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Tourism Best Practices

  • 1 min read

Some tourism professionals at Convention and Visitors Bureaus – CVBs (or Destination Marketing Organizations – DMOs) are doing some innovative programs to increase visitation in their destinations. We call them Tourism Best Practices. Minden, LA, tourism is booming and it started with destination development A film tour, a self-guided tour featuring signage that points out homes and locations used in the production of major motion pictures filmed in the area, leads the new tourism product offered to visitors to Minden, LA. Casper, WY, CVB uses research to launch a niche campaign The effective use of research can help a destination realize… 

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Do No Boost Facebook Posts and 11 other Social Media Tips

  • 2 min read

We are always looking to improve our social media marketing. Here’s three great reads and a dozen tips to do just that. The first spawned from a discussion I had with a client. The discussion was whether or not to boost posts on Facebook… Good Advertisers Do Not Boost Posts I think boosting posts (on Facebook) is stupid. Here’s why: it’s a cheap way to get people to advertise without going into the ads manager and having them do all the “complicated” targeting. It’s basically taking advantage of those people who don’t fully know what they are doing. 6 Questions… 

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Takeaways from the Oklahoma Conference on Tourism

  • 3 min read

Another VERY informative Conference on Tourism put on by the Oklahoma Travel Industry Association. I heard many co-conference attendees exclaim, “Information Overload!” Great appreciation to Debra Bailey and the Board for putting together such a great day of education. So what were the key takeaways? Mobile, Content and Customer Service. Let’s break them down… Mobile – The data shared by Santiago Jaramillo should not be surprising: There are more smart phones purchased each year than babies born. 60% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. 2 of 3 consumers are less likely to engage further with a brand if they have a poor experience with… 

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Tourism Industry Undervalued – Needs Repect

  • 3 min read

At a recent town hall meeting, Oklahoma Lt. Governor Todd Lamb made a pretty good case that the tourism industry is one of, if not the most undervalued industry. “Few grasp the tourism industry’s impact on Oklahoma. They don’t realize U.S. travelers spend $7.2 billion in Oklahoma in 2012 or tourism generated $385.3 million in state taxes – the third largest revenue stream in state government – and $188.5 million in local taxes that year.” Beyond the numbers are all of the issues destination marketing professionals have to deal with. I recently spoke to a Chamber Leadership Class about issues related to tourism. After I shared… 

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The Fifth P of Destination Marketing

  • 3 min read

A colleague at a recent tourism function was sharing how her DMO was getting in a “turf war” between the City and the Chamber – both trying to take over the management of the organization. She concluded by sharing ‘I’m staying out of it. I’m not in politics.’ A few of the glancing looks from others at the table communicated that we were thinking the same thing, “Oh yes you are like it or not!”  (And you’d better engage now or you may find yourself in a place you aren’t going to like!) I thought going from a DMO to an attraction I would find… 

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How To Create An Exceptional Experience

  • 5 min read

While it appears as if the need for customer service is going away, eventually the consumer has to have human interaction. We in destination marketing know a traveler can make a hotel reservation and book a flight online. They can get tickets to a show or attraction online. They can check luggage with minimal personal interaction and the flights offer minimal personal interaction. Eventually though they get in a taxi, get to the front desk of a hotel or are greeted by the wait staff at a restaurant. There is where the visitor must encounter exceptional customer service. Pete Winemiller… 

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