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People & Places We Know, News That’s Good to Know

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Edward Harris takes on a new role as president and CEO at Discover Lancaster in Pennsylvania on June 22, moving from his post as chief marketing officer at Valley Forge Convention & Tourism Board. Prior to joining Valley Forge in 2014, Ed held brand management roles at Nike Inc. (Converse), eBay, Under Armour and Timberland. He is an adjunct professor of marketing strategy at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and was named to the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list in 2017. Ed serves on the Advisory Board of the eTourism Summit and the TravelAbility Summit.

Brett Oetting, appointed in March as president & CEO at Visit Corpus Christi, shares these promotions and appointments. “Meet the new Visit Corpus Christi leadership team. They exude passion for this community, have the brains and vision to be trailblazers, and most importantly are committed to operating as a team to put Corpus Christi on the national map as a destination to visit, live, and work.” (L to R: Erica Bhakta, EVP/chief sales officer; Meredith Darden, VP of visitor experience; Jenilee Easter, senior director of finance and administration; Emily Zertucha, senior director of creative strategy).

Andria Godfrey has joined the team at Longwoods International as vice president. She joins from Adara where she had been senior director of tourism and hospitality. Andria’s background also includes research director roles at Georgia Tourism and Texas Tourism.

Jeremy Fairley has joined Bandwango as client services manager where he’ll be involved with DMOs and Bandwango’s Destination Experience Engine (DXE) software technology. His industry marketing and customer success experience includes Threshold 360, aRes Travel, Destinations International (formerly DMAI), and Visit Tampa Bay.

Dave Bahlman has been appointed as global head of sales at Entrada Insights. He joins the team from Adara where he was previously VP of tourism and hospitality division. Bahlman also has experience as deputy /acting director at Maryland Office of Tourism and in a global marketing strategy role at Orbitz Worldwide.

Kevin Rabbitt has been appointed CEO of Hornblower Group, which operates Hornblower Cruises & Events (dining & sightseeing), American Queen Steamboat Company, Victory Cruises Lines (launching overnight expeditions in Alaska) and NYC Ferry. Hornblower also operates the official ferry boat service to Alcatraz Island, the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Memorial Museum on behalf of the National Park Service as well as Hornblower Niagara Cruises on behalf of the Niagara Parks Commission. Terry MacRae will continue as executive chairman. Rabbitt, who has been serving on the Hornblower board for two years, joins from NEP, where he served as CEO for the technical production company for live sports, entertainment, award shows, concert tours, music festivals and corporate events.

Sharing sad news of the sudden passing of Alex Katptzan, SVP of convention sales at Visit Tampa Bay. An Alex Kaptzan Memorial Fund has been established on behalf of Ivette Kaptzan.

Connie Del Signore will not be returning to Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. The former president and CEO was placed on administrative leave on April 3 when the DMO announced it was launching an investigation into a personnel issue. Visit Annapolis acting chair Gary Jobson said he could not disclose the reason for her departure until an investigation is officially closed. Del Signore had been in her post since since 2003 after she served as president of Reading & Berks County Visitors Bureau in Pennsylvania.

In Maryland, Worcester County Tourism Director Lisa Challenger has retired after 31 years of public service. Gov. Hogan appointed her to the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority in 2014. In 2016, Maryland Tourism Coalition named her Maryland Tourism Person of the Year. Challenger passes the torch to incoming director Melanie Pursel.

Ashton Pike has been appointed editor-in-chief of BizBash, the No. 1 event industry resource. Pike joined the BizBash team as senior editor in December, upon Connect’s acquisition of the brand. Prior to joining the BizBash team, she served as the editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Medicine + Doctors Atlanta, as well as the associate editor of The Atlantan and JEZEBEL magazines, among three other publications, covering Atlanta’s luxury lifestyle and event scene.

Claire Hoffman has been promoted to executive editor. Hoffman has been managing editor and an integral part of the BizBash team for over a decade. She also writes a weekly column covering local Los Angeles event industry news and is closely involved in BizBash’s “GatherGeeks” podcast.

