The Travel Vertical

Weekly stories curated exclusively for digital tourism marketers

MMGY Would Love Your Opinion in a Quick Survey

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The Travel Vertical publishes all the juicy tourism-related survey results we come across. Here’s an opportunity for DMOs to take part in a highly relevant one that’s in-market right now.

Developed by MMGY Global, it’s the “2019 Destination Marketing Technology Survey Website Insights” and opinions are being sought right now from the eTourism Community. Interested DMOs of any size budget are invited to share their opinions.

After all, a survey is only as good as its participants. Multiple choice questions will take less than five minutes. Click here to take the survey.

The survey is designed to learn from tourism marketing leaders about their use and perception of marketing technologies such as websites, email marketing and emerging technologies.

Robert Patterson, V.P., Marketing Technology at MMGY, talked to The Travel Vertical about key findings gained via the first survey in 2018 and expectations for 2019.

“We’re really excited about the areas of opportunity around 5G. Mobile is so dominant and we’re on the verge of deeper mobile experiences. We know that DMOs feel there’s room for improvement on websites—last year’s survey indicated that 64% are not very happy with the user experience.”

See two of the results about websites (below) from last year’s survey. Get the full 2018 insights here.

Highlights of the results will be presented at CES in Las Vegas on Jan. 6, 2020 when Robert Patterson moderates an expert panel. All survey participants will receive the full report early in the new year.

MMGY: We’re Looking at a Travel Recession

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MMGY says, “It’s Time to Call It—We Are Headed for a Travel Recession.”

The global travel and hospitality marketing and research company is projecting a significant slowdown in leisure travel this year, beginning with summer. The prediction is based on the Travel Sentiment Index (TSI) showing eight straight quarters of decline in demand.

  • American intent for leisure travel is softening.
  • Price sensitivity has soared, which is cited as another bad sign.
  • While travel overall was down, road travel was up.

Simply put, “Travelers are saying that they are likely to travel less in the next six months,” says Craig Compagnone, MMGY Global’s chief operating officer.

Clayton Reid, CEO, MMGY Global offers insights and advice here.

Lots of Jobs and a Few Announcements

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MMGY

MMGY Global has acquired Digital Spring, a London-based content, media, and creative agency for travel and tourism brands. The newly acquired shop will be part of the company’s European integrated services brand MMGY, along with U.K.-based brands Hills Balfour, Grifco, and Ophir.

Miles Partnership

Miles Partnership announced that it acquired Ad+genuity Marketing Solutions in January, a Boston-based full-service media agency serving the tourism industry since 2006. Ad+genuity was founded by tourism marketing veteran Tania Leichliter, a past speaker at eTourism Summit, who has joined Miles as Senior VP.

Marisa Yamane

The Hawaii Tourism Authority has hired Marisa Yamane as director of communications and public relations. Yamane comes to HTA from KHON-TV in Honolulu, where she co-anchored the station’s 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts.

Paul Michael Garcia has been appointed VP-Global Communications at West Hollywood Travel + Tourism Board. Paul has had top global PR roles at Hong Kong Tourism Board, Crystal Cruises, Disneyland and San Francisco Zoo.

screen shot from Touring Bird by Google

Touring Bird by Google, a new easy-to-use, mobile-first travel portal for city breaks (see The Travel Vertical, Sept. 11, 2018) has just added 200 global cities to its original core 20 cities. In addition to paid activities and tours, Touring Bird offers tips and free things to do from insiders for each destination. Additional cities will be added. Check out Touring Bird here.

Video Globetrotter w/ Scott Eddy

Think drone footage and dramatic digital content. Scott Eddy will be the host for a new series, Video Globetrotter, launching this fall on Lifetime TV.

The State of Nevada is currently accepting applications from qualified applicants for the position of Director of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. The Director oversees the Nevada Division of Tourism, the Division of Museums and History, the Nevada Arts Council, the Nevada Indian Commission, and the official publication of the Division of Tourism, Nevada Magazine. The Department’s primary office is located in Carson City, with a second office in Las Vegas, as well as state museum locations in Carson City, Reno, Ely, Las Vegas, Overton, and Boulder City.

Visit St. Pete/Clearwater seeks applicants for President & CEO. SearchWide Global is retained.

Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau (RI) seeks a President & CEO. SearchWide Global is retained.

Discover Lancaster (PA) seeks a President & CEO. Search Wide Global is retained.

Visit Florida seeks a CMO. SearchWide Global is retained.

Team San Jose is searching for a VP of Sales and Destination Services, a key role for a strategic leader. SearchWide Global is retained.

Experience Rochester (MN), a new DMO, requires an Executive Director for the destination and the Mayo Civic Center. SearchWide Global is retained.

Freeman seeks a VP-Brand Experience based in Seattle. SearchWide Global is retained.

SearchWide Global has been retained to conduct a search for Dallas’ next general manager for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Kent County Tourism Corporation in Dover, Delaware is in search of new leadership. Former president Wendie Vestfall left a couple of months ago to become tourism development director at Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach CVB in Port Charlotte, Florida.

Polk County (FL) Board of County Commissioners in Tallahassee is seeking a senior marketing manager.

The Texas Governor’s Office in Austin seeks an advertising specialist reporting to the director of tourism.

The State of Vermont seeks an economic development digital marketing specialist for Think Vermont programs.

The Montana Office of Tourism and Business Promotion Division (MOTBD) for the Department of Commerce is seeking a marketing bureau chief.

Switzerland Tourism, the NTO, seeks a media relations manager-East Coast, based in NYC, with French, German, or Italian language skills.

