The Travel Vertical

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Guest Post: DMOproz Boils It Down, Asks the Why, and Points the Way Forward

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August 2020—A must-read treatise from the desk of Bill Geist, Chief Instigator at DMOproz, helps us to ask the right questions, re-think the moment and address the WHY. He writes:

“DMOs are the organizations with the broadest mandate and reach. Chambers of Commerce speak to and support their members. Economic Development Organizations speak to business leaders and site inspectors. Sports Commissions speak to rights holders and recreational facility managers. Downtown and Main Street organizations speak to their members and those who love downtowns. Arts agencies speak to those who love arts and culture. Destination Marketing Organizations speak to everyone.”

This paper is filled with fresh ideas and great concepts. For example, let’s think about tourism and money…

Read more from Bill here.

Live This Week: Marketing Webinars for DMOs

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WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020 at 1 p.m. ET

WHAT: “Post-Paralysis. Being a Smarter, Faster, Quicker DMO.” Join us to raise a virtual toast to Josh Collins and Streetsense for moderating the final webinar in our series. What began as an experiment in March grew to several thousand attendees in a virtual roundtable where there has always been a lively conversation around DMOs and our B2B community. ICYMI: The recorded sessions are available on a dedicated YouTube channel.

WHO: Don’t miss the last “Staying Connected” webinar from Connect Travel moderated by Josh Collins from Streetsense who is joined this week by David Downing, president of brand, United Landmark Associates and Alisa Bailey, president, Alisa Bailey Consulting Travel & Tourism.

WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 20, at 2 p.m. ET

WHAT: “Funding Futures,” a major study of the recovery and future of tourism and DMO funding models, which analyzed 115 North American cities, all 50 U.S. states and 10 Canadian provinces to summarize the current situation and the outlook for recovery. It also introduces and explores 10 alternative options for tourism and DMO funding to be “built back better” for more balanced, resilient and sustainable funding.

WHO: Powered by U.S. Travel Association, the ESTO webinar series presents: John Lambeth of Civitas Advisors, Chris Adams of Miles Partnership and Adam Sacks of Tourism Economics with support from Destination Analysts, Destinations International and two of the study’s participating DMOs. Attend and get access to the free industry report.

WHEN: Thursday, Aug. 20 at 9 a.m. ET

WHAT: “Accelerate Recovery through Travel Advertising,” discussing new challenges to the global travel industry due to Covid-19 as travel marketers continue important work planning a safe and measured recovery. Reaching the right traveler at the right time with the right message is key to recovery. In this webinar, learn how to refresh campaign strategies accordingly.

WHO: Expedia Group Media Solutions has evolved its targeting strategies, created new opportunities to reach potential travelers, and shifted products to help drive awareness and demand. Hear from Andrew van der Feltz, Senior Director of Business Development and Christine Walker Scarce, Director of Product Marketing.

WHEN: Every Tuesday at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET

WHAT: Destination Analysts is tracking and publishing key consumer perceptions, attitudes and behaviors through unbiased, expert-designed research to help the travel, tourism and hospitality industries form strategy and communicate during the COVID-19 crisis. Highlights are presented weekly.

WHO: Partners and clients hear from guests in an online presentation and interactive discussion of the complete findings of 1,200+ American leisure and business travelers in surveys that are fielded weekly.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 at 3 p.m. ET

WHAT: Live Q&A with three DMOs: The value of UGC to these small to medium-sized destination marketing organizations; examples of high-impact, low-cost campaigns they’re running right now across web, social and print; how they’re using UGC to support and amplify their partners and build trust with locals & travelers.

WHO: CrowdRiff plus guests.

WHEN: (forward planning) Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020 at 1 p.m. ET

WHAT: “GBAC STAR Health & Safety Preparedness for Destinations,” a detailed overview of an important new accreditation program developed by ISSA’s Global Biorisk Advisory Council. The cleaning industry’s only outbreak prevention, response and recovery accreditation for facilities is considered the Gold Standard in facility preparedness.

WHO: John H. Barrett, executive director, ISSA and Brant Insero, director of education, training, certifications and standards will walk you through the program. Craig Davis, CEO, Visit Dallas will share the DMO’s commitment to creating a safe and healthy environment by working with ISSA to increase awareness of the destination’s readiness in safely welcoming back visitors.

Expedia: 9 in 10 Travelers Want Details on Health and Cleanliness Before Booking

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“As travel shoppers evaluate their destination, accommodation, and transportation options, around 9 in 10 of them want to see information on health and cleanliness before booking. Above all else, travelers want to be reassured that it is safe for them to travel and they want to see relevant information and messaging from travel brands.”

We recommend that destinations, lodging and transportation advertising partners use marketing messages and content to explicitly outline the health measures they are taking.”

Expedia Group Media Solutions ran a sentiment study in July with research experts dscout, asking travelers in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Europe, and the U.K. about upcoming travel plans and what is driving their booking decisions. Respondents to the online survey were qualified as already having had a leisure trip planned and/or booked for June-December 2020.

Get the free research report and full infographic here.