Daniella Middleton has been promoted to the newly created role of senior vice president of tourism for Development Counsellors International (DCI), a tourism and marketing economic development agency based in New York. In her new position, she’ll be stepping into tourism strategy, focused on unifying DCI’s Tourism Practice research, public relations, digital marketing, travel trade marketing and business events.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy says travelers to the state will have to be tested for COVID-19 before boarding an Alaska-bound plane or submit to a 14-day quarantine upon arrival. Out-of-state travelers will need to show proof of testing within 72 hours of boarding and fill out paperwork. If either test results or paperwork are lost, travelers will be subjected to another test at the airport or quarantine for two weeks. Dunleavy extended the state’s current 14-day quarantine rule until the new policy replaces it beginning this week.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige said he would extend the state’s 14-day quarantine requirement for travelers arriving in the state beyond June 30. Ige said he’s working with the state’s four county mayors on lifting a separate 14-day quarantine requirement for people traveling between Hawaii’s islands.

In a move which makes US tourism industry recovery still trickier, Canada will invest C$30 million to enable its provinces and territories to promote tourism in their “own back yard.” Destination Canada ordinarily focuses on attracting international visitors, now shifting those funds to domestic marketing in announcing this first-ever effort that will stretch over the next 18 months.

Each province will be free to assess the best distribution of funds, taking their local communities’ best interests into account as well as the willingness of communities to welcome travelers back. All provincial efforts will adopt themes that support Destination Canada’s national brand – “Canada. For Glowing Hearts.“

Expedia Group Media Solutions, the global advertising organization of Expedia Group, is opening a $25 million fund for destinations’ co-op advertising campaigns as part of a larger $275 million program offering marketing credits and financial relief for its lodging partners. Read the press release here.

Tik Tok owner Bytedance had over $17 billion in revenue last year and over $3 billion in profits. The company has $6 billion cash in the bank as revenue soars. The revenue for last year was more than double the company’s tally of about $7.4 billion in 2018. Read more in Bloomberg News.

American Airlines is slimming down. The world’s largest airline plans to cut its management and administrative staff by 30%, impacting about 5,000 employees.

Airlines are rolling out programs to induce tens of thousands of employees to accept voluntary leave or early retirement, hoping to avoid widespread furloughs in the fall. In a restructuring at United Airlines, 13 top management jobs have been cut. United is preparing for 30% reduction in October, when a government-imposed ban on job cuts expires for companies that have received payroll aid under the CARES Act.

United’s new CEO Scott Kirby has said publicly what we all know: It is impossible to social distance on an airplane. “You can’t be six feet apart on an airplane, middle seat or not…What makes an airplane safe is HEPA air filters recirculating the air every two to three minutes, wearing a mask on board the airplane, and cleaning the airplane.”

Meantime, United announced it is increasing transatlantic service in July from Washington, D.C. and San Francisco to cities across Europe thanks to a modest rise in demand. Service to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul will restart and service throughout Latin America and the Caribbean will be expanded. The July schedule will be down about 75% from normal, versus 90% currently.

Boeing is cutting 12,000 more jobs this week and next and the aircraft manufacturer says that still more cuts are coming. Air travel within the U.S. tumbled 96% by mid-April.

Marriott International is extending its furloughs. The world’s largest hotel company will extend employee furloughs through October 2. Marriott has 130,000 staffers in the U.S., indicating that they don’t expect business to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.

Google Maps users can now turn on an “Accessible Places” feature to find wheelchair accessible locations. More information at goo.gle/accessibleplaces

Who Did It Best? Not Boring Creative Social Distancing

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Cool examples of on-brand social distancing to illustrate six feet.

Tupelo, Mississippi: While the rest of us cannot claim to be the birthplace of Elvis Presley, Tupelo can.

If you think of The King’s 1956 recording of “Blue Suede Shoes,” you can see where this footwear-associated social distance branding is going…Visit Tupelo is having fun with it.

In Kentucky: Physical distancing is measured in bourbon barrels.

Wisconsin: Moo-ve over. The University of Wisconsin at Madison translates six feet like this.

Utah: This infographic in the shape of the state rocks.

How many downhill skis does six feet look like? Salt Lake Health says one-and-a-quarter.

More social distancing, Sconnie Style: “Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich is 6 feet 3 inches tall, so imagine him sliding into home to score the winning run to beat the Cubs,” suggests the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “That should give you more than 6 feet of social distance.” (Photo: Lou Saldivar/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

The City of Minneapolis caught a trending “newsjack”to share this graphic featuring Joe Exotic (left) and Carole Baskin (right) from Netflix’s hit “Tiger King” series to encourage social distancing.

