Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

There Was a Plan B, After All

A few weeks ago, the City of Solvang abruptly severed its contract with its Destination Marketing Organization without an apparent Plan B. Realizing its error (shutting down its Visitor Center and festival and event support in the middle of high season), the City then hurriedly extended enough funding for a skeleton crew for the next couple months.

Then, this past Monday, the Council reversed itself completely, restored the contract and pledged to continue discussions and negotiations with the Chamber and its DMO. The City is still not happy with the situation and, at least from afar, it appears that the influence that Chamber membership has on its DMO's marketing is at least partially to blame.

It's why so many DMOs have ditched the "membership model" that restricts visibility to only those businesses that pay a fee. As Chambers have fewer available revenue streams, it's harder for them to operate inclusively. Thus, they are often criticized for favoring only members if the DMO resides within the Chamber.  

Clearly, members of the business community had a lot to do with opening the Council's eyes to their mistake. As one Lyft driver said, “Please, let’s be adults about this. Let’s not get personal. Without marketing we will be Ghost Town USA. We will not be Tourist Central."

True 'dat. Here's hoping cooler heads prevail in the weeks ahead.

What DMOs Do

Those of us in Destination Marketing often chuckle with each other that our families simply have no idea of what we do. Destinations International's Jack Johnson is on a mission to ensure that what we do is a shared community value (see yesterday's Z-News).

In the meantime, we refer anyone that doesn't understand what DMOs do to a recent article in the Grand Rapids Business Journal where the writer really went deep. And, let's be clear...that's a rarity these days.

For those of us in the Destination Marketing world, it's nothing we don't understand. For my friends from the outside, this article is a pretty sensational view of the work that DMOs do on your behalf. 

The Way it Should Be

A great article in Skift yesterday (and, who knew their mission was to keep the travel industry accountable?) on how IHG is pledging to not only do away with plastic straws but eliminate those mini-bottles of shampoo, conditioner and lotion in favor of bulk-size, refillable dispensers.

Best part of the story: IHG CEO Keith Barr says it's not pressure from governments that encouraged the move...the real pressure coming from guests.

“Governments collectively haven’t taken significant action in this space,” Barr told Skift. “The reality is our colleagues and our customers expect us to take a leadership position on things like waste.” 

And, ain't that the way it should be. Hell yeah.

Are Visitor Centers Still Relevant?

We hear that question a lot. Since we all carry more computing power and information on our mobile devices that the astronauts did 50 years ago on the trip to the Moon, who needs physical Visitor Centers anymore?

The answer turns out to be smart Destination Marketing Organizations. Check out the recent article written by our friend Virginia Haley of Visit Sarasota County. She reports that between January through March of 2019 (the high season in Sarasota), her Visitor Center staff saw a 46 percent increase in traffic as compared to the same months in 2018.

So, don't shutter your Visitor Center just yet...rethink it. Which is what Visit Eau Claire's Linda John did as she opened her new "Experience Center" earlier this year. You can hear Linda's story on the new DMOU podcast series, launched earlier this month.

Still relevant? And then some.

What Took Us All So Long?

Sometimes, we are so consumed with the job at hand that we can't see the opportunity before us. Sometimes we get comfortable with the "norm" of how business has always been done. And, that's when innovation is an orphan.

My alma mater DMO, Destination Madison is starting to pick up some serious industry buzz for its recent roll-out of a concept that is deceptively simple. One that sort of paraphrases Simon Sinek's "Start with Why" to "Start with the Customer."

The Destination Madison Team took the time to break down the challenges faced by today's meeting and event professional. And, juggling contract upon contract from each of the hotels they planned to use certainly floated to the top as one of a planner's biggest pain points.

How to solve the dilemma? Design one contract for all the hotels in the city the planner intends to use.

They call it "One City. One Contract."

It's One brilliant idea. 

Kudos to Deb, John and the Team that makes those of us that call Madison home so proud...

Travel Jobs Matter

It's National Travel & Tourism Week in America...and permit me one more shout out to the industry that has provided me such a rich career over the past 30 years.

