissance Hotel in the shadow of the opera house, spokesperson Nuala Cashman says that among the hotel's big draws are its guestroom views of the Opera House. That proximity, according to Cashman, is exploited in brochures, on the Web site, and in sponsorship of events.

"Our signature shot of the hotel shows us with the Opera House," Cashman says.

In Los Angeles, executives at a new Renaissance are seeking to capitalize on the "new Hollywood represented by Hollywood & Highland." Tony Capuano, vice president, development for Marriott, which operates the Renaissance brand, says the Renaissance Hollywood is to open later this year with 640 rooms.

"There is tremendous unrealized potential in Hollywood," he says, "and the coming of the Kodak Theatre will really make that happen. Aside from the theater, there is a developing theater row. It will be an incredible destination for leisure and incentive groups and we will make the most of our connection with it."

Tom Santora, director of marketing for the Renaissance Hollywood, said the hotel is being designed "to evoke the Los Angeles of the 1950's—the old Hollywood. We will package theater and shopping. And to generate meeting interest, there are four or five site tours for meeting planners a week."

Travel marketers who see gold at the end of every cultural colossus should be cautious. It is not easy to maintain the kind of sizzle associated with a Bilbao—especially at a time when many destinations seek to emulate that museum's success. Or when a city like Los Angeles will be home to a number of seminal attractions.

Take the Getty. While unquestionably successful and still a powerful draw, the museum's numbers have stabilized since its early days when visitors with cars had to reserve a parking spot months in advance. Recently, the hotel eliminated parking reservations on weekends and after 4 p.m. on Thursday and Fridays.

Novelty is a powerful force in tourism, but sustaining visitor appeal once that wears off is a job for marketers who understand how to look to the long term.

Harvey Chipkin is a New Jersey-based business travel writer and a contributing writer for HSMAI