Tourism and Destination Marketing

May 7, 2012
Nation’s Cities Weekly
5
Special Report
Destination Marketing Organizations
Tourism and Destination Marketing: Smart Investments
for Immediate Returns
As municipalities struggle with lagging revenues, budget deficits and ongoing demands to provide citizens vital
services, destination marketing and tourism investment may be perceived as
frivolous. Nothing could be further from
the truth.
As its community’s primary tourism
marketing body, a destination marketing organization (also called a DMO or
sometimes called a convention and visitors bureau), masterminds the marketing of its locale to business and leisure
travelers. Through its focus on tourism
marketing, sales and servicing, and the
resulting dollars brought in by those
efforts, DMOs play a significant role in
the long-term economic development of
its destination.
At the end of the day, DMOs are
investment accounts for communities —
not a cost to communities — and their
efforts deliver real dividends to local
governments, businesses and residents.
Destination marketing efforts don’t
compete with public service programs;
they actually bring new revenue into
local areas to help pay for them.
Think about it this way — every
new traveler that the DMO attracts to
your city spends money in local businesses including hotels, restaurants,
shops and attractions and becomes a
temporary tax payer contributing to
the city tax base.
New visitors pump cash into local
businesses and public coffers, enhance
the lifestyle of residents and importantly
in this economy, create jobs. In fact, the
job creation from the travel and tourism
industry continues to be one of the few
bright spots in U.S. employment figures.
Tourism marketing is one of the
smartest, most efficient and immediate
returns for generating new community
revenues. Both the positive impacts of
marketing and the negative effects of
eliminating marketing are well-documented.
When Colorado cut tourism investment to zero, its share of U.S. travel
plummeted 30 percent within two years,
creating a revenue loss of more than $2
billion annually.
On the flip side, when the Greater
Philadelphia Tourism Marketing
Corporation invested $4 million in its
“With Love” tourism marketing campaign, it generated $432 million in visitor spending , $24 million in new state
tax revenue, $22 million in tax revenue
to local governments and more than
7,000 new jobs. Every $1 spent on
advertising for the With Love campaign
generates $100 in direct visitor spending for Philadelphia — plus $11 in state
and local taxes. (Tourism Economics,
Longwoods International)
The passion that destination marketing professionals bring to their communities and the power of their marketing
and sales efforts are now being realized
as real revenue generators. Community
leaders looking for solutions to generate new spending, revenues and jobs for
their cities are wise to support and even
further invest in marketing their destinations to attract visitors.
Destination marketing
is an investment.
Job Creation
The U.S. Labor Department’s
latest figures show while overall
employment continued to slowly improve in April, the travel
industry added 20,000 new jobs,
bringing the industry’s total direct
employment to 7,584,000. Since
February 2011, travel employment has increased by 150,000.
The St. Lou is ... Growing Local Tourism Workforce
St. Louis’ hospitality industry contributes to an improved quality of life for
the region’s 2.8 million residents — and
it doesn’t cost them a dime.
The St. Louis Convention & Visitors
Commission (CVC), the official destination marketing organization for St. Louis
City and County, is funded by taxes paid
by visitors on hotel rooms. The region
welcomes 21.4 million people annually
for business, leisure travel, meetings and
conventions, and these visitors leave
behind about $4.33 billion — “new”
money that’s pumped into the region’s
economy each year.
Travel and tourism ranks among the
top 10 industries in St. Louis City and
County. It creates jobs for more than
80,000 people and pays industry wages
of $2.51 billion to area residents. It also
generates an additional $801 million to
federal, state and local tax coffers. Each
household in St. Louis City and County
receives $844 a year in tax savings as a
result of the travel and tourism industry.
In addition to working with a number of groups to help improve the quality of the regional workforce, the CVC
offers financial assistance to students
who wish to pursue careers in the hospitality industry. Seniors at all St. Louis
area high schools who are interested in
pursuing careers in hospitality or the
culinary arts can apply for the monetary
scholarship or various internships within
the CVC. The internships help students
learn and improve communications,
problem solving, teamwork, computer
applications, and interpersonal skills.
Each year, Forest Park Community
The St. Louis CVC and partners organize a High School Culinary Competition that challenges
students’ skills in a high-energy “Iron Chef” type of contest.
College, the CVC and Levy Restaurants
(America’s Center convention complex
catering) partner with Clyde C. Miller
Career Academy, North Technical,
Normandy, and South Technical high
schools to showcase their hospitality studies and culinary arts programs.
