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Countdown: USA Borders Open to Fully Vaccinated Visitors From November 8

October 18, 2021 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

From next month, we “…will begin allowing travelers from Mexico and Canada who are fully vaccinated for Covid-19 to enter the United States for non-essential purposes, including to visit friends and family or for tourism, via land and ferry border crossings.” — U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Here’s how the re-opening of our borders will roll out in two phases over the next few months.

First, in November, we begin allowing fully vaccinated travelers from Mexico or Canada to enter the United States at land and ferry points of entry for non-essential reasons. Travelers will be required to show appropriate paperwork that provides proof of vaccination.

Second, beginning in early January 2022, the United States will require essential visitors, like truck drivers or healthcare workers, to be vaccinated to cross land borders.

This new travel system will create consistent, stringent protocols for all foreign nationals traveling to the United States – whether by air, land, or ferry – and accounts for the wide availability of COVID-19 vaccinations.

People & Places, Including a New Tourism Director in Colorado

July 27, 2021 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Roger Dow, President & CEO at U.S. Travel Association, has announced his retirement in July 2022 following 17 years of service.

Dow has guided U.S. Travel and the broader industry through periods of remarkable growth—marked by 10 consecutive years of expansion from 2009 to 2019—followed by enormous pandemic challenges beginning in 2020.

Dow is credited with leading the legislation that created Brand USA, the nation’s destination marketing organization, and developing policies and programs that enabled domestic and international inbound travel to thrive by ensuring an understanding of travel and tourism as a linchpin of the American economy.

In the coming months, the U.S. Travel National Chair Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, will name a representative search committee so the organization’s board can begin “a transparent and inclusive process to identify the association’s next top leader.” To read the press release, visit www.ustravel.org.

Announcing: Connect 2021 in Tampa on Aug. 30-Sept. 1.

A moderated conversation with former First Lady Michelle Obama. (Sponsored by Visit Milwaukee, Detroit Metro CVB, Meet Minneapolis, Discover Puerto Rico)

Timothy Wolfe is the new Colorado Tourism Director. A veteran of the state tourism interests, Wolfe was a hotel executive who served on Visit Denver’s board of directors, as board chairman for Colorado Tourism Office, and chaired Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association board. Wolfe replaces Cathy Ritter, who was ousted from her six-year position in April by Pat Meyers, Colorado’s new director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

In a restructuring to support the goal of Mālama Kuʻu Home (caring for my beloved home), two executives are promoted at Hawaii Tourism Authority. Kalani Ka‘anā‘anā has been promoted to chief brand officer and Caroline Anderson has been promoted to director of planning.

In Wisconsin, Destination Sturgeon Bay (Door County) has appointed a native, Cameryn Ehlers-Kwaterski, as its next Executive Director. She will join from Visit Rome, where she has served as Executive Director for three years and was recognized by the Governor’s Rising Star Award.

Bart Blaisdell has been named as Senior Vice President-Finance & Operations at Visit Salt Lake. A Utah native, he joins from a previous role as CFO at Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines.

Karen Kuhl, Executive Director, Tour Cayuga County in New York’s Finger Lake Region, is our latest guest on The Travel Vertical Podcast in conversation with Adam Stoker and Laurie Jo Miller Farr. Karen discusses the destination’s special attribute as the longtime home of Harriet Tubman and how smaller DMOs can promote authentic qualities that distinguish them.

Take a listen here: https://bit.ly/3zLB7xt

A familiar face has rejoined San Francisco Travel. Beth Melanson is welcomed back as Senior Manager Convention Sales covering the Southeast and Southwest regions.

In Northern California, Redding Chamber of Commerce announced it has hired Danny Orloff as tourism marketing director of Visit Redding, a new position. He joins from outside the travel industry.

Joshua Lambert joins Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau as Social Media Specialist. His previous DMO experience includes five years in marketing roles at The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel.

Anastasia Straley has a new role as Social Media Content Specialist at Delta Air Lines. She has previously handled social media at San Francisco Travel Association, Choose Chicago, and Visit St. Paul.

In Ohio, Katie Thompson joins Visit Dublin as Marketing Coordinator. She’s a recent grad from Kent State University where she was involved in previously PR Comms and interned in PR at Destination Grandview.

Emily Bates has joined the New Mexico Tourism Department as tourism development coordinator. She had previously been in tourism promotion for a DMO in Bordeaux, France.

In Sarasota, Florida, Nicole Brownell has joined Paradise Advertising & Marketing as VP-Digital Marketing. Her past experience includes Miles Partnership and the Regional Office of Sustainability, a DMO in Lake Placid, New York.