Visit Philadelphia is looking for a web and email marketing specialist.

Visit Bellevue (WA) is searching for a partnership manager.

Expedia Group is looking for a brand partnership manager, also in Bellevue HQ.

The Bureau/Chamber in Park City, Utah seeks an international marketing and communications specialist.

Davis County in Farmington, Utah, seeks a tourism deputy director.

Destination DC is hiring a manager, international marketing.

Lodi Conference & Visitors Bureau (CA)seeks a digital marketing manager.

Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board has an opening for social media manager.

Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board has an opening for manager of international tourism marketing.

SFMOMA, the modern art museum in San Francisco, requires a travel industry sales manager for domestic and international marketing.

The San Francisco Giants need a director of marketing and communications.

The Javits Convention Center in New York City is hiring a director of sales and marketing as well as a manager of business development and events.

The City of Norwalk (CT) is hiring a director of business development and tourism.

Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (NC) is looking for a strategic communications director.

Visit Bucks County has a position for marketing and communications intern.

Discover the Palm Beaches is hiring an advertising and promotions manager.

Universal Orlando requires a senior manager-resort sales for the travel industry.

San Antonio Zoo is looking for a brand marketing manager.

Reunion Tower observation deck in Dallas requires a director of visitor experience.

Empire State Development is looking for a director, tourism programs and operations as well as a vice president, marketing for the ILOVENY program.

What have we missed? Send us your news.

Nebraska Tourism Shakes It Up With Hilarious New Campaign

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No more “Nebraska Nice.” Now, the Cornhusker State tourism slogan aims to captivate with its attention-grabbing tagline, “Nebraska: Honestly, it’s not for everyone.” And, it’s working.

Adopting cheeky as the tone of voice previously seen at Travel Oregon and Visit Salt Lake, Nebraska’s new ad pitch leans on charming, self-deprecating humor, touting “Lucky for you, there’s nothing to do here” and “Famous for our flat, boring landscape” juxtaposed by appealing images indicating the opposite.

After out-of-state audience testing conducted by Milwaukee-based Brand Lever, the campaign was developed by a Denver-based advertising agency, Vladimir Jones. Tourism officials estimated the cost of developing the 2019 campaign at $450,000. State Tourism Director John Ricks said that because Nebraska ranks as the “least likely state” for visitors (see 2017 MMGY study in The Travel Vertical, Nov. 8, 2017), the marketing campaign needed to be different. “To make people listen, you have to hook them somehow. We had to shake people up,” Ricks told the Omaha World-Herald.  Read more in The Kansas City Star report.

Nebraska Tourism Commission’s marketing manager, Jenn Gjerde, said they received an overwhelming number of requests for T-shirts with the slogan within 24 hours of the announcement. Resulting media coverage reached more than 384 million people in the blink of an eye, reports the state DMO.

Nebraska’s campaign is getting plenty of attention. Watch Steven Colbert on The Late Show have some fun with Nebraska and 11 other fictitious state tourism campaigns.

People & Places News From eTourism Community

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MMGY Global grows more global under the leadership of CEO Clayton Reid. The Kansas City-headquartered agency, which positions itself as the world’s largest integrated marketing company specializing in travel and hospitality, announced that it has acquired the high-profile British travel and travel and tourism public relations firm, Hills Balfour. Read more from our sister publication, Inbound Report here.

 

Lots has happened at Houston First, which runs Houston’s convention and tourism bureau and also operates a convention center, theatres, parking facilities and more in the nation ‘s fourth largest city. Dawn Ullrich, who served as president and CEO of the quasi-public, was ousted after announcing her intended retirement at year end.

Inbound Report indicates that, “The dismissal of Ullrich stunned the tourism community in Houston and came in the wake of Ullrich’s own announcement that she had planned to retire from her CEO post by the end of the year. An attorney who has more than three decades experience working for the city of Houston, including a number of years with its convention center, she came to Houston First when it was established in 2011.”

In 2014, the agency assumed the duties of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. Houston First has a $240 million budget and 240 staff members.”

 

Within two days, Houston City Council announced that it had confirmed Brenda Bazan, chief financial officer of Houston First as the new CEO of the organization. According to Inbound Report,

More from Inbound Report, “Bazan, a certified public accountant for three decades, has served as Houston First Corp.’s chief financial officer since 2011. Previously, she was deputy director, finance and administration, for Houston’s convention and entertainment facilities department. And prior to that, she worked for more than two years as director of financial reporting in the City of Houston Controller’s Office.”

Meanwhile, in Kansas City, Visit KC announced the appointment of Patrick Geschwind as its interim president & CEO, following the Jan. 31 departure of Ronnie Burt (The Travel Vertical, 1/16/2018) from the position following accusations of harrassment by another employee of that agency. Geschwind, owner and senior consultant at Patrick Geschwind & Associates, has 25 years of marketing, sales and human resource positions within SBC Communications (now AT&T).

 

Geschwind’s interim role at Kansas City’s tourism bureau began on Feb. 20. Meanwhile, a committee of the Visit KC board of directors is conducting a national search for a permanent replacement.

 

More from Visit KC: Derek Byrne assumes the role of social media manager to oversee all social media strategy, management and implementation for each of Visit KC’s social channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn. He previously served as a communications specialist for Texas A&M University, where he managed the institution’s student- and family-focused channels. Byrne also has PR and marketing experience with Development Counsellors International, a New York-based tourism marketing firm.

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Laurie Jo Miller Farr, Editor
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