During National Travel and Tourism
Week, the CVC and partners present
a High School Culinary Competition
that challenges students’ skills in a highenergy “Iron Chef” type of contest.
The competition not only celebrates
National Travel and Tourism Week, but
showcases the region’s next generation
of young chefs and provides them an
opportunity to utilize their new culinary
skills before a panel of judges.
The mission of the CVC, which operates the America’s Center convention
complex, including the Edward Jones
Dome, is to increase visitor demand and
spending to the St. Louis area.
6
Nation’s Cities Weekly
May 7, 2012
Jackson Invites Residents and Visitors to Celebrate Tourism
Jackson, Miss., the City with
Soul, is a fresh family destination with warm people, fabulous
food, affordable lodging and a
wealth of soulful activities.
In honor of National Travel
& Tourism Week, Travel Rally
Day at City Hall on May 8
always draws a crowd from
downtown Jackson to celebrate
the importance of tourism to
the city’s culture and econo-
my. Music, food, newsworthy
announcements and Mayor
Harvey Johnson’s annual proclamation dominate the day
when everybody wears red.
What a great photo op!
Why is a celebration in order?
More than 3 million visitors
enjoy the City with Soul each
year, and their annual estimated economic impact exceeds
$315 million. Local tourism
jobs number well over 20,000,
with a payroll of almost $400
million.
National Travel & Tourism
Week in Jackson offers plenty of
other fun events too, including
National Train Day activities,
concerts, festivals, theatre and
exhibits all around the town.
Perfect spring weather beckons folks to explore unique family attractions such as the brand
new, interactive Mississippi
Children’s Museum, the “Ag”
Museum, where you experience
life in a 1920s rural community, and the exquisite Mississippi
Museum of Art and its Art
Garden, now in full bloom.
Tourism…An Economic Engine for
Lynchburg, Va.
The tourism industry in
Lynchburg, Va., contributes
to an improved quality of life
for the residents, and since the
city’s official destination marketing organization, discoverLynchburg, is funded with taxes
paid by visitors on hotel rooms,
it doesn’t cost them a penny.
Lynchburg welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors
annually for leisure travel,
business, meetings, sporting
events and more. Those visitors spent $143 million last
year in local city businesses …
that’s new money pumped into
Lynchburg’s economy each
year.
That spending generated
$5.8 million in local taxes and a
significant portion of the $11.3
million in meals tax...revenue
for the city that is, again, paid
by visitors.
Additionally,
tourism
employs more than 1,500 people in Lynchburg, with a payroll
of over $28 million. If consid-
ered a business, tourism would
be Lynchburg’s fifth-largest
employer.
Seven years ago Lynchburg
took a close look at its tourism
program, and a Tourism Task
Force unanimously agreed that
Lynchburg should commit to
significant increases in funding
in order to successfully compete
with other destinations. The
City Council responded with
a five-year contract. Over the
first 4 years the contract took
the program from $603,000 to
$670,000, to $780,000, to $1.0
million, and to $1.2 million in
2012. In its final year, the contract ensures designated funding
for the future of Lynchburg’s
tourism program by converting
to a straight 73% of total annual
lodging taxes paid by visitors.
That wisdom is paying off in
spades. Visitor spending is up
$7 million over last year. Group
sales were up 77 percent in
2010, and another 25 percent
in 2011. Attraction visitation,
visitor inquiries, website hits,
brochure distribution, earned
media, and on and on — it is
all up, up, up — and it is in
direct correlation with increased
funding allowing for increased
marketing.
Along with Lynchburg’s successful numbers, has come state
and national recognition for
creativity and use of technology in marketing. The 2012
campaign features hometown,
Lynchburg residents with QR
code surprises, such as a local
chef offers a recipe, a professional fisherman tells of fishing
the James River, the instructor at Snowflex, the nation’s
only year-round, outdoor snow
sports slope, offers a video of
hot dog snowboarding.
“This campaign is designed
to forge an emotional connection between potential visitors
and Lynchburg before they
even make the decision to come
here,” said Beckie Nix, director
of discoverLynchburg.
discoverLynchburg’s 2012 campaign features hometown, Lynchburg residents with QR code surprises, such as a local chef
sharing a recipe.
There are well over 20 other fascinating attractions to explore,
so visitors need to stay a while
to see it all!
Located at the convergence
of Interstates 55 and 20 and the
scenic Natchez Trace Parkway,
Jackson is in the middle of green
and lovely Mississippi and right
where amazing new adventures
abound in the City with Soul!
