Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

A DMO in 30 Days?

When we explain the advantages of a Destination Marketing Organization to those that don't quite understand the concept, we often share that the barriers to entry in generating a Return on Investment in Tourism is typically faster than most Economic Development strategies, which can take years of relationship-building to see a project come to fruition. But, starting a DMO in 30 days? This we gotta see.

The cities of Bryan and College Station TX have partnered (sometimes uneasily) to market the region under a single DMO for decades. That arrangement began to disintegrate when the City of College Station announced it was pulling out of the DMO a couple months ago. Last week, the City of Bryan said it would launch its own DMO within 30 days.

In making the announcement, Bryan's Deputy City Manager Joey Dunn said partnering with College Station, Texas A&M University and Brazos County also will critical responsibilities for the new organization since "none of us work alone in the tourism business." Which, of course, would have been easier if everyone could have worked through their issues before all this duplicative drama. But hey, politics is politics and community ego is overrated. 

This should be interesting to watch.

 

They'll Pay

I'm the last person to advocate for higher visitor taxes if your destination is over the national average. And, I'm the first person to encourage businesses to charge more if they have a stellar product or experience.

And, this article from Forbes bears me out.

In an article about how residents of Amsterdam are breathing a sigh of relief as tourist numbers have dropped in that beleaguered city, we see how taxing visitors to change travel habits hasn't worked: Amsterdam has one of the highest tourist taxes in Europe at €3 per person per night — added to the tax of 7% of the price of a room and Airbnb increasing its rates by 10% per night while cruise passengers were charged €8 per person — the over-tourism had not weakened the numbers in any radical way.

As the late, great Richard Pryor famously said in Silver Streak, "pay the man."

 

Who Could Possibly Oppose This Initiative?

In an attempt to jump-start America's struggling travel and tourism industry, Arizona Senator Martha McSally has proposed the American Tax ebate and Incentive Program (TRIP...get it?). It would provide up to a $4,000 tax credit (per taxpayer) for Americans who travel within the U.S. through the end of 2021. In other words...we'll all be able to write-off up to $4,000 in leisure travel expenses. 

It does somewhat re-codify the recently abandoned concept (by most) that tourism is only tourism if the trip is more than 50 miles. But, it's a small trade-off. And honestly, they had to put some limits on the program or people would try to claim their staycations.

More importantly...it creates a $50 million grant program for Destination Marketing Organizations. Yeah...finally.

Who could oppose such a bill?

Besides a fiscal conservative that hates DMOs, I mean.

The US Travel Conversation on Race

If you have yet to check-out last week's online conversation with Destination DC's Elliott Ferguson, Association Forum's Michelle Mason, ADARA's Brandon Meyers and Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board's Ernie Wooden, hosted by US Travel...make time this week to do so.

Powerful stuff, y'all.

Ready to Take THE Pledge?

We are loving the ingenuity of Destination Marketing Organizations around the world that are developing and deploying Pledges that go both ways (visitors respecting destinations and businesses promising a safe environment). But, the Pledge we all need to be intentional about was offered up yesterday by a coalition of 19 Black DMO Executives.

In their Open Letter, they spoke their truth and asked hard questions; questions that typically get a "sure, we do that." But, if our industry really did, there'd be more than 19 signatures on this document. N'est-ce pas?

It's time. Pledge that you'll do more than talk about it, find tired excuses and continue to kick the can down the road.

It starts at home with our DMO Boards and Professional Staff. We all know we can do better. We must.

Time Has Come Today.

Here's (Another Reason) Why DMO Aid is Crucial

When a crisis hits, messaging from those impacted often becomes frantic and scattered. But, for some, it becomes crystalline. 

That was the case when thee Madison Room Tax Commission (a layer of oversight in Wisconsin that recommends to government how Room Tax revenues should be invested) met a couple weeks ago. In one of the best presentations I've seen by a DMO CEO, Deb Archer (beginning at the 44:30 mark) hit the perfect note at the perfect time: Destination Madison's work supports the livelihood of 22,000 people in her county. And, if Madison is anything like the national average...that means 11,000 residents need Destination Madison to be the first in line for funding...not the last (as the Manager of the attached Convention Center hotel said so eloquently at the 2:04.45 mark). For, if Destination Madison is budgetarily unable to attract visitors back to the Mad City, directing revenues to empty facilities is kinda counter-productive.

