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I don't care much one way or the other with respect to NM tourism, just as long as NM stays true to itself and doesn't become a caricature of what tourists think NM should be (i.e. Santa Fe to a large extent).
You could argue that Santa Fe is more "true" to new Mexico than a lot of other places, since it has preserved the architectural styles that are native to the area better than other places have. There was another thread where "Pueblo Revival" style was mentioned, I forget which one, but the reason it came into being was that around the turn of the 20th century Santa Feans noticed that new construction in the city was changing to eastern and midwestern styles, with the large influx of people from those areas moving to the city after the coming of the railroad. They understood that if this was allowed to continue, then the original building styles of the area would die out, and Santa Fe would look like any town in the Midwest. So Carlos Vierra and others worked to preserve the local architectural styles that made the "city different" someplace tourists could come to and feel like they really were someplace unique, not just a copy of places they came from. Santa Fe is still one of the top tourist destinations in the country for a city its size partly because of this difference.
Mention "New Mexico" to some people and they draw a blank, but mention "Santa Fe" and they are likely to have more positive and even romantic associations. Before I moved here I didn't know anything about either, the whole place was a big question mark. The people I knew who had visited New Mexico all told me they loved it, and thought I would too. It didn't take me long to discover why.
You could argue that Santa Fe is more "true" to new Mexico than a lot of other places, since it has preserved the architectural styles that are native to the area better than other places have. There was another thread where "Pueblo Revival" style was mentioned, I forget which one, but the reason it came into being was that around the turn of the 20th century Santa Feans noticed that new construction in the city was changing to eastern and midwestern styles, with the large influx of people from those areas moving to the city after the coming of the railroad. They understood that if this was allowed to continue, then the original building styles of the area would die out, and Santa Fe would look like any town in the Midwest. So Carlos Vierra and others worked to preserve the local architectural styles that made the "city different" someplace tourists could come to and feel like they really were someplace unique, not just a copy of places they came from. Santa Fe is still one of the top tourist destinations in the country for a city its size partly because of this difference.
Mention "New Mexico" to some people and they draw a blank, but mention "Santa Fe" and they are likely to have more positive and even romantic associations. Before I moved here I didn't know anything about either, the whole place was a big question mark. The people I knew who had visited New Mexico all told me they loved it, and thought I would too. It didn't take me long to discover why.
That's true. A lot of people find the manufactured look of Disney's Celebration, FL attractive...
NM's potential is very underutilized, particularly outside of the Albuquerque to Taos corridor.
I've kept quiet on this issue since I don't want to advertise my area any more than it already is. The usual bias toward the SF/Taos is what I'm referring to. I think everyone tends to overlook the fact that the mountains of south-central NM are a tourist mecca! Tourism drives the economy in both Lincoln and Otero counties and unlike SF/Taos, there is a huge ebb and flow of people coming from Texas at all times of the year - to say nothing of the fact that some 75 percent of homes are "second homes" in the Ruidoso/Cloudcroft area. In recent years the Texans have been joined by those coming from both Chihuahua and Sonora states of Mexico, especially during the winter ski season. While people from OK and AZ are less often noted (license plates), they too are a significant presence.
You could argue that Santa Fe is more "true" to new Mexico than a lot of other places, since it has preserved the architectural styles that are native to the area better than other places have. There was another thread where "Pueblo Revival" style was mentioned, I forget which one, but the reason it came into being was that around the turn of the 20th century Santa Feans noticed that new construction in the city was changing to eastern and midwestern styles, with the large influx of people from those areas moving to the city after the coming of the railroad. They understood that if this was allowed to continue, then the original building styles of the area would die out, and Santa Fe would look like any town in the Midwest. So Carlos Vierra and others worked to preserve the local architectural styles that made the "city different" someplace tourists could come to and feel like they really were someplace unique, not just a copy of places they came from. Santa Fe is still one of the top tourist destinations in the country for a city its size partly because of this difference.
Mention "New Mexico" to some people and they draw a blank, but mention "Santa Fe" and they are likely to have more positive and even romantic associations. Before I moved here I didn't know anything about either, the whole place was a big question mark. The people I knew who had visited New Mexico all told me they loved it, and thought I would too. It didn't take me long to discover why.
You're right on the money, aries. While some of the artifice or cliche in Santa Fe grates on me a bit, it's certainly preferable to the "true" and "authentic" dilapidated trailers and factory-made doublewides that adorn a lot of New Mexico today.
Apparently some think Pueblo revival is fake, while aluminum siding and tires on the roof are real and genuine. Truth is, I DO enjoy them.... especially when they're enhanced by the real New Mexico state flower: a Wal-Mart plastic bag snagged on some brush or a fence.
New Mexico was marketed by the railroads starting in the later 1800s to encourage passenger traffic to the West coast. The results were pretty successful, as the proliferation of Harvey House's and similar hotels built in the years leading up to the depression shows.
Significant parts of Indian culture and art would likely have died out if it wasn't for the market tourism created for Navajo rug weavers, Pueblo potters and Indian silversmiths. Include Hispanic weavers and artists in this group as well.
Now that passenger train travel has largely disappeared, a lot of those places and the jobs that came with them have vanished. Some, like the spectacular El Tovar at the Grand Canyon, still survive.
But today's universal communications changes everything, and makes it possible for New Mexico to revive, in a modern way, the glory days that came with train travel.
People know Santa Fe because it's memorable, and, sadly, most of the country knows little else about New Mexico. It's almost like SF is it's own state (yes, I've had people refer to it as that) while New Mexico is just part of Mexico or something. I think that's a shame, really, and a well designed and financed ad/promo campaign can change that. It'll take time, money, patience, some professional image making, and,yes, some focus groups from faraway places to tell New Mexican residents what they sometimes can't see for themselves, both good and bad.
The state will be better off with a strong tourism base, more people can make a decent living and own their own businesses, and the GRT will roll in to fund local infrastructure and other improvements for local people. Tourists go home, but their money stays behind and circulates thru communities over and over again.
I'm hard pressed to find anything wrong with that, but my New Mexico day-count isn't much over 2,000 (spread over a few decades), so maybe I'm just ignorant or unaware.
Great points, cosmicrowbar. I was going to bring up the dilapidated trailers but I didn't want to offend anyone.
I have hosted many visitors over the years, including international visitors, and most feel that a visit to New Mexico isn't complete without going to Santa Fe and sometimes also Taos. Those places do not have an image problem, they are considered "must-see" locations (not Albuquerque). Too many think of crime when they think of Albuquerque (probably thanks to Cops and Breaking Bad), which is strange when you consider that Santa Fe has over twice the burglary rate of Albuquerque. Nobody comes to Albuquerque for the architecture, that's for sure, even though Pueblo revival is alive and well at UNM and some other places.
All my visitors have a reaction one way or another, they either love what they see or are skeptical, or just plain don't like it. I've heard everything from "It was the best vacation we've ever had in our lives" to "I won't be going back there." Their reactions also color my own perceptions.
What do they say IF they don't like Santa Fe/Taos ?
When I'm back in Michigan during the summers and am discussing my winter home, people always ask if I live in Santa Fe. They also automatically consider it a very desireable place to visit. For most Americans it's the only place they know unless they've actually visited and traveled around New Mexico. I hope that changes.
I've been self employed in tourism related businesses my whole life (restaurant and retail) so I've seen the good and the bad of the tourism industry and been part of the inevitable debates about it.
No panacea, as has been said before, but it's a solid industry with real jobs and economic development, and, unlike manufacturing whatchamacallits for the lowest possible price, it can't be outsourced or sold and moved away.
I know how much people LOVE to hear about how someplace else has the right idea that can or should be replicated here, but the experience of Michigan is simply proof that image making and promotion can have a very positive effect in a relatively short time. New Mexico has so much unrealized potential, so many wonderful places and fascinating cultures, that a Pure Michigan type effort, done New Mexico style, could really have a major positive effect and return far more money to state coffers than the cost. And give a lot of people real jobs & opportunity.
A few of many 30 second TV spots. Think of all the places that New Mexico could use for something similar. Food for thought.
And file this under something I found interesting and unexpected but maybe nobody else will, but it's on topic:
On a recent flight out of ABQ I was seated next to a Japanese tourist. I asked him if he had come for the Balloon Fiesta and he said yes, but his primary reason for coming to New Mexico was to go to Santa Fe because of a book of photography in Japan called "Santa Fe" featuring a Japanese actress. He said lots of Japanese men are infatuated with this actress and make a kind of pilgrimage to Santa Fe because of these photographs. I later found out that it was a book of nude photography shot in Santa Fe that was groundbreaking in Japan at the time of its publication. Wikipedia has a description of it: Santa Fe.
He also talked about how he came for the "tacos" which I thought was odd, but the more he described these "tacos" I realized he was talking about "turquoise."
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to tell New Mexican residents what they sometimes can't see for themselves, both good and bad.
to hear about how someplace else has the right idea that can or should be replicated here, but the experience of Michigan is simply proof that image making and promotion can have a very positive effect in a relatively short time. New Mexico has so much unrealized potential, so many wonderful places and fascinating cultures, that a Pure Michigan type effort, done New Mexico style, could really have a major positive effect and return far more money to state coffers than the cost. And give a lot of people real jobs & opportunity.
