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Tourism Best Practices – Events, Events, Events

  • 2 min read

Tourism professionals at Convention and Visitors Bureaus – CVBs (or Destination Marketing Organizations – DMOs) are implementing some innovative programs to increase visitation in their destinations. We call them Tourism Best Practices. This week is chalked full of examples of successful events managed by CVBs to drive tourism. Swimmers Getting Ready for Open Water Event The South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau and Open Water Planet, an open water event production company, have teamed up to host the first South Padre Island Open Water Festival. Chalk It Up: Downtown Janesville Event to Feature National Artist Art Infusion is the… 

Tourism Best Practices – Newsjacking, Videos, Photo Contests, & Event Marketing

  • 2 min read

Tourism professionals at Convention and Visitors Bureaus – CVBs (or Destination Marketing Organizations – DMOs) are implementing some innovative programs to increase visitation in their destinations. We call them Tourism Best Practices. Kentucky Dept. of Travel & Tourism Creates Webpage For Eclipse Tourism In anticipation of the Great American Eclipse, Kentucky is out front with a website promoting the Bluegrass State. Well done! Manitowoc Visitor Bureau Seeks Photo Submissions An ‘oldie but goodie’ another DMO with a photo contest to generate more images for their library. Citywide Yard Sale in Murray set for Sept. 17 Some contend CVBs shouldn’t be… 

Tourism Best Practices week of August 22

  • 2 min read

Tourism professionals at Convention and Visitors Bureaus – CVBs (or Destination Marketing Organizations – DMOs) are implementing some innovative programs to increase visitation in their destinations. We call them Tourism Best Practices. New Tourism App has IBM’s Watson Guide You Around Orlando The Visit Orlando app is designed to help visitors figure out what they want to do while in the city. Users can ask the app virtually any question within reason and receive helpful travel and booking tips in reply. Speaking of apps… Events Apps Take Cues from Tinder and Match.com to Engage Attendees New event apps use matchmaking algorithms… 

Tourism Best Practices – Destination Development, Grants and Partnerships

  • 2 min read

Tourism professionals at Convention and Visitors Bureaus – CVBs (or Destination Marketing Organizations – DMOs) are implementing some innovative programs to increase visitation in their destinations. We call them Tourism Best Practices.   It starts with destination development – building the infrastructure, facilities and/or attractions. Oklahoma City has been doing that for years and they are reaping the benefits: Oklahoma River’s Success Has Oklahoma City Bubbling with Enthusiasm, Pride In Rockford Illinois, the CVB has developed an event to attract customers to local businesses: Rockford Day Kicks Off to Entice People to Businesses I’ve long been a fan of marketing grants from… 

Tourism Best Practices – CVBs Maximize Pokemon

  • 2 min read

For years, CVBs have been developing and promoting “be a tourist in your own city” encouraging families to venture out and discover local attractions they haven’t visited or re-visit a destination they haven’t been too in years. Leave it to a video game to truly drive families to be a tourist in their own city. PokemonGo is sending droves of game players to new parts of their community or attractions they haven’t visited in a while. How are CVBs maximizing Pokemon fever? CVBs Publish PokemonGo Guides to Draw Visitors While Pokémon Go continues to gain popularity, the game also presents… 

Tourism Best Practices – Republican National Convention Style

  • 2 min read

All eyes this week on Cleveland as the Forest City hosts the Republican National Convention. Tourism professionals in Convention and Visitors Bureaus – CVBs (or Destination Marketing Organizations – DMOs) in Cleveland around northern Ohio are implementing some innovative programs to increase visitation in their destinations. We call them Tourism Best Practices. Destination Cleveland Launches #AskCLE to Answer Visitor Questions During RNC (and Beyond) The visitors bureau opened a social-media headquarters and launched a new hashtag — #AskCLE – designed to aid Republican National Conventionguests as they navigate the city. Visitors can pose questions using a variety of social-media outlets, including Twitter,… 

Tourism Best Practices – Week of July 11

  • 3 min read

Tourism professionals at Convention and Visitors Bureaus – CVBs (or Destination Marketing Organizations – DMOs) are implementing some innovative programs to increase visitation in their destinations. We call them Tourism Best Practices. Start this week with talk of visitor centers… Shenandoah CVB Grand Reopening Unveils Modernized Center Originally a part of the Montgomery County CVB, the Shenandoah CVB was housed in City Hall until relocating in 2010. The city has since remodeled the facility and adopted state-of-the-art, interactive technology to help visitors plan their stay. (Video) Bryan College Station Goes Mobile with Visitors Center The Bryan College Station Convention and… 

Tourism Best Practices – Week of July 4

  • 2 min read

Tourism professionals at Convention and Visitors Bureaus – CVBs (or Destination Marketing Organizations – DMOs) are implementing some innovative programs to increase visitation in their destinations. We call them Tourism Best Practices. Bill Geist pointed out St. Paul’s marketing genius last week. I believe it’s so brilliant, I’m sharing it as well. Plus there’s this full story on St. Paul’s campaign here: St. Paul Sings ‘Hello’ to Minneapolis in Adele Parody Video So much for conventional CVB wisdom huh!? What Travel & Tourism Marketers Can Learn from Discover LA At a tourism conference in Melbourne, Don Skeoch, CMO of Discover Los Angeles,… 

Tourism Best Practices – Visitor Centers and Power of a Lapel Pin

  • 2 min read

Tourism professionals at Convention and Visitors Bureaus – CVBs (or Destination Marketing Organizations – DMOs) are implementing some innovative programs to increase visitation in their destinations. We call them Tourism Best Practices. After reading this first story, every tourism professional will be giving away their lapel pins… Mayor Gives Own Lapel Pin to Random Cruise Ship Visitor, Gets Long Letter A mayor’s passing personal gift to a random visitor resulted in effusive thanks and the promise of a return visit. Read the positive story and watch the video – What a Cruise Ship Means to Muskegon A couple CVBs getting new…