In Pinehurst, North Carolina, one of the America’s top ranked courses where—of course— measurements relate to golf carts, golf balls, irons and tees.

Germany: What’s with the propellers? These are the latest fashion in social distancing hats supplied by management at an outdoor cafe in Schwerin, a lakeside town in Northern Germany.

You don’t wear it, you don’t get served. What color would you choose?

This is now “Stars and Stripes,” the American military’s newspaper since WWII, translates social distancing for the U.S. Navy.

St. Pete/Clearwater, Fla.

<- Build your own beach on the sand? Social distancing gets an assist from the creative use of isolated seating inside a seaweed square.

In fact, VisitStPeteClearwater.com has written “A Guide to Social Distancing” and it’s on brand.

  • Keep a beach towel’s length away from your bestie.
  • Leave enough room for a pelican to fly between you.
  • Talk to your friends from one green bench length away.
  • Play shuffleboard with your friends at the other end of the court.
  • Imagine being one dolphin length away from other spectators.

Leon County came up with a standard that every Floridian can memorize: imagine the space as one large alligator. The social media post illustrating a sizable, angry-looking reptile between two faceless figures garnered thousands of shares and hundreds of reactions.

Spain: If you never much cared for getting sand kicked in your face anyway, the beach of the future may look appealing.

In Galicia, the solution on the Silgar beachfront is proposed as five cordoned-off sections of 780 spaces, each measuring nine square meters and marked out by wooden posts and color-coded ropes. One space allows two people, two spaces can have five, three can have eight, and four can have 12. Between each slot there will be a 1.5-meter gap to ensure social distancing.

Ch-ch-changes, New CEOs, Some Partial Re-openings, What Consumers Are Saying

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Job alert: Experience Scottsdale is hiring a Social Media & Digital Marketing Specialist. See LinkedIn for details.

Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau has named Gregg Caren as the new president and CEO.

Mr. Caren has more than three decades of experience in the industry, including convention center management and hotel sales. Most recently, he served as executive vice president of sales and business development for ASM Global, which operates more than 350 venues worldwide. Caren has held board and leadership roles with the International Association for Exhibitions and Events, the National Association of Consumer Shows and the International Association of Venue Managers. He holds a degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from Penn State.

Caren is replacing Julie Coker, who served as CEO for more than five years and is headed to lead the San Diego Tourism Authority. 

Royce Chwin has been appointed President and CEO of Tourism Vancouver, a 117-year-old organization. Mr. Chwin joins from Travel Alberta where he was appointed CEO in 2014 following an earlier role as CMO. Under his leadership, Travel Alberta has been recognized for several best corporate culture awards and multiple global marketing awards for the “Remember to Breathe” campaign. Chwin held leadership roles at Destination Canada (known as Canadian Tourism Commission) and has extensive business experience in the private sector with marquee brands.

In Michigan, Holland Area Visitors Bureau has announced the departure of Executive Director Sally Laukitis. During her tenure, Laukitis was the founder of the Visitor Industry Planning Initiative, served as president of both the Michigan Association of Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Tourism Industry Coalition of Michigan, and as Chair of the Michigan Travel Commission. The CVB’s Linda Hart will fill the role on an interim basis.

Former Gov. Carl Gutierrez has been tapped to lead the Guam Visitors Bureau for at least 90 days. GVB has put together a presidential search committee following the departure of President and CEO Pilar Laguana from May 30. A board member stressed the importance of finding someone who has experience with the Asia-Pacific region.

Kevin Mayer, the chairman of Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming division, has resigned from the company to lead TikTok as CEO of the social video app. The streaming division is the only Disney growth area during the pandemic, says Adweek. During the quarantine, there’s been new interest in TikTok, which allows users to shoot and edit short videos set to music. Comscore says the app brought in 23.2 million mobile unique visitors in February and 28.8 million in March before skyrocketing to 39.2 million in April.

Rebecca Campbell, a 23-year Disney veteran who was most recently president of Disneyland and Resort, will immediately succeed Mayer as chairman of direct-to-consumer and international. The division has operational control of Hulu and has seen Disney+ surpass 54 million subscribers in five months.

