Official: Tourism rebranding to be finished by year end

Efforts to rebrand Tucumcari’s tourism efforts should be finished by the end of the year.

Robyne Beaubien, who runs New Mexico MainStreet’s promotion and image department, told the Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board via videoconference Thursday her office was developing the city’s new tourism logo and style guide that includes font, colors and appearance.

The rebranding effort began in earnest after assessing results from a Tucumcari MainStreet online survey of residents.

New Mexico MainStreet also will redesign the city’s visitors guide and the VisitTucumcariNM.com website for free.

The state’s MainStreet organization also will design a not-yet-chosen item at at later date, also at no charge.

Beaubien said such services are worth “tens of thousands of dollars.”

Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, said nostalgia and Route 66 were mentioned frequently from the 60 to 80 people who participated in the survey.

“There was a lot of ‘Tucumcari is home’ and ‘We’re proud of our town, the history of the town,’” she said.

Beaubien said during the meeting a storyboard of initial designs likely would be unveiled in November.

“At this point in the process we have just engaged the (New Mexico MainStreet) graphic designer who will begin working with the branding team,” she said in an email. “Our goal in the branding process is not to come up with what we think will work, but to use the input from the community, and work with locals to evolve a unique, meaningful, and authentic brand for Tucumcari.”

Loveland said some residents became confused about the branding process.

“There were some negative comments about potholes and other things that didn’t pertain to the questionnaire,” Loveland said.

Beaubein said she hoped the rebranding would address some of that negativity.

“Many of the responses around challenges showed that some people are struggling to see the positive in their community,” she said in an email. “One of the things we want to focus on is overcoming negative perceptions and engaging people to see the good in Tucumcari. We will work with the branding team to create a marketing plan that will reach out to not only tourists, but residents as well.”