South Lake Tahoe needs to be interesting and ready to give a total experience

There was once a time when having a beautiful lake, spectacular scenery and non-stop action and gambling was enough for the tourist to visit South Lake Tahoe and the South Shore.

This is no longer the case and the community needs to become future ready.

Carl Ribaudo, owner of Strategic Marketing Group, spoke at the Future Ready Tourism Forum at Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel on April 26, 2016.

While change is always tough Ribaudo said, South Lake Tahoe needs to be prepared as the tourist shifts from making a transaction when coming to Tahoe to wanting an experience.

What is the experience people desire when both visiting and living in South Lake Tahoe?

It is no longer about a check list of things to do, but a desire to have a Tahoe experience. It is a sequence of episodes that add up to "the experience" Ribaudo said, and not just one thing.

"You don't have to travel to see different things," he said. "You travel to see things differently."

More and more tourist destinations are adding biking and hiking opportunities, giving people a way to escape their hometown for the weekend at a much closer, and perhaps cheaper, option. They have events, activities and experiences. What makes Tahoe special?

The traveler of today, and in the future, looks for a connection to the community they visit. No other destination can duplicate the connection and what will set South Lake Tahoe apart from the rest if they can produce it. Other town can duplicate the biking, boating, hiking, skiing, gambling, so to survive, South Lake Tahoe needs to change.

But how does one change a town to become an experience rather than just a place to visit? How do you become interesting and different to engage people enough to bring people to town, whether its for one weekend, a week, a week a year or a lifetime?

Ribaudo offered several solutions.

1) Embrace a mindset of change. Don't be stuck thinking that we have the lake and the mountains, so they will come.
2) Re-imagine the South Shore. Look for every opportunity to showcase South Lake Tahoe whether its through art, history, culture, great food, or connected employees.
3) Harness creativity. Capture the culture and passions of the local community. Art needs to be highlighted with outdoor sculptures, innovative bike racks that can be considered art. Ribaudo suggested lodging properties offer sunset times and best locations for photos.
4) Communicate. Tweet it, post it on instagram, facebook post about whats going on, what you're doing. Encourage your guests and patrons to join in the fun. Share whats going on in the area with them as well, have staff know events and what to do in town.
5) Take the long view. Look to the future and what you want to be as a community with the ability to look back and say, "we did the right thing."

To be future ready, the whole community needs to be excited about what comes next. A passionate and committed group of people that live in South Lake Tahoe will make all the difference to the visitor since in one way or another, everyone has a connection to tourism.

Ribaudo looked to other tourist towns that are getting it done right for the visitor, from the public art in Santa Cruz and Moab, to a gas station with only healthy food and the town of Plymouth which is about to explode in popularity.

Does South Lake Tahoe have what it takes to be interesting?

The community has embraced cycling, but how many businesses have bike racks out in front? And those that do, have they embraced local art and scenery into the racks much like the City of Long Beach (who happen to provide complimentary sidewalk bike racks for the public in order to help promote the local economy).

Why not have metal racks in the shape of a lake, mountain, kayak or paddle board?

Nobody can replicate the history of the South Shore. There is a lot of history, but how many locals really know it and can share? How many have picked up the historic bike map of Al Tahoe at the museum, or, have even visited the museum on Lake Tahoe Blvd? They offer a great 40-minute long movie on the history which is narrated by Leonard Nimoy, just as starters. Signage along the community's bike paths with the history of that stretch is a start. The museum volunteers want to have a Chatauqua week, where characters from the past come back to SLT annually for week-long festival. They have started with a one-night performance each year, so they've started to move to be interesting and different.

If every single place in South Lake Tahoe is interesting, business owners wouldn't have to worry about "will they come?" Restaurants with a "wow factor" and unique cuisine, outside eating spaces that aren't just tables set up outside along the street, wait staff that can engage and not just take an order with a smile.

Want to be different? Why not take out strip mall signs that can't be read when driving by at 35-40 mph? With GPS directions, why can't a block take on an identity and have a name without dozens of small signs hanging below one big one? Then the traveler will know they just have to look for that block that could be called some as simple as the 1800s. A unique and clean look for sure.

"Its not just about the things you have," Ribaudo said. "Its about how interesting you are and the connection that people make."

The visitor and local will need to say to themselves after being in South Lake Tahoe, "I am exactly where I need to be."