Josh D’Amaro is named Disney Parks, Experiences and Products chairman. D’Amaro will oversee Disney’s travel and leisure businesses, including theme parks in the U.S. and abroad; Disney Cruise Line; vacation ownership program Disney Vacation Club; and tour operator Adventures by Disney. He will also oversee consumer products, print publishing, Disney store locations and e-commerce.

Disney World has canceled all reservations for the first week of June after previously accepting bookings. The Orlando resort had been accepting new reservations for dates starting June 1, stoking rumors that a reopening was imminent, but bookings for June 1 through June 6 have now been canceled, reports People magazine. The park and resort are now taking future reservations for travel dates July 1 and later. Read more here.

Good news from Colorado as lawmakers revive the state’s tourism marketing budget that had come under threat earlier this month. The Colorado Sun reports, “The tourism industry rallied last week after committee staff recommended eliminating 87% of the state’s tourism budget. The industry pointed to the 1990s, when Colorado eliminated tourism marketing and the state lost as much as $2 billion a year in visitor spending. On Friday, the beleaguered committee approved about a 47% cut in funding for the tourism office. The proposed budget needs approval from state lawmakers who convene later this month.” To get the facts and figures plus comments from Cathy Ritter, director of Colorado Tourism Office, read more here.

NYC & Company has created a 24-member tourism and hospitality coalition of leaders to steer the city, focusing on messaging, marketing and promotion to restore New York City’s brand locally and beyond. President and CEO Fred Dixon said, “It will be hyperlocal to begin with. We want to re-engage New Yorkers with their own city. Doing so will send a message to the world that New York has reopened itself to tourism.”

Mall of America announced it will reopen retail stores beginning June 1. The largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America will partially reopen in compliance with Minnesota’s new safety protocols, operating at maximum 50% of capacity. Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau has more details here.

Utah’s “Mighty 5” National Parks are re-opening in phases. Bryce Canyon National Park and Capitol Reef National Park are open. Zion National Park began its partial daytime only re-opening last week. Visitor Centers remain closed and shuttles are not running, so entry is limited to the number of parking spaces available, while some trails with handrails remain closed. Arches and Canyonlands will follow on May 29. Information is updated daily on the Travel Utah website. A status rundown of all 62 U.S. national parks is found here.

Several takeaways from this week’s wave of American consumer sentiment on travel.

Longwoods International tracking study indicates 52% of Americans say their first trip will be to visit friends and family domestically, when it’s appropriate to travel again. Americans are still very much divided about welcoming visitors back: 31% in favor and 45% against. And only about a third of Americans indicate they feel comfortable dining in restaurants, while almost half say they are not comfortable in doing so.

MMGY Travel Intelligence on behalf of the U.S. Travel Association found just 36% of U.S. travelers intend to take a domestic leisure trip in the next six months; 57% of travelers say that following the pandemic they are more likely to book travel to U.S. destinations. Also, travelers continue to feel safest when traveling by personal vehicle (68%), and when visiting outdoor destinations such as parks (34%) and the beach (26%).

Destination Analysts find that American travelers are opening back up to attending conferences and conventions, with 64.5% expressing trust the host organizations of these events to look out for their health. Travel planning responses show 64.1% of American travelers who have one or more trips at least tentatively planned this year, seven-in-ten have taken some deliberate action towards their very next trip. Marketing could be effective in swaying travelers to choose a specific destination as over half are still not fully decided on where they will go on their next trip or weekend getaway.

Sparkloft Media has found that online conversations continue with a focus on the economy, employment and unemployment. People have been most concerned by their personal livelihoods and providing for their families. Americans are reverting back to tactics seen during historic recessions to save money, to become more independent from institutions and to entertain themselves during difficult times. 

Related: 20/20 Vision: Q&A with Martin Stoll, CEO, Sparkloft Media

Air Canada will lay off at least 20,000 workers, more than half of its 38,000 employees on June 7. Management wrote, “…it is our current expectation that it will take at least three years to recover to 2019 levels of revenue and capacity. We expect that both the overall industry and our airline will be considerably smaller for some time, which will unfortunately result in significant reductions in both fleet and employee levels.” Next quarter, the company will reduce its booking capacity by 85%.

Uber will close 45 offices and cut 3,000 jobs in a second round of layoffs, less than two weeks after slashing 3,700 positions. Additional cuts mean that about a quarter of its positions have been eliminated in less than a month. Reports indicate that Uber’s bookings have plunged 80% from one year ago. 