May 7, 2012
Nation’s Cities Weekly
7
Meetings Mean Business
Face to face meetings have
gotten a bad rap recently, but
the fact is that responsible meetings mean business for both
companies and communities.
For Companies
Successful businesses utilize
meetings to educate, collaborate,
innovate, and secure business.
Travel and sales are inextricably linked: Business travelers estimate that 50% of prospects become customers when
an in-person meeting takes
place. Additionally, trade shows
and exhibitions represent an
important source of sales for
participating companies. U.S.
businesses estimate these events
generate an average of 20% of
their company’s annual revenue
(that can often make the difference between a successful or
failing company).
Spurs innovation: Even
digital giants like Facebook and
Google hold face-to-face meetings to launch new products.
Over two thirds of executive
travelers (70%) believe that
business travel is “extremely” or
“very” important to innovation
and to “added productivity/
efficiency.”
Cutting back travel is risky
business: Furthermore, cutting
back on business travel is seen
as a significant business risk.
Nearly 40% of respondents
estimate that between 25% and
49% of their current customers
would switch to a competitor
without in-person meetings.
All in all, business travel
improves corporate productivity, yielding a return on
investment of 10:1. These
details are from the World
Travel & Tourism Council’s
2011 report, “Business Travel:
A Catalyst for Economic
Performance,” conducted by
Oxford Economics.
For Communities
Throughout the nation, business travel and meetings generate
spending and create local jobs.
Annually, 1.8 million meetings
directly support 1.7 million U.S.
jobs — more than the US auto
industry. Additionally, these
meetings generate $263 billion
in direct spending, $14.3 billion in federal tax revenue and
$11.3 billion in state and local
tax revenue.
“Investing in your official
destination marketing organiza-
tion (DMO) to attract meetings to your destination can
provide great returns for your
community,” said Michael D.
Gehrisch, President & CEO
of Destination Marketing
Association
International
(DMAI).
Calculating ROI On Events
DMOs can utilize DMAI’s
new Event Impact Calculator
to better articulate and understand the substantial economic
impacts events have on their
communities.
“Return on investment metrics are crucial to understanding the value of attracting and
hosting particular events,” commented Gehrisch. DMAI’s calculator outputs direct and indirect spending, jobs supported,
wages earned, and state and
local tax impacts. This comprehensive, flexible and localized
data provides DMOs and their
community stakeholders real
insight into the significance of
a meeting’s fiscal impact.
Details:
destinationmarketing.org
Michael Gehrisch, DMAI: “Meetings mean spending … the economic benefits
of events and meetings ripple through local communities.”
Event Impact Example:
DMAI Annual Convention, New Orleans (2011)
Overnight Attendees
1,000
Event Timeframe
2.5 days
Direct Spending Impact
$1,396,300
Attendee Spending (lodging, transportation, food, retail, recreation)
$732,217
Meeting Organizer Spending
$485,523
Exhibitor Spending
$178,560
Jobs Supported
763 jobs
Local Taxes Generated
$132,403
Inspiring Small Town Tourism Campaign Is Back!
Voting Ends May 15
Last year, Rand McNally and USA TODAY joined
forces to find the Best Small Towns in America, and
America responded overwhelmingly. More than 700
towns participated; a three-week, cross-country road
rally took off; and more than 500 MILLION media
impressions were generated! Newspapers, radio stations and TV stations across the country covered the
events, inspiring and capturing the hearts of millions
of Americans. In the end, five towns were crowned
best in class, and they are still enjoying all the exposure
and publicity.
For 2012, small towns (population of less than
150,000) once again literally have a chance to get on
Seattle with the crowning of the winners at the annual
Destination Marketing Association International convention in mid-July.
Here’s how to ensure your town is a stop:
the map!
In June, five teams of amateur travelers will depart
from Washington, D.C. to Seattle in the ultimate
road trip of a lifetime. The teams will canvas 30
finalist towns to name 2012’s Most Beautiful, Most
Patriotic, Friendliest, Most Fun, and Best for Food.
The Washington-to-Washington rally will culminate in
1. Review your town on bestoftheroad.com.
2. Encourage everyone to vote to get their favorite
towns on the map.
3. Vote for your favorite points of interest, too.
Details:
bestoftheroad.com
Resources for City Tourism Organizations
Destination Marketing Association
International (DMAI), the trade association for official destination marketing
organizations (DMOs), has several tools
listed below to help DMOs and their
communities develop and market their
city as tourism destinations.
A report called The Future of
Destination Marketing provides a
framework to help a DMO plan for the
future of its destination and identifies
super trends currently shaping the destination marketing environment.
