Traveling Companions
When the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City ended, Utah ski resort managers feared business might suffer if the public thought the area was still swamped with athletes and international guests.
In response, the resorts and Ski Utah (the marketing arm of the nonprofit Utah Ski & Snowboard Association) teamed for a lift-ticket discount to lure visitors back to the state. And to keep the snow bunnies coming this season, an encore program — Stay and Ski in 2003 gives skiers who book a four-night stay at a participating lodge two free lift tickets at one of 13 resorts. More than 100 hotels, condominiums, and bed and breakfasts are on board. The Utah Travel Council chipped in $500,000; the lodging industry paid for the lift tickets; and Ski Utah handled marketing efforts.
Across America, states are flaunting their assets to woo locals and tourists with both urgency and heightened marketing prowess. The effects of Sept. 11 and the weak economy have taken a heavy toll on the industry, and state tourism boards are recruiting partners from a variety of disciplines for long-term relationships that surpass trip sweepstakes.
“Over the past couple of years, I have noticed more willingness to think outside the box,” says Roberta Rinker-Ludloff, regional vp-marketing for Hilton Hawaii. “Before, it might have just been a sweepstakes and we were supposed to be excited that there were 55,000 entries to win a trip.”
Stay and Ski 2003 showcases how the Olympic name and spirit will be associated with Utah’s capital city for many years to come. “This is a promotion to show people that in the spirit of the Olympics, we will go on,” says Kip Pitou, president of Salt Lake City-based Ski Utah. But it wasn’t easy to make marketing partners out of competitors. “Our resorts are all located very close to one another, so they compete for the same market,” he says. Still, statistics brought them around. Skiers bring $1 billion into Utah’s economy each year and the sport makes up nearly 25 percent of the state tourism base, according to Pitou. On average, a national park visitor spends $48 a day, whereas a skier typically spends $400 a day.
Tourism has always been driven by places, but today, travel partners are working together to leverage the entire industry.
“In the past, tourism was promoted more by destination, but now we are seeing the partners promoted,” says Ken Phillips, staff vp-corporate communications and promotions of wholesale travel agency Pleasant Holidays, Westlake Village, CA. With that comes stiff competition. “Cities, states, and cruise lines are all competing for a very similar client. Most tourism boards can’t afford to buy network TV, but through promotions they can extend their reach,” he says.
Airline, hotel, and travel agency consolidations are also driving niche marketing. “The whole industry is coalescing and on the travel agency side, they are becoming specialists, whether it’s Hawaii specialists or honeymoon specialists, and state tourism boards are supporting these efforts,” Phillips says.
But the place still counts, says Caroline Beteta, executive director of California Tourism in Sacramento. There’s an understanding that the destination must be sold first, and then the product is to follow. “Because if people don’t choose California as a destination, they are not going to be shopping here at all.”
No sector needs more of a lift than the airlines. “The airline industry is more motivated than ever to get people flying again,” says Beverly Hanson, manager of strategic initiatives for Delta Express, Atlanta. “You have to do more with less and that’s where partnerships, grassroots marketing, and fun programs come in.”
Take Delta Express’ Destination of the Quarter promotion. Throughout 2002, four different Florida areas were highlighted for a three-month window. Each program included a sweepstakes that consumers entered at flydlx.com to win a customized trip to that area. Delta just wrapped up a Sale & Sail sweeps, which included plane tickets to Ft. Lauderdale, a five-day Avis car rental, four nights at the Holiday Inn on Ft. Lauderdale Beach, a dinner cruise, and $100 gift certificates to local retail establishments. “When most people think of Ft. Lauderdale, they think about the water, and most don’t know about the great shopping opportunities in the area,” Hanson says. “Our goal is to inform people about places they might not have known existed.”
Delta Express averaged five to seven partners and collected 25,000 sweeps entries for each quarterly promotion.
The Delta campaign is typical of the types of promotions taking place in the Sunshine State. Florida’s tourism organization, Visit Florida, has embraced the idea of giving the state a strong brand identity that implies something larger than its most popular parks and high-profile destinations.
