Speaker: South Tahoe fails to show its culture, history

South Lake Tahoe has a way to go in promoting its cultural resources and heritage, according to a recent study that positioned the mountain town as below average.

That was the assessment that came out of the Eighth Annual SMG Tourism Conference at Lake Tahoe on Wednesday from Jonathan Tourtellot, director for the Center for Sustainable Destinations - an arm of the National Geographic Society.

Tourtellot explained to the audience of 160 who signed up for the conference that Lake Tahoe ranked lower than average on its destination scorecard that rates the destination by protection of assets, which range from architecture and history to local music and the arts.

"There's not a whole lot of history here," Tourtellot said. "And that gives texture and depth to the travel experience."

Vermont ranked high as one destination in the United States. In California, he pointed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a restorative site using the benefits of its own coastal natural resources.

The tourism consultant strongly recommended Tahoe marketing gurus use the benefits local residents see in their area to woo tourists.

"If tourists like it, but locals don't, it's a tourist trap," he said.

From the outside looking in, Tourtellot provided the stark reality that marketers may need to think beyond skiing and gaming to present the lake as a destination worthy enough to be groomed in the "geo-tourism charter." Geotourism is essentially how tourism should support the social fabric and culture of a place.

The presentation divided the markets into segments and showed how some are more economically viable to go after than others.

He complimented sites like the Tahoe Center for Environmental Studies, which just opened up, and recommended lodging properties team up with the eco-tourism site.

He even suggested Heavenly Mountain Resort embrace the old-growth trees it proposed cutting down to make way for the North Bowl chairlift by teaching visitors "what is an old-growth tree?"

Tourtellot also recommended ski areas turn a larger-scale challenge into an opportunity by thinking globally and acting locally.

"Ski areas are slowing slicing their own throats if they're not educating skiers of global warming and what they're doing about it," he said, as Sierra-at-Tahoe General Manager John Rice jotted down a few notes.

Tourtellot wasn't alone in finding room for improvement for a community at a crossroads.

Dave LaPlante, chief executive officer of Twelve Horses, warned Tahoe of becoming "too generalized" as more and more chain outlets find their way to a rebuilding South Shore.

"Where Tahoe shines is the lake. You take away the scenery, and you can't tell where you're at," he said after his session.

LaPlante, who grew up in Crested Butte, Colo., and lives in Reno, preached thinking outside the box and made his presentation interactive to break the ice. He asked those in attendance to introduce, stare, swear and tell a story about their lives to someone they don't know.

"I'd rather tell others to do it," Lake Tahoe Community College vocational educator Virginia Boyar said, admitting to being out of her comfort zone.

"Telling stories can be the most powerful way to market your brand," he said. He asked if someone heard a particularly good one to share.

Jacquie Chandler of the Reno International Film Festival volunteered a story about Debbie Swanston of Aramark. Swanston talked about having an illness at age 10 that kept her in back brace for 16 hours a day at a time when she was developing her self-esteem and inner self.

"I'm more conscious of it," she said.

Now she teaches girls to do the same.