National Park Week: Saturday, April 16 – Sunday, April 24
Entrance fees are waived on April 16 to kick off National Park Week when parks across the U.S. host special programs, events, experiences. The theme this year is “sPark Connections.”
“Love It Like We Do” has just been unveiled as the destination’s campaign slogan.
Readers will recall the big shakeup last summer when the other Visit Duluth—the one that had the contract since 1935—got axed by the mayor and city council. (The Travel Vertical, 8/17/2021).
“Visit Duluth will now play a reduced supporting role, working to attract conventions, operate a visitor center and promote special events, including sports competitions.” — Duluth News Tribune
The new Duluth Tourism Collaborative includes representatives from the city of Duluth, Visit Duluth, the DECC and two Twin Cities-based organizations, Bellmont Partners and Lawrence & Schiller to lead a multi-million marketing effort for 2022.
When Visit Duluth staged its big marketing rollout on April 11, targeted ads had already begun in markets like the Twin Cities, as well as pitches to national travel magazines. Markets within 200 miles are the main emphasis, followed by those within 400 miles.
There are new players. And, Visit Duluth has a new logo.
- Daniele Villa is the newly appointed president of sales and operations for Visit Duluth.
- Tricia Hobbs was hired in January by the City of Duluth as senior economic developer, a newly established position within the Planning and Economic Development department to focus on Tourism, Arts and Culture.
Visit Philadelphia has launched a spring marketing campaign in drive markets including Washington DC and New York City. The push: “Pack Light. Plan Big. For Philly.” has a $2 million spend supporting it, the largest since the pandemic hit. Covering Philly’s suburbs, Washington DC, New York City, and is also on Expedia.com, TV and radio spots, print ads in various newspapers: Philadelphia Gay News, The Philadelphia Tribune, South Philly Review.
Tag lines include: “Plan on two days that don’t feel like the other five,” “Plan on being wowed by more than our cheesesteaks,” “Plan on a tiny drive to a gigantic weekend” and “Plan on making WFH, work from here.”
“Travel trends indicate that people are ready to start traveling to big cities again,” said Neil Frauenglass, chief marketing officer, VISIT PHILADELPHIA. “Our campaign aims to show and tell them that a trip to Philadelphia is easy from the planning stage to the doing stage.”
In a partnership with Destination Toronto, “Now Playing Toronto” is the new platform for what’s live. In Toronto, locals think there’s a great arts scene, according to 85% of the respondents in a 2018 survey by Toronto Arts Foundation.
Scott Beck, President & CEO of Destination Toronto says, “Arts, entertainment, and culture feed a city’s vibrancy reflecting the scope and scale of a destination and attracting talented artists, creators, visitors, and businesses. As Torontonians renew their sense of adventure for experiences, we believe Now Playing Toronto will become the go-to calendar for things to do, feeding the vitality of the City and supporting the regrowth of the cultural sector.”
Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau President & CEO Kristen Adamo and Discover Newport President & CEO Evan Smith were among those announcing the relaunch of Recommend Rhode Island. The campaign asks fellow Rhode Islanders to refer events of any size among their personal and professional networks to the Ocean State. “We know most of our residents belong to some sort of group and they’re ready to meet in person once again,” said Adamo. “We expect today’s Recommend RI relaunch to build on the campaign’s pre-pandemic momentum of working with 10-20 residents annually to attract business that generated upwards of $7 million.”
Washington will have a new scenic license plate to salute its wine industry, second in production among all 50 states. Gov. Jay Inslee approved the bill, so the $40 plates come out later this year. “All funds generated from sales of the plate, as well as from the $30 renewal fee, will go to State of Washington Tourism to advocate, promote, develop and sustain destination tourism marketing across the state,” reports The Chronicle.
In Western Massachusetts, Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau is going to invest $100,000 in a new photo and video gallery that illustrates diversity. “We looked at our content as it stands and realized we can do better,” said Michele Goldberg, vice president of marketing for the bureau. This will support the marketing campaign, “Where Fun Comes To Play — Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.”
In Colorado, hotel guests will no longer see 100% of the funds they pay into county lodging taxes used for marketing efforts telling them to return, due to HB22-1117, a bill signed into law on March 31.
Those marketing efforts aren’t as necessary if the tourism industry is facing larger problems serving the guests who are already here, Gov. Jared Polis said in a speech supporting the bill. The new legislation allows 90% of the lodging tax funds to be used outside of tourism marketing so counties can make capital expenditures out of their lodging tax coffers for housing and child care, or for facilitating and enhancing visitor experiences, such as trail maintenance.