Visit Florida’s first order of business when it was formed six years ago in Kissimmee-St. Cloud was introducing the FLA USA tagline (after extensive research and focus groups). Over the years, several slogans passed through the marketing department, including “You’ve Got it Bad, We’ve Got it Good” and “See Florida from Coast to Coast to Coast,” says the organization’s spokesperson Tom Flanigan. “We had all of these disjointed slogans and the state never had a unified identity in terms of marketing,” he says. Three years ago, Visit Florida even rolled out a FLA USA brand of bottled water. This year, they tapped BEVsystems International, Miami, to expand its sales. A redesign put a “Fun Florida Fact” as well as FLA USA’s Web address and toll-free number on labels.
On the other coast, California markets under a “Find Yourself” tagline. “Our visitors come to immerse themselves and become a part of our unique, eclectic culture,” Beteta says. “And from a marketing perspective, finding themselves spiritually works.”
States that don’t have a “sun and fun” image to work with are forced to be more creative in finding a unified slogan. In Pennsylvania the state’s tagline tends to change with each new governor, which is usually every eight years, says Rose Mape, executive director of the Harrisburg-based Tourism Marketing and Operations. Since 1996, “Pennsylvania: Memories Last a Lifetime” has been the theme. “We’ve put a lot of money into this and hope that we can make a case that it makes sense to keep it,” Mape says.
Meanwhile, The Travel Industry Association of America — the nonprofit that represents the U.S. travel industry — is aiming to unify all of the states under singular campaigns. In its first national promotion, TIA teamed with the U.S. Postal Service for a Greetings from America effort last spring. The USPS developed booklets of 50 stamps, one for each state. The back panels featured facts, such as each state’s bird, capitol, and flower. “The designs showed why you would go to each state — whether it’s mountains or skiing — and was a great opportunity for each state to build promotions,” says Betsy O’Rourke, Washington, DC-based TIA’s senior vp-marketing. Tourism directors were asked to provide ideal one-week vacation itineraries for their states. The itineraries were posted at seeamerica.org and usps.gov, and consumers could choose a state and enter a sweepstakes for the corresponding trip. Each package included two roundtrip airline tickets from Orbitz, a week-long Hertz car rental, and a six-night stay at Best Western. Each tourism council could customize its prize package and throw in extras, such as guidebooks or passes to parks and museums. More than 100,000 entries were collected.
The program was very inexpensive [around $30,000] for a lot of value,” O’Rourke says. Word was spread via posters at post offices and travel information centers. And since TIA’s emphasis is recruiting international tourists, Greetings from America was touted abroad at travel agencies.
“The states recognized that this was an easy promotion that they could custom-fit with their own message,” O’Rourke says. “They were tying into a big national program with room to leverage their own assets. Not one of these states could have gotten such visibility individually.” D.L. Blair, Garden City, NY, handled the sweeps element for TIA.
Next up for TIA is a partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation. See America’s Byways will celebrate official national roadways. Posters will hype the program at retail establishments along the participating byways. Through a partnership with National Geographic Traveler magazine, scenic photographs from the roads will be a part of a national exhibit touring several hundred malls. Details for a trip-sweepstakes element still need to be hammered out, but the program is scheduled to launch in May with a USA Today advertising section.
TIA has its fingers crossed for government funding. The U.S. is the only developed nation without a federally financed national tourism department. “We have lost 28-percent market share in the last decade, while world tourism has grown 48 percent,” O’Rourke says. “If we gained one percent of our share, it would be $1.2 billion in new tax dollars per year for the federal government.”
Visit Florida, on the other hand, is financed through a private-public partnership. “If you create an entity that combines private and public resources, you can extend the value of marketing and promotions to a much broader base of the economy,” Flanigan explains. Tourism makes up 20 percent of Florida’s economy. For 2001-2002, Florida has the highest projected advertising budget of all the states. The state projected $11.4 million, compared to the average domestic advertising budget of $3.6 million, according to TIA.
After Sept. 11, Visit Florida countered with a Tourism Recovery Plan. The governor and the state legislature appropriated $20 million in mid-December on the provision that Visit Florida could match it dollar for dollar. Visit Florida matched the fund with $25 million.
Marketing Florida-style means touting not only the heavy hitters like Walt Disney World and Sea World, but the humble bed-and-breakfasts in small communities like St. Augustine, which bills itself as America’s oldest city. And pursuing some unusual partnerships by attending nontraditional trade shows. “Previously, we had concentrated entirely on the travel trade shows, of which there are so many, but this year we are going to try the Detroit Auto Show since Florida’s drive market is now so big and there will be less competition there,” Flanigan says.