From May 18, drivers and riders must wear face masks and coverings in an effort to stop the spread of the disease. Unlike riders, drivers are be required to verify that they’re wearing face masks before accepting a booking. Also, riders are required to sit in the back seat.

Miami-based Royal Caribbean says no more buffets when operations start up again. RCL is currently under a CDC mandate of an indefinite no-sail order for ships with more than 250 passengers and crew.

The world’s largest cruise company, Carnival Corporation, incorporating Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Seabourn, and Princess Cruises, has announced hundreds of layoffs in Florida, California and Washington. The cuts are said to total nearly half its entire workforce.

The Miami Herald reports, “When combined with furloughs announced at Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. last month, some 2,000 jobs have now been shelved in the region’s $6 billion cruise industry. And the job losses are likely to have a ripple effect…thousands of secondary-industry employers that work with cruise companies, including caterers and cleaning firms, are likely to be affected.”

Condé Nast will pink-slip about 100 employees in the U.S. and is putting another 100 on unpaid leave for several months as the pandemic crisis cuts into the media company’s business. The group’s titles include CN Traveler, New Yorker, Wired, Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ, for about 6,000 employees worldwide in 2020 BC* [*before Covid].

A reminder: Zoom has launched version 5.0 as an upgrade to combat security flaws that resulted in “Zoombombing” incidents. The partial company statement: “System-wide account enablement of AES-256-bit GCM encryption will occur on May 30, 2020. and only Zoom clients on version 5.0 or later, including Zoom Rooms, will be able to join Zoom Meetings starting that day.”

World Federation of Advertisers says the timeframe for deferral of ad campaigns is increasing; delays are likely to last much longer than previously planned. Research indicates 52% of large multinationals surveyed say they will now hold back ad spend for six months or more, compared to just 19% taking similar medium-term action in March.

Research indicates 52% of large multinationals surveyed say they will now hold back ad spend for six months or more, compared to just 19% taking similar medium-term action in March. The squeeze will be felt during the first half of 2020, projections are: TV (down 33%), print (down 37%), out of home (down 49%) and events (down 56%). In digital: online video (down 7%), online display (down 14%). Other channels: radio (down 25%), point of sale (down 23%) and influencer (down 22%).

Facebook says Giphy will become part of the Instagram team, making it even easier to send GIFs and stickers in Instagram stories and direct messages.

Why did Facebook acquire Giphy? Some say it isn’t about the large library of animated images known as GIFs, but that it is about peeking deep inside competitors. Giphy is integrated into some of the internet’s most popular apps and services.

Following last week’s $400 million acquisition, user privacy and antitrust alarm bells have been ringing because social media and messaging services like Twitter, Tinder, Slack, Signal, Pinterest, Reddit, TikTok and iMessage already have Giphy integrated into their apps or rely on Giphy’s API for supplying them. Now Facebook gets the data on those API calls, which gives them insight into what people are using beyond Facebook.

A bonus? Since 50% of Giphy’s traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, including Instagram, perhaps Facebook made the acquisition to prevent anyone else from getting a look inside its own ecosystem. (P.S. Could these platforms simply switch to Tenor? Hmm, Google owns Tenor.)  

Steal This Idea – Part VI – Innovation, Cowboys and BBQ

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The call is out! The best way to show off your digital innovation, imagination and ideation is the 3rd Annual eTSY Awards, to be presented during the 21st Annual eTourism Summit.

We want to recognize and celebrate the pure awesomeness of 2019-2020 in a dozen original categories. This is a time to give a proper shout out to the extraordinary talent and dedication of digital tourism marketers who continue to pave the way in creativity.

Applications are open to help us do just that. Submit your unique and effective digital marketing campaign in these eTSY Award categories for our industry judges’ consideration:

* Digital Content
* Email Marketing 
* Social Media
* Video
* Innovation 
* And more! 
Click here for all the details
NOW ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS

Are you following Cowboy Tim? One of Oklahoma City‘s oldest attractions put the destination and the attraction in the spotlight, all thanks to a security guard who took over social media for National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for April during its Covid-19 closure.

His very first post sealed the deal. “I have been asked to take on the additional duty of social media management while the museum is closed. I’m new to this but excited.”

Tim Tiller, head of security at the museum, is now a beloved social media star with a global following due to his sincere, authentic and wholesome demeanor touched with dad jokes and yee-haw witticisms. “It’s unbelievable the social media presence Oklahoma City has gotten from its attractions during all of this thanks to Cowboy Tim,” said Mike Carrier, president of the Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Texas Tourism wants everyone to know that it is National BBQ Month and the Lone Star State is obsessed.

Did you know there are four specific geographic regions with distinct barbecue styles? And that Texas A&M University has a course to teach “the art and science of barbecue”? They’ve created a fun infographic with more facts & figures plus a list of Texas BBQ joints that will safely ship to your doorstep anywhere in the USA.

North Dakota Department of Commerce ran a “Shark Tank”-style competition to find a filmmaker for the $25K award to tell the destination story. Eight judges fielded 10 pitches from four ND-based creative video agencies. The grant went to Glasser Images for their idea to create three, non-sequential short film series to highlight “North Dakota Values” — community, strong work ethic and appreciation of the environment — highlighting North Dakotans “becoming legendary every day.” 

“Glasser’s ideas capture the vibrancy of North Dakota in a way that builds pride, appreciation and awareness of its small towns and residents,” said Sara Otte Coleman. “Through its lens, we will get a unique perspective of the things that make North Dakota a place to Be Legendary.” To see the (17 mins.) pitch presentation, click here.

Can storytelling help NYC & Company with the destination’s post-Covid recovery? Will they attract pro bono entries? Download the brief here.

The DMO is “seeking support in creating a campaign that will remind viewers of what they love and miss about the five boroughs, and make them long to visit and explore once again—with the firm reminder that the NYC they know and love will be back, better than ever.”

DELIVERABLES AND ENTRY

  1. Creating a new logo and tagline for the City’s Tourism Recovery efforts.
  2. Creating a media campaign that includes a :30 content piece and gratis distribution plan for this content.
  3. Offering research that will inform the approach of the campaign
  4. Submissions for logo and tagline to BrandProject@nycgo.com by May 15, 2020.
  5. Submissions for media and campaign by May 22, 2020.

What about Pride Month in June? It’s typically a big draw for destinations across the U.S. and around the world. In San Francisco, where LGBTQ Pride is a year-round state-of-mind as one of the top cities for gay travel, the 50th anniversary of the celebration and parade—largest in North America— has been cancelled. San Francisco Travel Association has created a new video to mark so many historic firsts, including the rainbow flag created in 1978 by Gilbert Baker for San Francisco Pride.

“Where Next?” campaign from Expedia Group Media Solutions encourages audiences to keep dreaming of travel. Available on any device across these Expedia Group brands—Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, Orbitz, CheapTickets and Vrbo—Monya Mandich, Global VP Marketing, shared the campaign in a blog post.

Running between now and June, the campaign invites travelers to explore destinations virtually and discover stunning full-screen imagery and information on both iconic and lesser known destinations around the world.

The new campaign is built by Expedia’s in-house creative agency, Creative Partnerships, to help destinations stay at the forefront of traveler’s minds for future travel consideration and to pave the way for rebuilding trust with travelers around the world, capturing demand when the time is right.

Want the Good News or Bad News First?

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Photo by Edwin Hooper on Unsplash

Earth Day at 50. Who woulda thought…Good or bad, we’ll just present the news we’ve gathered for the eTourism Community.

P.S. Hope that’s OK. Please send us yours for upcoming issues of The Travel Vertical. We aim for informative, factual, free…and always striving for fun to read, too.

Get a Good View: There’s an impressive lineup of free research, much of it updated weekly, on American traveler sentiment that continues to be available. Use the links in our coverage in The Travel Vertical to go straight to the latest research from:

U.S. Travel Association, MMGY Global, Longwoods International, Miles Partnership, Destination Analysts, Arrivalist, Adara, Simpleview, Sparkloft Media, Destinations International, plus Dragon Trail Interactive for data from China.

Commenting on results seen in Wave 6 of their weekly survey, Longwoods International President & CEO Amir Eylon, “The stabilization continues and the intent to travel is still on the rise. Note also the increase in reduction of travel plans likely pointing toward more regional gateways than long haul in the short term.”

Related: When??? Tracking Weekly American Traveler Sentiment

Ernest Wooden Jr. is stepping down from his post as president & CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board at the end of June, when his current contract with the organization ends. Wooden joined the DMO in January 2013.

Adam Burke, COO, will serve as interim president & CEO from July 1.

New Books: What We’re Reading at Home

The latest book by Brian Solis, “Lifescale: How to Live a More Creative, Productive, and Happy Life” seems like just the right title for right now. As a futurist and digital anthropologist, Solis is Global Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce, an eight-time best-selling author and a sought after keynote speaker.

Adam Stoker, co-founder, president and CEO of Relic Agency and host of Destination Marketing Podcast, has compiled a decade’s worth of experience in his new book, “Touchpoints: The Destination Marketer’s Guide To Brand Evaluation And Enhancement.” Adam, who is based in Provo, Utah, says, “I wanted to create a tool that destination marketers could use to strengthen what they’re already doing, I’ve seen a lot of destinations face the same issues across the country and the world, and after years of working through them, I wanted to share some of the insights I’ve gained to try and help them grow.”

In the brand new book “No Filter, The Inside Story of Instagram,” author Sarah Frier goes behind the scenes of the rise of the photo-sharing app that one billion of us use daily and which Facebook famously bought for $1 billion in 2012. Teaser: “If there is a villain in this book, it is Zuckerberg,” The New York Times review tells us. Frier is a San Francisco-based tech reporter at Bloomberg who lets readers in on the unique access she’s had from the very beginning.

Doug Levy, our crisis communications workshop presenter at eTourism Summit 2019 and author of “The Communications Golden Hour®: The Essential Guide To Public Information When Every Minute Counts” has just released “The Communications Guide for Coronavirus: Best Practices for Business, Government and Public Health Leaders.” The award-winning journalist and former chief communications officer of one America’s top medical centers, Levy has captured learnings from his own experience handling crises ranging from Ebola to mass casualty incidents, earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters.  Learn how to craft more effective messages that tell your audience what to do — right now.

IPW 2020 is cancelled: The event was planned for May 30 – June 3 in Las Vegas. A message from Malcolm Smith, General Manager – “Next week we will update you on the process for credits and refunds in relation to the investment many of you have made for this year’s IPW, as well as additional information on IPW 2021.” Mark your calendars now for IPW in Chicago on April 24-28, 2021.

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority chief executive Steve Hill said the DMO’s room tax revenue (about one-third of the total generated) is expected to drop from $300 million to between $100 million and $120 million for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Consideration of a new budget will be undertaken next month, as about $60 million more in income is lost due to convention cancellations.

Airbnb says uh-oh: A week after reeling in $1 billion in fresh capital, they’re raising another $1 billion in debt, paying a steep 10% interest. Airbnb is tied to the tourism industry and has seen business disappear over the past six weeks. The company is refunding customers who cancelled trips and set aside $250 million to reimburse hosts. Airbnb was preparing for its IPO when bookings dried up. The current valuation of $18 billion has dropped nearly 50% since a private valuation of $31 billion in 2017.

Want to know more? Skift CEO/Founder Rafat Ali, will host Airbnb Co-Founder & CEO Brian Chesky as his interview guest this week on Friday, 4/24 at 3 p.m. EDT. The Long View Guest This Week.

Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson has put Neckar, his private Caribbean island up as collateral in an effort to bolster two airlines including Virgin Australia. Branson has already pumped $250 million into Virgin Group companies in response to the pandemic, “to raise as much money against the island as possible to save as many jobs as possible around the group.”

Lonely Planet slims down: Founded in 1973, is looking at “almost entirely” closing its operations in London and Melbourne and shuttering its monthly Lonely Planet Magazine. Destination guidebooks and phrasebooks are still in production for now.

The 187th Oktoberfest 2020, the world’s largest festival attracting six million people over two weeks, was scheduled to begin in Munich on September 18. It has been cancelled for the first time since World War II. This represents a loss of $1.1 billion in revenue for the Bavarian capital.

Switzerland Tourism has projected the Stars & Stripes on the Matterhorn. Every evening, since April 2, 2020, the 14,600-ft. Alpine mountain has been beaming out messages during the coronavirus outbreak, including “Stay at Home,” and “Hope” by artist Gerry Hofstetter. On April 15, the USA got a shoutout and live streaming, as the Swiss shared their best wishes with American friends.

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Laurie Jo Miller Farr, Editor
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