Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Tourism: It's a Dangerous Job...but Somebody's got to do it

Word out of Pakistan has that country's tourism minister fearing for her life after clerics at a radical mosque issued a fatwah, accusing her of sinning by hugging her French parachute jumping instructor.

Minister of Tourism Nilofar Bakhtiar told a parliamentary committee of her fear recently following the Taliban-style edict against her by Islamic clerics at Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in Islamabad, according to the Associated Press.

The clerics called the hug “an illegitimate and forbidden act” and “without any doubt, she has committed a great sin.”

And you thought running for Mayor or launching a campaign like "Your Search for the Perfect Orgasm is Over" were dangerous for Destination Marketers...

Who's Coaching the Coaches?

A departure from our regular topics, to be sure...but I had the chance to ride in from the Casper WY airport with a fellow presenter at the Wyoming Governor's Hospitality and Tourism Conference a few weeks ago. You know what it's like when you meet somebody and their aura just says, "listen to this person?" That's what I felt when I met Rod Olson...known to many as "Coach O."

Rod has coached from youth to the collegiate level, where he has logged over two decades at schools like Oklahoma State, Appalachia State and the University of Tennessse at Martin (he must have started coaching at 15).

Anyway...today, he has founded Coaches of Excellence in an attempt to coach the coaches that have such an impact on our youth. I'm so impressed...and so will you be when you check out the video on his site.

And, if you have a daughter or son in youth sports...I'd look for a way to bring Rod in to your community, school or University. This is a guy who is passionate about the individual...not the score.

And that is just too rare today.

Rod...it was such a pleasure meeting you. And I wish you all the success in the world. You are truly on the cutting edge of where this sports-crazy society needs to be.

What a Short Strange Trip it's Been

As the available memory on my aging laptop starts to evaporate, I took a few hours the other night to free up space. The stuff you find when you go on a cleaning rampage...

I found a saved news story from 1998 that I'm sure I thought might be important some day. It was a story that Priceline.com, "the Internet buying service that tries to book flights for travelers at prices they propose, is planning to do the same thing with hotels.

"According to Jay Walker, vice chairman of the company, rooms will be offered by late October at more than 1,000 hotels in 26 cities nationwide..."

Just nine years ago this was a breakthrough idea. And, it was launched three years after the generally accepted "consumer-centric" birth of the web. It took Priceline.com three years to figure out that they could offer airfare on the cheap...and six months later, they were back offering hotels.

As Web 2.0 is here (and, in some quarters, beginning to gray), what will the breakthrough products look like three years from now?

It's both exciting...and (for Destination Marketers) scary.

Last Night's Debate in SC

What a refreshing change to the typical debate.

But only two candidates showed they could work off their handlers' script: Dennis Kucinich and that wild guy from Alaska, Mike Gravel.

Dennis' clarity reminds me of Ross Perot (is it the ears?) and Gravel reminds me of Bulworth.

So, who of the remaining group will differentiate themselves next (since the American Media will immediately disqualify the independents...on our grateful behalf)?

Today's Destination "Branding" Isn't

Don't believe me on the sorry state of destination "branding?" Check out 5 Blogs Before Lunch's highlighting of a recent Forbes column by Jack Trout.

Destination Branding. It has officially jumped the shark.

Tough but Fruity

El Paso is about to roll out it's new "brand."

After spending $285,000 in R&D, the verdict was that most people don't know what El Paso is all about (hmmm, that's true for most towns). So, the response will be the tagline "You Have No Idea."

The logo will include a nopal cactus. In a recent article in the El Paso Times, the designer explained that the cactus image presents "lot of nice metaphors -- it's very tough, but also beautiful and produces nice fruit."

Of course, for those of us that aren't familiar with fruity cactus, we just think "desert."

Thanks to Ed Morrison at EDPro for the catch.

Who's Really Generating the Content?

An interest discussion has erupted in the Travel 2.0 Forum in the Travel Industry's Online Business Networking site Who Is Who in Hospitality (WIWIH).

It started with a recent study by Hitwise that indicates that only 0.2% of visits to YouTube or Flickr are user generated posts. PhoCusWright's Cathy Schetzina posted that her firm is currently researching whether these trends are mirrored in the travel sphere. The Epicurus Group's Robert Angelone said the numbers were hardly surprising, as "the public uses the Internet to find information, not to share it. The average web user doesn't have any interest in participating. They want information delivered to them."

Interesting thought. So why are many of us focused on attempting to manage our online image when so few people are apparently sharing their impressions, recommendations and warnings with their fellow netizens?

It would be easy for some to use the Hitwise numbers to cluck that this User Generated Content thing is much ado about nothing. However, I see it as just the opposite. As Robert says, we are a society of voyeurs. That few people are posting gives those that do even more weight.

If we were all posting, it wouldn't be so scary out there. A handful of angry consumers would be drowned out by the positive posts (assuming the product is all that). That probably won't happen soon...which is why we all need to develop a strategy to respond the content that the few are sharing with the many.

The Ripple Effect of Airline Service

...or lack thereof.

Interesting editorial by PCMA CEO Deborah Sexton on the potential ripple effect that the increasing hassle of air travel and the decreasing level of customer care exhibited by the airlines will have on the Meetings and Conventions industry.

And she is dead on. If things don't change, there WILL come a time when attendees throw in the towel and blurt out Johnny Depp's liberating "two little words."

So, for those of us in the Meetings Industry, what can be done? Deborah is right when she says we can't sit idly by and let air travel kill our market. And, I'm not sure a Congressional Passenger Bill of Rights is the answer. But, like many, I'm not sure I know what is.

The conversation needs to begin...and Deborah is asking for your thoughts.

That's the way to start...

Inspirational

If you were in the Destination Marketing Industry in 2000, you no doubt knew (or knew of) Rick Davis, the CEO of the Salt Lake City CVB. At the top of his game and in the prime of his life, Rick had a major stroke days before Christmas that year. We posted on his road to recovery in our e-newsletter.

And the story of Rick Davis continues to unfold. Check out this incredible story from the Salt Lake Tribune.

Kinda puts all the petty drama in our lives in perspective.

As the story says, Rick didn't set out to be an inspiration...but he is.

Chilling Campaign

Like those Danish Safe Driving ads, these anti-Meth ads from Montana grab you by throat and don't let go.

Powerful.

Thanks again to Adrants for the catch: