Embrace the ones who love you -

Build it, and they will come! Skies the limit! Growing Budgets, glowing prospects, good times for all; now, the Hospitality landscape for DMO’s and Hotel CMO’s has changed dramatically. 

Let’s consider some realities:

• Economically, on a global basis, we are in a downturn which will last through 2009 and well into 2010, at minimum.
• Fewer people will travel, disposable income has declined, and price point and service reputation will be the differentiator for Destination choice (both area and hotel)
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Get out the positive news

There is always something positive to say and write about even in what seems like the darkest hours. New tourism appointments, new flight service, new attractions, increased cruise ship arrivals, festivals, events, hotel packages and hotel developments make for positive news that helps balance the negatives.

The question always arises about how to deal with U.S. State Department travel warnings? Keep in contact with senior U.S. government officials in your destination and definitely put them on your mailing list to receive your news releases.

According to a 1998 Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) survey, 53 percent of U.S. adult travelers plan activities after they arrive at their destinations. The most popular activities planned after arrival are dining out (67 percent), going shopping (45 percent) and visiting a museum (26 percent).

How can you reach these spontaneous planners and ensure that when they do decide on a museum to visit, it's yours? The usual answers that spring to mind, of course, are advertising in local visitor guides and displaying brochures in racks at tourist information centers, hotels, restaurants and attractions. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. Whatever your budget, there are other effective strategies you can use as well.

Whether your institution is large or small, located in the city or the country, building good relationships with hotel and corporate concierges can result in increased ticket sales, more facility rentals, and perhaps even additional members, donors and volunteers.

Many of us think of a concierge as the staff magician at 5-star hotel in a glamorous locale -- the go-to person who holds the key to hard-to-get theatre tickets and impossible-to-book restaurant reservations. But concierges are a lot more prevalent and multi-faceted than most of us realize.

According to a survey conducted for the American Hotel & Lodging Association, more than 60 percent of U.S. luxury hotels and nearly 30 percent of full-service hotels offer concierge services. And in the past 10 years concierges have also become a staple at many office towers and residential complexes, arranging for everything from event tickets and weekend getaways to corporate meetings and children's birthday parties.

For history museums located in communities off tourism's beaten path, attracting group tours can often be a challenge. During my 20 years of operating heritage cultural tours, there were a number of museums and historic houses I would have loved to include on tour itineraries, but couldn't.

The reasons? They either weren't large enough or well known enough to be marketable as day trip destinations on their own, or I couldn't find complementary services such as local sightseeing to make them so. And trying to get around that by including them as stops on overnight tours headed to other destinations usually didn't work either. The museum visit itself wouldn't take up enough of a morning or an afternoon not to leave timing gaps I couldn't fill.

TripAdvisor announced the top 10 literary destinations in the world, according to TripAdvisor editors. These locations have either been the home or inspiration to many of the greatest writers in Western civilization, and feature remarkable attractions as tributes to those authors, for travellers to enjoy today.

1. Great Expectations: London, England
London was the birthplace or home of many of the greatest authors of all time, including Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, John Keats and H.G. Wells, to name a few. Visitors can stop by the home of Dickens, see the house where Benjamin Johnson wrote the first comprehensive English dictionary, or go on one of many guided walks that let you follow in Sherlock Holmes’ footsteps. One TripAdvisor traveller calls London, “The home of the literature we have spent so much time learning and loving.”

TripAdvisor announced the results of its annual travel trends survey of more than 3,000 U.S. travelers. The primary trends identified are that travelers appear to be going lean and green by visiting national parks, hiking, and engaging in adventure activities. A greater amount of Americans said they will be environmentally conscious in their travel decisions in 2009, and more plan to visit eco-friendly hotels in the coming year. TripAdvisor also unveiled its TravelCast list of emerging hotspots for 2009, and atop the list is Budoni, in Sardinia, Italy. The top emerging hotspot in the U.S. is St. George, Utah.

73% of U.S. respondents said they plan to visit a national park in 2009, up from 62% one year ago. 53% will go hiking in the coming year, up from 50% last year. 47% of those surveyed plan to engage in an adventure activity, an increase from 40% in 2008. 33% of travelers will go cycling and biking, up from 28%, and 11% of travelers are likely to participate in an extreme sports activity, compared to eight percent one year ago. 34% of U.S. respondents said they will visit an environmentally-friendly hotel or resort in the coming year, up from 30% in 2008. 32% of those surveyed said they will be more environmentally conscious in their travel decisions this year, than they were the year before. Last year, 26% said they would be more environmentally conscious.

Many in the Hospitality Association world twinge when confronted with that simple question, "What have you done for me lately?"  Some can confidently start ticking off the benefits, others ask for more information and some head for the hills.  What a loaded question, for it is wrapped around relevance, value and action.  These are not easy times.

Hospitality trade organizations, such as Lodging and Restaurant Associations, and other groups, such as Chambers of Commerce, Travel and CVB's, should be very much a partner in that journey to Remarkable Hospitality and the memorable Visitor/Guest Experience, for in most cases they present the very public face of our businesses to the marketplace. They help promote our destination, our industry segment and our business. But, what disconnects we discern. Where is the synergy?  Oregon Tourism has an answer.

By John R Hendrie, Principal Hospitality Performance

Slap some ideas on the wall, vote for those which slide the slowest, invest tightly budgeted dollars for ephemeral marketing, get the slogans and promises out to the public, and await the results.  They will come, you assure your Stakeholders.  Perhaps they will, loaded with expectations you have created.

Now, comes the dicey part - delivery!  Will the infrastructure hold up?  Will your Hospitality Partners perform?  Will your Visitors and Guests be greeted and treated to the highest level of care and attention?  Or, will the reviews of your Destination result in a declining and devalued reputation?

Creating advertising and marketing that works
Exceptional Customer Service

The key questions that affect every professional in the adventure travel industry:

    What are the most effective marketing and advertising tools? What can you do to get prospects to "show you the money"?

This special report will show you how to dramatically enhance your unique advertising messages and let your clients do your selling for you. By implementing the methods outlined below you will increase your sales while lowering your overall marketing costs. Read on and prosper.