DMAI’s Recommended Standard
DMO Performance Reporting: A
Handbook for DMOs provides recognized benchmarks to monitor and report
on internal operations. Available at no
cost, the handbook includes standards,
definitions, productivity metrics and ROI
formulas.
How the Visitor Industry Contributes
to the Local Economy: An Analysis of
Phoenix Hotels’ Property and VisitorRelated Taxes, a case study of how
hotel tax contributions in Phoenix infuse
the local economy with US$166 million
annually. Free.
The DMO Advocacy Toolkit provides
useful tips for building relationships with
and communicating to local stakeholders
about the impact of destination marketing. Free to members.
The DMAI & American for the Arts
Toolkit fosters working relationships
between official DMOs and community
cultural and heritage organizations, museums, festivals, historic sites, etc. Free.
Details:
destinationmarketing.org
8
Nation’s Cities Weekly
May 7, 2012
DMO Accreditation Marks Excellence for Destination Marketing
Since 2007, the Destination
Marketing
Accreditation
Program (DMAP) has accredited 138 official destination marketing organizations
(DMOs) that show a commitment to industry excellence
by adhering to industry best
practices.
cess to ensure that public monies are being spent properly
and industry best practices are
in place.”
The accreditation application, which can take about
80 hours to complete, requires
DMOs to provide evidence of
compliance with 58 mandato-
“The DMAP process is a
comprehensive review of a
DMOs business procedures
and accountability,” remarked
Michael D. Gehrisch, president and CEO of DMAI. “All
city managers should strongly
encourage their DMO to go
through the accreditation pro-
ry standards and 30 voluntary
standards including topics such
as finance, technology, sales,
brand management, destination development, research,
and stakeholder relationships.
Details
destinationmarketing.org
Accredited DMOs
Albany County (NY) CVB
Visit Charlotte
Albuquerque CVB
Chicago Southland CVB
Anaheim/Orange
County VCB
Positively Cleveland
Asheville CVB
Cobb (GA) Travel &
Tourism
Atlanta CVB
Columbus (GA) CVB
Atlantic City CVA
Corvallis (OR) Tourism
Augusta CVB
Daejeon (DIME), Korea
Austin CVB
Daytona Beach Area
CVB
Visit Baltimore
Experience Grand Rapids
(MI)
Hilton Head IslandBluffton Chamber
Visit Fairfax (VA)
Visit Hot Springs (AR)
Fargo-Moorhead CVB
Indianapolis CVA
Fayetteville (NC) Area
CVB
Kansas City(MO) CVA
VISIT FLORIDA
Frisco (TX) CVB
Visit Denver
Bloomington/Monroe
County (IN) CVB
Greater Des Moines CVB
Destination DC
Boise CVB
Bowling Green Area CVB
Door County (WI) Visitor
Bureau
Bradenton Area (FL)
CVB
Dublin (OH) CVB
Durham CVB
Butler County (OH)
Visitors Bureau
Elkhart County (IN) CVB
Experience Colorado
Springs
Hershey/Harrisburg
Regional CVB
Fort Worth CVB
Visit Baton Rouge
Chapel Hill/Orange
County Visitors
Bureau
Experience Columbus
(OH)
Greater Green Bay CVB
Greater Greenville CVB
Gulf Shores-Orange
Beach Tourism
Hamilton County (IN)
CVB
Hampton (VA) CVB
Harrison County (IN)
CVB
Greater Hartford (CT)
CVB
Knoxville Tourism &
Sports Commission
Los Angeles Tourism &
Convention Board
Las Cruces CVB
Myrtle Beach Area CVB
Las Vegas CVA
Naples, Marco Island,
Everglades (FL) CVB
Lee County VCB
New Orleans
Metropolitan CVB
Lexington CVB
Lisle (IL) CVB
Poland Convention
Bureau
Team San Jose
Visit Topeka, Inc.
(Porter County) Indiana
Dunes Tourism
Santa Monica CVB
Metropolitan Tucson CVB
Sarasota CVB
Valley Forge (PA) CVB,
Ltd.
