America has spent a lot of time, effort, money and xenophobia on "that Wall" that Mexico was, ostensibly, going to pay for.
As it turns out, we may not have needed to expend that much toxic energy.
This past weekend, Mexican citizens formed blockades to prevent Americans from entering the country due to fears of COVID-19.
And, I don't blame them one bit.
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.
Not the book. The year.
I was single, programming a rock radio station with a band of brothers (and sisters) in the shadow of Chicago. The eclectic playlist went from Bon Jovi to Marvin Gaye...without all the crap you hear on the "Bob FM" formats. We only played the seriously cool stuff. And, my iTunes Library still has music in it that only my co-conspirators would recognize.
AIDS was just starting to be understood as a sexually transmitted virus. Today, we can die from a virus by walking into a bar.
We knew who our enemy was. Today, virtually everyone hates us.
Farm Aid was still a year away. Today, we can't even imagine stadium concerts.
My favorite Independence Day-esque song ever recorded was by Glenn Frye on his second solo album away from the Eagles.
On this Music Friday, I still dig the vibe...but the lyrics ring so untrue.
How the hell did we get here?
This is "Better in the USA."
Enjoy your weekend, my friends. But, let's take this moment to re-imagine a country that can be the shining light for the world...and offers unbridled opportunity for all.
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.
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.
When we got swept up in "The Vid" (our household name for the pandemic), Ohio Governor Mike DeWine was regarded by many as being one of a handful of State leaders that understood the severity of what was to come...and what to do to protect residents from the virus.
Today, however, he's dragging his feet...and one has to ask why? On Sunday's "Meet The Press," the Governor sorely tested his support from the tourism and hospitality industry when he said he didn't know when he would allow those businesses to reopen.
But, he has said "yes" to restaurants and bars, tattoo parlors, hair salons, weddings up to 300, swimming pools, retailers and gyms...all businesses that one would think would be harder to physically distance than a zoo or museum. A set of proposed safety guidelines was sent to the Governor last week by a task force of top attractions and, according to this story on Cleveland.com, his office has gone radio silent.
Don't get me wrong. I saw the videos and images of all the malakas in beach destinations over the weekend. And, I don't begrudge any business that has gotten a pass to open. But...puleeze, who wouldn't feel safer in a controlled hospitality environment than a bar and grill called Sam 'n Ella's?
Just sayin...
One of the more fascinating aspects of the meltdown of the travel and hospitality industry in March was just how quickly so many Destination Marketing Organizations pivoted, reaching out to their restaurant communities to help promote pick-up and take-out services in an attempt to keep restaurants alive. Last month, some reached out to help local retailers set up and promote online sales. Others have coordinated streaming concerts as fundraising vehicles. In short, not what they teach in DMO school.
Destination Analysts has been releasing its weekly Coronavirus Travel Sentiment Study for the industry since the crisis began to help us make sense of the mindset of both travelers and residents. CEO Erin Francis-Cummings reached out the other day with an intriguing finding from last week's focus groups of local businesses. When Destination Analysts asked restauranteurs about how DMOs could help them now, they said it wasn't marketing...but leadership and advocacy. Leadership in helping them gather and understand the new health guidelines they would be expected to follow in the weeks ahead. And, advocacy to ensure that local governments consider their business plight.
And, that's what the relevant DMO of the future must do, as it is able.
Lead and Advocate.
For over 20 years, Colorado has been the poster-child for what not to do when it comes to investing in Destination Marketing.
In 1992, the State Legislature infamously voted to eliminate the Colorado Tourism Department in a cost-saving move after voters rejected a tourism tax to power the effort. The result was a disastrous decline in visitation and State tax revenue. So, it was quite a surprise to many when the same boneheaded suggestion came out of a budget committee.
Late last week, the Joint Budget Committee restored $10 million for Destination Marketing, saying that Tourism was essential to bring the economy back.
Looks like one can learn from past mistakes.
We've identified 4 Destination Marketing Organizations in North America that have either been shuttered or completely stripped of their funding since the pandemic took hold of North America.
The one thing they all had in common?
None of them had a word about COVID-19 on their Home Pages.
Coincidence?
You hear it. We hear it. The hushed conversations at City Hall and at County Board meetings.
"We don't need to forward last quarter's room tax to the DMO; they're not marketing anymore in this time of COVID."
Au contraire, mon amie.
You wanna know what today's DMOs have been doing? Check out this op-ed piece from Visit Sarasota's Virginia Haley.
Uh-huh.
And...thank you.
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