Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

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.

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.

It's About Safe

Last month, we shared a LinkedIn post from our friend Spero Batistatos (South Shore CVA) that suggested that, when it's time to re-enter the marketplace, our message needs to be about the safety of our customers. And, while most Destination Marketing messaging has been about experiences, lots of research (pre COVID-19) has shown that the feeling of safety is one of the most important aspects of visitor choice.

It just became more so with this friggin' virus.

Our friends at Travel Lane County have moved into that space with videos addressing both hotel and restaurant protocols that their destination's businesses will be taking.

Nicely played...

The Other Side of Recovery

Terri and I work in the Destination Marketing space, advising DMOs on governance, management, strategy, funding and development. Thus, a lot of what we post on this blog focuses on this side of the hospitality business.

Spero Batistatos (President of the South Shore IN Convention & Visitors Authority) is one of the top DMO CEO minds in our sector. Unlike me, he actually started his career in the "back of the house" at a hotel/theatre complex (where I'm quite sure we met years before we became comrades in arms because I used to introduce a number of acts at the theatre during my turn in FM rock radio).

Over the weekend, my friend penned a fascinating piece on how hospitality businesses need to be planning to successfully emerge from quarantine...from a decidedly "back of the house" mentality.

It is definitely worth your read.

Innovation in the Face of Crisis

Imagine you are the General Manager of a beachfront resort. You have no guests and the beach is closed. You have beach chairs with no one to enjoy them...or, do you?

Our friend Roger Amidon is the GM of the Palm Beach Marriot Singer Island Resort and Spa. He and his Team figured out a way that everyone can enjoy his beach chairs by arranging and re-arranging them to spell out rotating messages and then streaming them live from his rooftop cam.

So cool.

Handling Force Majeure

If Force Majeure was a person, besides having a pretty cool name, they'd likely have a pretty big chip on their shoulder for being ignored by virtually anybody but lawyers.

Force Majeure is a clause in many contracts that essentially allows one out of said contract in cases of natural or unavoidable catastrophes. Like a pandemic (you can hear more on the subject in our conversation with Bryan Grimaldi on the DMOU Podcast).

Leave it to Kevin Shanley and the Team at Kalahari Resorts to use Force Majeuer as a reason to book an event at one of their resorts.

Brilliant.

We Stand with Service

Sometimes we get too close to the fire to realize the friends we have and how much we mean to them. I'm sure that's how so many of our peers in the hospitality field feel this week after losing not just hours or jobs...but their connection to their work family.

Sometimes, it's the littlest things that remind us that others care.

Like this video from the South Shore Conventions & Visitors Authority.

Thank you.

It's Happening

As we talked with American hotel and resort operators over the past couple weeks, we heard a pretty steady refrain..."no group cancellations, yet." Even yesterday morning's edition of Skift reported that only 1 in 10 travelers have changed their plans due to fears over COVID-19.

That all ended yesterday, as reports from Nashville, San Jose, Anaheim, Miami and others began to trickle out that a handful of U.S. conventions have canceled or been postponed.

And, that the media is on these stories...it's bound to get worse.

In response, Destinations International yesterday launched a special page on their website to serve as an information hub for DMO pros to share factual data about the growing crisis. 

Hang on...

Are We Really that Geographically Challenged?

It happened again last week...and, unfortunately, it happened again to Bermuda.

A recent news report confused Bermuda with another island that starts with the same letter in a story about Caribbean crime, erroneously stating that Bermuda suffered through 131 murders last year.

The actual number? Zero, making Bermuda one of the safest island destinations in the world. And, by the way, Bermuda isn't even in the Caribbean.

Being mistaken for another island stung Bermuda over two years ago when people confused it with Barbuda, which was devastated by Hurricane Irma. Resorts on Bermuda reported over 3,000 cancelations by consumers that were absolutely sure that what they heard about Barbuda was, in fact, Bermuda. One resort manager reported that, when he tried to explain that Bermuda was 1,000 miles away, consumers would try to argue with him, saying "Don't lie to me. I know what I saw on TV."

Sigh...

Is it Me?

Or, is it increasingly impossible to find housekeepers to work their magic in America's hotels (don't answer...I know it's the latter).

I've been on the road on this merry-go-round of a gig for over 20 years. And, I've never experienced what I encountered in two of my recent business trips. Ever.

In the first episode, I came back to my room after a day of stakeholder interviews and Focus Groups to find my hotel room door propped wide open with a wooden wedge. One could only imagine how long that situation had gone on...but, certainly, by 6pm, it had been hours. I called the front desk to ask WTF? The operator lazily asked if anything was missing from my room. When I responded that I didn't think so, he said, "well, we're good then," and hung up. Really.

Then, the other day, I returned from another set of stakeholder interviews in another town to find that my room hadn't been made up. Hey, it happens. But, what was strange was that the towel, which I had purposefully hung on the shower curtain bar to do my part in saving the planet, was gone. So, not only was the room not made up, but housekeeping entered my room and ignored my request to save the environment in what appears was the only attempt they made to refresh my room. Odd, to say the least.

Here's hoping these mysterious occurrences don't come in threes...and that 2020 sees no more of these peculiar vexings.