Tracking rural tourists Visitors to New Mexico's festivals, tours and special events probably don't stop to think about how they contribute to rural tourism. They're too busy sampling the food at the Chile-Cheese Festival in Roswell or scoping out thousands of birds at the Festival of the Cranes near Socorro. They also design more detailed mail surveys, analyze results and train community leaders to do their own tourism research. We also collect demographic and marketing data. Festival feedback not only can help organizers fine-tune activities but also bring in financial support.
Demographic information can strengthen proposals to corporate sponsors.
Each event draws different audiences, Watson says. From surveys, organizers of Roswell's Chile-Cheese Festival know the event has a mostly regional audience, attracting lots of families. Senior citizens enjoy the bus tours.