One of the aspects of the hospitality industry that has always irked me is how those jobs are so frequently dismissed as somehow "not worthy." During the referendum campaign to build Madison's Convention Center, a City Council member used to rail on how this was the "wrong" kind of economic development for the City to be pursuing. That it was "low-pay, no-benefit."

While I countered that every job should be valued (as it should), I wish I would have had the data recently released from the US Travel Association that underscores the power of jobs in the hospitality sector.

Travel industry jobs lead to higher wages and financial success, more so than jobs in manufacturing and health care. Those of us that score our first job in hospitality go on to earn more than those who start in most other fields, as we learn skills, confidence and experience that are essential to successful careers in a broad spectrum of occupations. And, a third of Americans re-entering the workforce (see yesterday's post) do so through a job in the travel industry. And, honestly, who would you rather hire?

And, while not included in the research, let's be honest. Hospitality workers create a backdrop upon which we all create some of our most precious memories. And, isn't that the most important aspect of a job...having a meaningful impact on those you serve?

It's all about quality of life. Smile warmly and thank a hospitality worker for improving yours this week.

And, every day.

 

Breakthrough Thinking

McDonald's is launching an initiative to attract older workers. Long the land of first-jobs and young workers, it has become increasingly clear to the fast-food mothership that Boomer workers are an answer to its workforce challenge.

Younger workers either don't want to work service jobs (what a shame) or can't because of school commitments. Empty nest Boomers can and, in many cases, want to.

Best line of the article from CNBC: " They bring a unique skill set that we're very excited about." Calm under pressure, experience in problem-solving and dealing with difficult customers are cited as reasons that older workers are often more desired than their younger cohort. They also can mentor those younger workers who choose a hospitality path.

Something to consider, as our industry partners struggle with finding a quality workforce. How do we reach out to retired Boomers to provide the quality experiences we strive to offer? 

 

The Evolution of DMOs

Evolution is a fascinating beast, eh?

When I entered the Destination Marketing field, I was told we were in service to our hotels (that whole "heads in beds" thing). That slowly transformed into our Members/Partners (including restaurants, attractions, nightspots, etc.).

Then we were in service to the customer; the client...because everything that makes them happy serves our Members/Partners.

And now, here we are where we should have been all along. We are here to serve residents.

Fresh off Destinations International's CEO Summit, Don Welsh offers an interesting take on our true customers.

Delta's Bold Experiment

Over a decade ago, we began issuing "Air Laws" (not unlike Miller Beer's "Man Law" series of commercials) in a (vain) attempt to bring civility back to air travel. The very first Air Law addressed the habit of some self-absorbed passengers to recline their seat without considering the person behind them.

Now, we've all seen the heated "Tastes Great / Less Filing" debates ("I paid for the right to recline," some sputter indignantly) both in print and in person. And, I'm not here to debate it again. But, Delta Airlines has just announced that it will be converting roughly 10% of its fleet to feature seats with half the recline. The reason for the test: "Ensuring an optimal experience." I feel oddly vindicated.

This should be interesting...

The Proving Just Got Tougher

Those who have seen me present in Boardrooms and on stages know I'm pretty dismissive of counting Room Nights as a primary measure of the efficacy of Destination Marketing. Don't jump to conclusions here. Achieving Room Nights is important. Using them as your proof has been a slippery slope for over a decade.

And, it just got slipperier.

A new study from Hilton, NYC & Company and the PCMA Foundation has found that the practice of convention attendees booking outside the contracted hotel block has gotten much worse over the past 5 years. Like, twice as bad as the last study I saw.

Over the past three years, roughly half of all delegates attending large-scale, urban conventions are booking accommodation outside the block. 25% of attendees actually booked the HQ hotel...but didn't identify themselves as attendees qualifying for the block. Thus, they haven't been counted. Thus, our "proof" just got shakier. 

As the report states, all participants in this dance will need to re-evaluate the practice of establishing Room Blocks from the consumers' point of view.

And, DMOs need to find other ways to communicate our value.