Study: Springfield visitors like to shop, use Web

The CVB recently completed its 2006 Conversion Study, Performance Analysis & Profile, an annual collection of visitor demographics.

An estimated 60,585 people requested information about Springfield last year. The conversion rate – the ratio of prospective visitors who requested information about Springfield to those who actually visited – grew 2.3 percentage points from 2005 to 52.6 percent, according to the study.

Many of the prospective visitor inquiries came via the CVB’s Web site, as site visitor sessions increased 71 percent. Officials attribute that growth partly to the bureau’s 2006 “We’ll Buy Your Gas” campaign, which encouraged people to obtain information on the site.

The average visitor to Springfield spent $641 and had a household income of $62,400. Visitors’ favorite activity was shopping – with 83 percent hitting the city’s shops – and, in line with that, Bass Pro Shops was the most visited attraction, with 71 percent of visitors stopping there.

Most visitors – 45 percent – came between June and August. Other popular months to visit were April and May. About 74 percent said they are very likely to return to Springfield, 18 percent are likely, 3 percent said they’re neither likely nor unlikely to return, 2 percent said they’re unlikely to return and 3 percent are very unlikely to return.

The CVB invested $305,795 on advertising in 2006, and the study shows $66.83 was generated per dollar spent on advertising.