Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

There's No App for Dat

It's always risky to jump on a cultural bandwagon to make your point. Consider all the lame attempts at marshaling Vegas' "What happens here" campaign for other purposes.

But the Monroe Country TDC has nailed it (as has Verizon) by referencing our insane interest in iPhone apps with a new spot that proudly proclaims, "there's no app" for the experiences one can have in the Florida Keys.

Well played...

Advertising Doesn't Encourage Visitation

At least that's what a ranking State Representative in Connecticut seems to think. And, he should know...because he's "never gone to New York City because of an 'I Love NY' commercial."

Which is why he's defending Connecticut's $1 tourism budget. That's not a typo...the State Tourism Budget is now one dollar.

Isn't it amazing how completely clueless some of the people we elect to public office can be?

We're Still Gonna Travel

Consumer confidence continues to slog through uncharted negative territory...and discretionary spending has consistently remained at 30% off last year's levels all year.

Discretionary spending. That would encompass leisure travel, eh? So, if one believes the numbers, leisure travel should be off 30%.

But, it's not (according to Suzanne Cook at the US Travel Association). Domestic leisure travel posted only a 2.7 percent decline in volume and a 10.3 percent loss in spending year-to-date through Q3 '09. Shorter, closer-to-home and less costly travel options continue to be the norm, and some destinations are benefiting from this shift.

We may be holding back on the bling...but we apparently don't regard leisure travel as discretionary. And that's a good thing for the economy.

Making Something Hard Easy

It's frustrating how so many people don't understand how Destination Marketing and increased visitation power so many facets of an economy...and our collective Quality of Life. But, really...why should they?

That a visitor is lured to town by the DMO and then spends money at hotels, restaurants, nightspots, retail shops and gas stations means little to someone not directly impacted by those purchases. And, their interest stops right there. They don't take the time to understand that jobs rely on that spending. That government relies on the sales tax generated. And that their favorite restaurant or nightspot might not survive without visitor spending.

It's not an easy concept to grasp...which is why what Richard Scharf and his team at Visit Denver have done is such a big deal. They've made the difficult concept...easier, with a YouTube video.

Best of all...they created the video so that other DMOs can easily adapt it to their own use, with Visit Denver's compliments.

Visit Denver...you so rock!

Thanks to Aurora's Naomi Colwell for the catch!

It's How You Say It

For students of persuasion, Kare Anderson's Say it Better blog is a treasure trove of great suggestions for ways to communicate more effectively. A post earlier this month pointed to an often inadvertent slip that can help make our opponent's position resonate.

Bottom line? If they are any good, they have spent a fair amount of time carefully selecting the incendiary words they plan to use. Never repeat them. Reframe them.

A New Public Health Hazard

A new study, just out (as reported on Elliott.org), indicates that over half of us would board a plane, knowing we had H1N1, rather than pay the $150 airline change fee.

Doesn't this qualify any airline charging such a fee as a knowing, willing and intentional Public Health Hazard?

Just a thought...

A Tasty Way to Stimulate the Economy

130 Million people eat out in America every day...which pumps $3 billion into the economy, every day.

That's one I didn't know...and just one in a great video that clearly explains the impact of restaurants on the nation's economy. And the devastating effect when we begin to view eating out as a luxury.

Thanks to my friend Maura Gast of the Irving CVB for the catch.

Making Lemonade

It's no secret that the Meetings Industry has been demonized by those that want the have-nots to hate the haves. But, in the attempt to defame those that have by showcasing their lavish travel lifestyles, good destinations (and thousands of now out-of-work hospitality employees) got spattered by the same brush. Orlando, Las Vegas, Hawaii and others are now hurting more than the rest of the country because of their reputation as a great place to meet.

Tom Caradonio's crew at the Northern Kentucky CVB surely feel their peer destinations' pain. But, in desperate times, you gotta go with a message that resonates.

Thanks to my bud Meilee Anderson of Seattle Southside for the catch.

It Takes a Virgin Mind to Solve Boarding

No...not that kind of virgin. The Richard Branson kind...as in Virgin America.

We've already issued Air Law 5 about the goofs that insist on attempting to carry on luggage as big as small pony. And Air Law 7 about the people who rush to the gate to board, regardless of their section, in order to secure overhead bin space for said pony.

Virgin America's brilliant solution: Board First Class first. Then, people needing assistance (though not with their pony)...then people without carry-on luggage. Leaving the people with ponies to duke it out for space after everyone else has been seated, thus ensuring that the boarding process moves smoothly right up til the end.

And, what an incentive to pay the $20 fee to check luggage! An easier time in boarding. Now, for some, that is a benefit that might just be worth the fee that other airlines have imposed with no additional benefit.

I love Virgin America. But, because the other airlines will never follow suit, Air Laws 5 and 7 still stand.

Did Somebody Get a New Marketing Director?

Is it just me...or is there pink just about everywhere we look this month?

NFL players wearing pink cleats? Delta flight attendants trading out their killer new red uniforms for pink ones...and the airline repainting one of its jets pink? And Hard Rock International sponsoring Pinktober?

Did Breast Cancer Awareness Month get a new Chief Marketing Officer, or what?

'Cause they're everywhere...and that's very cool.

Photo Credit: Jason Getz / Atlanta Journal Constitution