City of Morgan Hill Bikeways, Trails, Parks and Recreation Master Plan

Section 7: Recommendations | May 2017 Sports Market Business Strategy – Morgan Hill, CA PAGE 98

STRATEGIC PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS It is intended that this report will serve as a tool for guiding the direction and resource allocations necessary to attract sports tourism to the marketplace. Our proposed strategy is based on the results of the preceding market analysis, which included current demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the market area, an assessment of existing and planned sports and recreation facilities in the marketplace and the greater region, characteristics of comparable sports complex developments throughout the U.S., and local intercept event surveys. Although our primary emphasis was on sports tourism, we did investigate the merits of general tourism initiatives as well. SUPPORTIVE MARKETS / STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS The success of sports complexes across the nation is often reliant upon several key components. The most successful venues generally leverage one or more of the following components: 1) large local and regional population bases; 2) dedicated resources for significant investment in facility infrastructure; 3) support amenities and existing tourism attractions, which enhance the overall appeal of the sports complex. Morgan Hill has the ability to enhance and leverage existing facilities and events that would assist with marketing and luring additional sports tournaments and events to the City. Many of the more successful sports complexes throughout the US have successfully leveraged and marketed existing assets within their location to create more of an experience rather just a host complex for a tournament. Morgan Hill is a destination for tourists due to its weather, accessibility, proximity to the Bay Area and unique entertainment resources like annual special events, wineries and the downtown. Families can come watch their older brother or sister play in a tournament in the morning and then as a family take part in extracurricular entertainment, like visiting downtown or attending an event such as the Taste of Morgan Hill. This type of experience works well with busy families who have transitioned their kids’ travel tournaments into family vacations, thus destinations that offer more than just sports facilities prosper. The current constraints of the parking at the Outdoor Sports Center has somewhat limited this exposure of the downtown area to participants at the facility due to the fear of losing their parking space at the OSC. Addressing this constraint will allow for more attendees to experience other areas of the City more frequently throughout the event they are attending at the OSC. REGIONAL FACILITY OFFERINGS Morgan Hill is in a unique position with virtually a blank tourism canvas upon which the tourism product can be painted. The existing tourism efforts have created the building blocks and sustained a viable visitor product with relatively little money. The main aspects that inhibit growth are a definitive strategic plan and a dedicated revenue source to fund efforts and address capital needs.

The positives aspects for the destination are:

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