Fallbrook Tourism.

Why?

by
Don McDougal

Over the past 2 years,

a group of community activists has been working on a project to develop a tourism and economic development program for the Fallbrook community. This extensive project reached its first milestone with the recently completed tourism study by Destination Development, Inc. (DDI), presented to the community in October.

As the Tourism and Economic Development Implementation Plan (TEDIP) committee moves forward with this program action plan, it is important to clarify the project and its impact on the community of Fallbrook and its residents.

First, it is important to note that this work is actually part of an overall economic development plan and that tourism has been identified as the key component to facilitate this plan. It is important to look back over the history of Fallbrook to see how we evolved to where we are today.

|[ Once Upon A Time In Fallbrook ]|

Back in the pre-1980's, Fallbrook's town center (downtown) was the heart of the community, like many communities across the country. Residents did the majority of their shopping and entertainment downtown, and only major purchases were made outside of the community.

As a young man growing up in Fallbrook, I remember the rare trip to Escondido to shop at Sears & Roebuck. Then, as the shopping malls and big-box stores began to pop up in Escondido, Oceanside and, more recently, in Temecula, our downtown merchants began to suffer and ultimately close-up shop due to the greater variety and lower prices offered by these new competitors. With the closing of local businesses, our downtown began to deteriorate.

|[ Arts As An Answer ]|

In response to this turn of events, a new organization was formed in 1988 to deal with the decline - The Fallbrook Community Revitalization Advisory Council. The activities of the Council then led to the formation in 1993 of the Fallbrook Village Association.

Visionaries at that time recognized the need for a new direction and began the movement to attract art and art-related activities to the downtown area.

And now today, recognizing that our old downtown center will never be like it was prior to the 1980's, we must be defensive to prevent further decline, and pro-active to develop a plan for a future of economic prosperity.

It is important to note that the recent study by DDI validated the projects already underway, and gave direction to fine-tune and enhance those accomplishments.

|[ So? Why Tourism? ]|

Now, back to tourism and its impact on Fallbrook. As mentioned earlier, tourism is considered the key component to enhance economic development in our community. By concentrating this effort on art - and specifically arts education - we target an upscale visitor with discretionary time and disposable income. These visitors buy art, jewelry, antiques and gifts. They eat in in our restaurants, shop in our stores, buy gasoline, stay at overnight lodging accommodations, and enjoy the many other attractions Fallbrook has to offer. 

And then they leave.

Bear in mind it is not the intention to attract high volumes of visitors and the congestion they bring. A weekly Avocado Festival is not what is meant by building tourism.

What do these selected and targeted visitors do for our community? First of all, they bring in dollars to be spent locally with our various merchants. Secondly, as local commerce reaches a critical mass, our merchants thrive and are able to expand, remodel and, more importantly, sustain their businesses. This success attracts other similar businesses, all of which result in a thriving local economy. More shops, stores and restaurants give greater variety for our visitors. And, equally importantly, bring our residents back downtown.

The resulting vibrant economy results in higher property values, more business for our non-tourism businesses, and the expected benefits to a thriving and growing community and economy.

Unfortunately, the opposite results can be seen in declining communities that have not developed such a plan.

|[ Be A Player. Pickup The Phone ]|

When looking at the work being done for the betterment of our community, ask yourself, "If Not This, Then What?"

I encourage all residents of our community to get onboard and support this tourism and economic development program. It is an all-inclusive project and we need the community's support and assistance If you have a particular talent or interest, please contact our project office at (760) 723-8384, or e-mail our project coordinator, Brigitte Schlemmer, at brigitte@werkhorse.biz. We have a variety of committees in which to participate, including Marketing, Village Center, Arts Council, Beautification and Gateways, and Chamber of Commerce. 

Its your community, so get involved.

Don. B. McDougal

[Newsletter editor's note]: Don is Vice-President of the Grand Tradition, Chairman of the Fallbrook Community Revitalization Council, co-Chairman of the Tourism Study Committee, member of the Advisor Group for the Tourism-Economic Development Implementation Group, member of the Fallbrook Village Association Big Picture Committee, and past-President of the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce.     

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PROGRESS REPORT

Updates From The Front: News From
The Tourism Committees
That Are Getting It Done

COMING ATTRACTIONS

"Q-&-A"

Answers To Inquiries About Anything And Everything
Related To The Fallbrook
Tourism Plan

Please e-mail questions to Project Office:

brigitte@werkhorse.biz

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Fallbrook Village Association

P.O. Box 508
Fallbrook, CA 92088
760 723 8384
www.fallbrookart.org

Fallbrook Chamber
of Commerce

233 E. Mission Road
Fallbrook, CA 92028
760 728 5845
www.fallbrookchamber.com

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