Over the weekend, I saw another angle that I had never considered...and it came from a column on Hospitality.net from Tom Hazinski and Joseph Hansel of HVS: the lack of federal support for Destination Marketing Organizations "has placed at risk the substantial investment of state and local governments in the tourism and hospitality industries."

In other words, without an aggressively funded marketing effort, State, City and County investments in convention centers, performing arts centers and other infrastructure assets will collapse, plunging local governments into facing drastic cuts to resident services.

Keep the innovative messages coming, people. We're gonna need every one to stave off the knee-jerk reaction of "we all need to share the pain evenly."

No. We don't. Not income generators like DMOs.

 

A Flower Grows

From the shattered glass and devastated dreams of so many small business owners...springs art, hope and love.

For those that have only seen the images of the looters (not the peaceful protestors) that destroyed Madison's beloved State Street, we offer these images from Downtown Madison, Inc. Local artists, leaving their message and love on the plywood that momentarily replaces the once vibrant storefront views.

A recent poll suggests 40% of these small businesses will be unable to reopen. We pray that will not be the case.

Kudos to Beth Skogen for the images.

The Future of Destination Marketing

Just weeks before "the VID," David Peacock was named to head up a consortium, convened by Simpleview, called the Future Tourism Group. Its raison d'etre: to focus on destination development through a lens of tourism stakeholders and their digital presence.

During this crisis, David has been interviewing industry leaders, delving into the concepts that will, hopefully, result in existential changes in the way Destination Marketing Organizations drive their communities forward.

I am honored to have been one of those that David reached out to interview...and allowed me to share my thoughts on the future of this unfortunately misunderstood and undervalued sector. If you'd like to listen in to our conversation, you can find it here.

And, thanks so much to David and Simpleview for the opportunity. You guys rock.

The Future of Culinary Tourism

It's what drove a significant amount of pre-VID tourism over the past five years; the sense that one can learn about a place through its food. Anthony Bourdain showed us this truth...and travel consumers bought into the concept.

As we watch the professional research firms reveal the thoughts of today's travel consumers, there are also the one-off polls that do not necessarily reflect America, but the readership of a particular online publication.

Such is the case with SmartBrief, a daily compilation of fascinating articles from around the world. The respondents to their polls could be expected to skew white-collar business professionals...and that's what is so concerning with last week's poll: Do you expect your dining habits to change after the pandemic?

Only a third of respondents said they would return to dining out like it was 2019...and 40% said they would be cooking more at home. To be sure, these responses aren't necessarily travel responses (as most of us can't cook in when we're on the road). But, it paints a distressing picture of a restaurant's base clientele's attitude.

Even more reason for DMOs, as they can, to help our culinary partners ideate ways to shift consumer sentiment. If, indeed, they want to cook in, attempt to facilitate that. The best restaurants source from specific farms. Our local butcher sources from only one farm for his beef tenderloin (and, it's awesome). Not taking away from the artistry of the chef, the source food is almost always better than supermarket, if they are not depending on a national distributor.

Hey, I know nothing about restaurants (other than I miss them). But, the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells offers to stock your cabin fridge with the same cuts of meat that they serve in their sensational Kaminski's Chop House. Seems like an idea that independent restaurants, regardless of the fare they serve, could emulate. People want to cook at home...show them the good stuff.

The farmers would benefit too. Win-Win.

Stay Strong.

The Increasing Realization

As the old saying goes, you never know what you've got 'til it's gone. Far from a drumbeat (yet)...we are heartened to see editorial boards begin to realize the importance of destination marketing. In some cases, these are the very editorial boards that questioned the investment of tax revenues into their DMOs months and years ago. But, today? Reality is a wonderful teacher.

We were particularly enthralled by yesterday's editorial on AllOtsego.com, in which Libby Cudmore asks whether the investment into Destination Marketing is sufficient...even in these days in which County revenues have been impacted. And, she goes on to suggest other revenue sources, as we do every time we work with a DMO Board.

I like the way Libby thinks. We all should.