Newport Mansions numbers up, as local hotels down

ROOM TO GROW: The dining room at the Breakers, where new audio technology has helped boost tours at the mansion. / COURTESY PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY
ROOM TO GROW: The dining room at the Breakers, where new audio technology has helped boost tours at the mansion. / COURTESY PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY

(Corrected, 11 a.m., July 29)

On the heels of record-setting attendance in 2012, the Preservation Society of Newport County is seeing continuing improvement in 2013.
The story behind the numbers, according to John Rodman, director of museum experience for the Preservation Society, is investments in visitor experience and marketing that the group has been making for years.
“We’ve been rolling out at least one new audio tour a year for the past five years,” Rodman said. “Our main marketing message this year is, ‘Where’s the new tour this year?’ ”
The newest tour is an updated audio tour at The Elms, one of the 11 mansions the society maintains, he said. The investment of more than $1 million in new tours, new audio tour technology and visitor tour experience is reflected in growing attendance, Rodman said.
June admissions at the mansions, which constitute a major portion of Newport attractions, increased 7.3 percent over last year’s figures to 97,567. When members’ admissions are subtracted out, the increase jumps to 11.7 percent, he reported.
The new audio technology “really has traction with the public,” Rodman said. “We added an audio tour at the Breakers [four seasons ago], and that eliminated lines that were up to 30 minutes long,” he said.
While holding prices stable, at $19.50 for a Breakers tour and $14.50 for most everything else, with discounts for multiple tours, the Preservation Society also has beefed up its digital marketing, Rodman said.
Hired a year ago, consultant Jennifer Little of Jenn Little Media of Bristol introduced the mansion owners to a custom-designed, guaranteed pay-per-click advertising strategy that is yielding results. Investing in Facebook is also paying off, he said.
Some momentum to the June numbers also may have come from the extended season, Rodman said, which started in mid-February instead of April, and will end five weeks after Labor Day, on Columbus Day.
“The Newport Mansions represent an enormous market share,” said Evan Smith, president and CEO of Discover Newport. “They’re the trendsetter.” Discover Newport is a nonprofit that promotes the city and eight surrounding municipalities.
But in contrast to the healthy increase in mansion visitors, hotel occupancy rates in the city and Middletown fell in June because of a series of rainy weekends and a lack of activity at the hotels near Naval Station Newport, according to Smith and Jeff Miller, general manager of the Residence Inn by Marriott, one of four nearby hotels.
Occupancy rates for 19 hotels in Newport and Middletown declined 7.3 percent compared with last June, though they fell 2.5 percent from January to June compared with the first six months of last year.
In June, the average daily rate fell 2.5 percent to $175.52 and the revenue per available room, or RevPAR, dropped 9.6 percent $123.80. For the past six months, the average daily rate gained three-tenths of a percent, while the RevPAR declined 2.2 percent.
The hotels also felt the lack of last June’s successful America’s Cup World Series, Smith and Miller said.
About 1 percent of the decline could be felt in a drop-off in military hotel stays at the four hotels located near the Navy base. “[Sequestration] is a brand new impact,” said Smith.
Miller agreed that a lack of military clientele in June at four hotels in Middletown near the Naval War College, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and Naval Education and Training Center is a concern, and something to watch.
First Bristol Corp. and Kempenaar Real Estate are the joint owners of the Residence Inn, as well as the Hampton Inn and Suites, and Homewood Suites by Hilton (which opened in June). Kempenaar is the sole owner of the Howard Johnson Inn. (James Karam is president and CEO of First Bristol, and Rocky Kempenaar is CEO of Kempenaar Real Estate.)

Some cutbacks in the defense budget are imposing constraints nationally, and there may be more to come, Miller added.

That said, July is looking like a healthier month, although the numbers aren’t in yet. “What we didn’t see in June we are seeing in July … anecdotally,” Miller said. •

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A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the owners of the Homewood Suites by Hilton and the Howard Johnson Inn in Middletown.

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