The number of tourists who drive has indeed risen dramatically over the past year. “The threat of war makes people stay closer to home,” Phillips says. “Pricing is king right now. People are waiting less than 30 days to book, when it used to be 90 days.”
Drivers typically take shorter, more frequent trips, so vacation time frames are not so easily defined. “Our planning seasons have overlapped, meaning it’s important to have the message out there all the time,” Beteta says.
Even Hawaii needs help. “We were hard hit after Sept. 11 — you certainly can’t drive here,” says Frank Haas, director of tourism marketing at the Hawaii Tourism Authority. “So we emphasized the healing and rejuvenation qualities of Hawaii.”
Tourism is the No. 1 industry in the “Aloha” state, and is handled by the private, nonprofit Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau through a contract with the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Hawaii does much of its marketing around partnerships of key events, such as the NFL Pro Bowl and the PGA Sony Open, in an effort to show its diversity. “We’ve become more precise in our targeting and if we’re getting people to come all of this way, they shouldn’t just sit on the beach,” Haas says.
This past summer, the convention bureau teamed with Hawaii Hilton, AAA Travel, and May Co. stores for a national program with the help of Pleasant Holidays. A honeymoon sweeps through May’s 1,800 stores (including Lord & Taylor, Filene’s, and David’s Bridal) asked registered couples about their wedding plans and honeymoon budgets, with an offer to provide more information about Hawaii. More than 100,000 names were collected and distributed to each couple’s local AAA travel agencies for follow-up. SMS, Los Angeles, handled the Web-based lead distribution program. P-O-P displays at bridal registries and luggage areas supported.
“It’s difficult to reach honeymooners unless you have a coordinated program like this,” Phillips says. “Honeymooners spend more money than average travelers and with multiple marriages these days, the market is not getting smaller.”
The program was broken up into three waves, with the last one scheduled to end right before Christmas. More than 30 trips were given away. “The most important part was the data we generated. These were people who told us they have money, where they want to spend it, and when,” Phillips says.
And for those not in the marrying mood, Pleasant Holidays handled an exclusive promotion with McDonald’s in California and Oregon. More than 800 McD’s in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Portland sported a Hawaiian theme with trayliners, posters, and other P-O-P materials. McDonald’s gave away one trip to Hawaii in each region for 30 days. Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton were the hotel partners.
The only catch: customers will have to lay off on the Big Macs if they want to look good on the beach.
New York, New York
More than a year after Sept. 11, NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism marketing organization, is embodying the phrase “the show must go on.”
Immediately after Sept. 11, the private nonprofit called on Delta Airlines for a 10,000-ticket giveaway through radio stations around the country.
Next, the organization sent 200 New York City firefighters to 200 U.S. cities to promote travel and tourism and thank the public for their support after the terrorist attacks. AirTran, American Airlines, Amtrack, Continental, Delta Air Lines, and US Airways were among the airlines that provided free tickets for the firefighters.
“Post Sept. 11, we had to be more aggressive to get people to come out and enjoy shopping and dining — not only for visitors but for New Yorkers,” says Natasha Caba, vp-strategic marketing and partnerships at NYC & Company.
The organization’s annual winter promotion, Paint the Town, kicked off two months early in 2001 and became Paint the Town Red, White, and Blue. For the first time, NYC & Company offered travel packages for one, two, three, and four-night hotel stays, tickets to a Broadway show, dinner, a donation to the Twin Towers Fund, and discounted parking. The effort included more than 350 offers for American Express cardholders. NYC & Company partnered with New York State Tourism’s I Love NY campaign for a $5 million TV advertising blitz.
In January, NYC & Company rolled out Spend Your Regards to Broadway. Anyone who spent more than $500 at city retailers, restaurants, museums, tourist attractions, and on- and off-Broadway shows — with receipts to prove it — over a two-week period received a free pair of Broadway tickets.
While the official results are not in for international business in the city, NYC & Company predicts it will be down significantly, as in the rest of the country. Domestic figures show that visitors are continuing to return to the city, but that business travel, visitor spending, and lengths of stay are less than normal. According to the TIA, domestic visitor spending in New York City in 2001 dropped 10 percent from 2000.
But that doesn’t stop TIA’s senior vp-marketing from spreading the news about New York’s recovery. “Their ability to get partners and get them to do work together on exemplary, unique promotions is a shining example to other city visitor bureaus,” says Betsy O’Rourke.