Latest Harris Poll: A Snapshot of Americans’ Views

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Risky Business
Look, we get it. People are sick of life interrupted. Almost three-quarters (74%) of Americans miss gathering with friends and family, and (70%) miss dining in bars and restaurants. And this is true especially of young people.

1. Americans are growing more wary of gatherings. Over the past weekend, (82%) of Americans are fearful of leaving the house (up 5 pts from July 19), while (69%) are not willing to attend a large public event given the current outbreak of COVID-19.

2. Anything big and indoors is verboten: (58%) say they won’t go to the movies for at least another six months, the same as sporting events (49%), gyms (59%), hotels (55%), public transportation (54%), and airplanes (46%). And (13%) say there are no actions that will make them comfortable to do certain activities, so it’s a lot of Netflix. 

3. Older Americans are taking the pandemic more seriously: Adults 65+ (83%) think the amount of fear is sensible given how serious the pandemic has become vs (73%) of the nation or (68%) of Gen Z and Millennials. 

4. And seniors are more fearful of the virus spreading when we return to normal public activity: (80%) of 65+ are very/somewhat concerned about possible COVID-19 exposure when returning to normal activity vs (68%) Gen Z/Millennials.

5. But younger people are nearly twice as likely to say people are overreacting: (32%) of 18-34 year olds say the amount of fear around COVID-19 is irrational and people are overreacting vs only (17%) of adults 65+.

6. Alas, a nation gets COVID-woke: Less than four weeks ago, under one-third (31%) of Americans said the resurgence of cases was driven by people in their state who lack concern for the pandemic and (29%) said there was no incentive for people to follow state recommended safety protocols as they were not enforced requirements. 

7. But now, (84%) of Americans support social distancing and wearing face masks. And mask wearing rose (14 pts) from March 28 to June 15 (54% to 68%) which was attributed to those who were indifferent to masks: (33% said ‘neither positive or negative’ on March 28, which has decreased to 19% on June 15).

8. But the generational blame game is starting in earnest: Older people blaming younger people: On May 17th we found that more than three quarters of adults 50+ (77%) said younger Americans are being ignorant by thinking they are less likely to spread COVID-19 than others and (72%) say they are acting reckless and putting the rest of the nation’s health at risk. At the same time, more than half of younger Americans ages 18-49 (56%) say the over-fifties crowd are stubbornly sticking to their routines even though they are more at risk.

Takeaway: This slow pulling off of the nation’s band-aid is having devastating health and economic consequences. The lack of a Federal plan for battling COVID is obvious, but also is a growing clamor for the nation’s young people to live up to their purported ‘we’ values of climate change, universal income, and gender/racial equality. Why isn’t COVID equality one of these generational values, Boomers and seniors ask? 
From responses fielded July 31- Aug. 2, 2020

Too Many Hurricanes and More Ways That 2020 Stinks

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No college football, no Hollywood blockbusters, too many hurricanes are predicted to overwhelm the alphabet…and more ways that 2020 stinks.

But first, one good thing. More than 830,000 fliers passed through airport security on Sunday., Aug. 9, 2020, topping the 800K figure for the first time since mid-March. Here’s the year-on-year TSA daily data from March 1, 2019. Still, we have a long way to go to the 2.5 million-or-so travelers passing through airport security this time last year.

File this item under “Why 2020 Stinks.” Storms of 75 mph winds or higher are hurricanes and they get pre-planned names. About 95 percent of these storms form between August and November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has never actually predicted that we’d run out of names in one season. Until now, reports the Washington Post.

The season has the potential to be one of the busiest on record, NOAA said.

Several letters (Q, U, X, Y, Z) don’t get used.

Meteorologists at Colorado State University project 24 named storms, including 12 hurricanes and 5 major hurricanes—so many storms that names would have to be pulled from the Greek alphabet, too. This happened only once before, in 2005, a devastating season that was the most active on record.

Disney has been losing millions every day since mid-March. The Q3 earnings dropped 42%, for a loss of $11.8 billion, missing Wall Street expectations.

Opening hours are changing: Starting on Sept. 8,  the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will close an hour earlier, Epcot will close two hours earlier, Animal Kingdom will open an hour later and close an hour earlier.

Universal theme parks reported revenues down 94% in the second quarter. Hollywood studios has taken a devastating hit as well. Movie theaters are shuttered and blockbusters are on hold:  “Avatar,” “Star Wars,” “Tenet” and “Mulan,” also hurt the company’s bottom line.

Commissioners of the five biggest NCAA conferences met Sunday and Monday this week to discuss the feasibility of cancelling or having a 2020 NCAA football season, according to CBS Sports. The Power Five—Big Ten*, Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference, Pacific-12 and Southeastern Conference—were set to continue talks. [*update — Big Ten cancelled the season on 8/11/2020]

Next worry? The impact that a loss of collegiate football will mean for college towns.

Even the little things are odd. At the upscale downtown Motif Seattle, part of Hyatt, is asking guests for extra cash, reports SFGATE.com. After checking into his room, a hotel guest was astonished to find a message soliciting “COVID-19 Support for this hotel (plus tax?!?). The move is now the subject of an investigation by its corporate owner.

Staff

Laurie Jo Miller Farr, Editor
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