Travel Portland
Providence Warwick CVB
Visit Loudoun (VA)
Visit Newport Beach
(CA)
Louisville CVB
VisitNorfolk
Visit Lubbock, the CVB
Visit Orlando (Orlando/
Orange County)
Quad Cities CVB
Lynchburg Regional CVB
Reno-Sparks CVA
Puerto Rico Convention
Bureau
Greater Raleigh CVB
Greater Madison CVB
Paducah (KY) CVB
Lafayette CVC
McAllen (TX) CVB
Palm Beach County CVB
Lake Charles/Southwest
Louisiana CVB
Meadowlands Liberty
CVB
Park City Chamber
& CVB
Lake County, IL CVB
Meeting in Brugge —
Congresbureau
Pennsylvania Dutch CVB
Richmond Metropolitan
CVB
Peoria Area (IL) CVB
VisitRochester
Memphis CVB
Lake Havasu City CVB
Philadelphia CVB
Greater Miami CVB
Lake Placid/Essex
County CVB
Greater Phoenix CVB
Rock Hill/York County
(SC) CVB
VISIT Milwaukee
VisitPittsburgh
Rockford Area (IL) CVB
Greater Lansing CVB
Mobile Bay CVB
Tourism Montreal,
Canada
Pocono Mountains
Visitors Bureau
San Diego CVB
Lake Erie Shores &
Islands
LaPorte County(IN) CVB
Tourism Richmond,
Canada
San Antonio CVB
Tourism Saskatoon,
Canada
Shreveport-Bossier CTB
Sonoma County Tourism
Bureau
South Shore (IN) CVA
Visit South Walton (FL)
Spokane Regional CVB
Tourism Vancouver
Island, Canada
Vancouver Coast &
Mountains Tourism,
Canada
Tourism Victoria, Canada
Virginia Beach CVB
Springfield, MO CVB
Warren County (OH)
CVB
St. Augustine, Ponte
Vedra & The
Beaches (FL) VCB
Washington County
(OR) Visitors Assn.
Visit St. Petersburg/
Clearwater Area CVB
Tourism Surrey, Canada
Go Wichita
Tourism Winnipeg,
Canada
Syracuse CVB
Woodfield Chicago
Northwest CVB
Tacoma Regional CVB
York County (PA) CVB
Thompson Okanagan
Tourism, Canada
USA Looks to Attract International Travelers
Between 2000 and 2010, as
global travel grew at unprecedented rates, the U.S. saw
virtually zero growth in overseas travel. However, the travel
industry and U.S. federal agencies are working to make the
United States a top destination
for international travelers once
again.
As America’s number one
service export, travel is critical to
economies all across the nation,
and attracting international
travelers is a key component of
how the travel sector can drive
job creation and spur economic
growth.
On average, an overseas visitor to the United States spends
$4,000 per trip and 35 incremental overseas visitors support
one new U.S. job.
Brand USA launches first
global marketing campaign
Brand USA, the new tourism
marketing entity promoting the
United States to world visitors,
launched the USA’s first-ever
comprehensive marketing campaign in the United Kingdom,
Japan and Canada on May 1.
With a budget of $12.3 million for the first three months, a
second wave will follow in Brazil
and South Korea, with several
other markets to follow.
“Our goal is nothing short
of rekindling the world’s love
affair with the USA — the place,
the spirit and the dream,” said
Brand USA CEO Jim Evans.
“We want to spread America’s
message of welcome around
the world and invite travelers
First global USA marketing campaign features original song by Rosanne Cash.
This report is sponsored by the Destination & Travel Foundation and the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), two
organizations that advocate for the professionalism, effectiveness, and significance of official destination marketing organizations
(DMOs), representing over 3500 professionals and 600 DMOs in over 20 countries.
to experience the limitless possibilities the United States has
to offer.”
Rosanne Cash, daughter
of music legend Johnny Cash
and Grammy award-winning
singer/songwriter, composed
an original song, “Land of
Dreams,” to serve as the heart
of the campaign (free download:
DiscoverAmerica.com).
President calls for a National
Travel & Tourism Strategy
Responding to President
Obama’s executive order for
National Travel and Tourism
Strategy, federal agencies are also
making it easier for people to
visit the thousands of premier
tourist destinations across the
United States.
The Department of State is
meeting the growing demand
2025 M Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036
www.destinationmarketing.org
for tourist visas in places like
Brazil and China by increasing
staff and expanding hours, and
the Department of Homeland
Security is expanding programs
like Global Entry, which expedites clearance for preapproved,
low-risk travelers through
dedicated lanes and kiosks.
Promoting America’s iconic destinations (i.e. national parks, cultural monuments, etc.) to international visitors is also a focus.
The National Travel &
Tourism Strategy has been
delivered to the White House
and will be reviewed by the
President. If the White House
agrees with the strategy, the
U.S. Travel & Tourism Policy
Council will meet in late May/
early June to begin the implementation phase.