Joe Tropia has joined Legends / One World Observatory in NYC as Tourism & Trade Manager. His background includes attractions such as Harry Potter & the Cursed Child, National Geographic Encounter, Blue Man Group, and the Metropolitan Opera.

Destination Canada has announced that Meaghan Ferrigno is appointed to be the new Chief Data and Analytics Officer. She joins from the health sector.

22 Destinations Receive DMAP Designation

The Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) from Destinations International recognizes a destination organization’s commitment to industry excellence and meeting industry standard for performance and accountability. It requires successful compliance with a number of mandatory and voluntary standards across performance areas related to the management and marketing of destination organizations including governance, finance, human resources, sales, communications, destination development and research. The full active list of over 200 accredited destinations is found here. Announced for 2021:

Newly Accredited:

Chattanooga Tourism Co. (with distinction)
Convention & Visitors Bureau of Dunwoody
Finger Lakes Visitors Connection
Ottawa Tourism (with distinction)
Southern Delaware Tourism, Convention & Visitors Bureau of Sussex County
Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island
Visit Beloit
Visit Corpus Christi
Visit Elizabeth City
Visit Stillwater

4-Year Renewals:

Experience Kissimmee
Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau
Meet Minneapolis
Memphis Tourism
Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau
Tabasco Convention & Visitors Bureau
Visit Knoxville
Visit Norfolk

8-Year Reaccreditation:

Banff & Lake Louise Tourism Bureau
New Orleans & Company
Visit Orlando
Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

REGISTER HERE

What makes a great travel story? From Uber Eats to Twitter Fleets, Spotify to TikTok, and of course, Instagram Stories and Reels, the story format has captivated consumers and marketers alike.

What makes a travel story memorable, engaging, and actionable? Should you use photos, videos, or both? And, most importantly, how can you make the most of the story format to attract interested travelers to your destination?

Urgent: Two Dozen Industry Groups Appeal for Reopening International Travel Now

July 13, 2021 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Urge Government to Lift Restrictions by July 15

President & CEO of U.S Travel Association, Roger Dow, writes: “More than two dozen trade organizations—representing a diverse swath of the American economy—joined U.S. Travel this week in making an urgent appeal to the federal government to ease entry restrictions by July 15.

The time is now—we simply cannot afford to wait any longer.“

We simply cannot afford to wait any longer. For each week that travel restrictions remain in place, the U.S. economy loses $1.5 billion in spending just from Canada, the European Union and the U.K.—enough money to support 10,000 American jobs.

This call to action accompanied the release of a policy blueprint called “A Framework to Safely Lift Entry Restrictions and Restart International Travel,” a document that includes policy principles for finally welcoming international visitors back to the U.S. while keeping health and safety as the top priority.

Some of the guidelines in the policy framework:

Reserve entry restrictions for only the highest-risk countries.
Replace all other blanket travel restrictions with a framework of entry protocols based on a country-by-country and individual traveler risk assessment.
Ensure the framework is easy to understand, communicate and implement.

The science is clear: this can be done safely and quickly.”

Read more here.

‘Let’s Meet There’ — Crucial Business Travel Must Get a Boost

June 22, 2021 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

In-person meetings, conferences, and conventions are critical to business travel recovery, which will not come until at least 2024 unless we take action to boost the segment’s pace.

Just 35% of U.S. businesses are engaging in any business-related travel, says Tourism Economics in a new report released last week. Lingering Covid-19 restrictions and a patchwork approach to reopening will prevent the crucial business travel segment from recovering until at least 2024, while leisure travel recovers to 99% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022.

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Spending on travel for large, in-person professional meetings and events (PMEs) declined by 76% last year—a $97 billion loss in spending. With vaccinations and infection rates in the U.S. trending favorably, restrictions lowered, and traveler confidence rebounding, domestic leisure travel is projected to reach 99% of its pre-pandemic peak in 2022 and to grow steadily thereafter.

But in the absence of clear and consistent guidance from federal health authorities on PMEs, business-related travel is not expected to recover its pre-pandemic volume for an additional two years. A staggering 65% of all U.S. jobs lost in 2020 were supported by travel, and they cannot fully recover without a swift return of all segments of travel, particularly in-person PMEs, according to the analysis. Read more here.

Hilton President & CEO Chris Nassetta said that while 2019 business travel levels are not expected for three years, it is possible to accelerate that. He said surveys show that 85% believe in-person meetings are “irreplaceable” and can safely happen.

Tourism Economics President Adam Sacks said those states that have opened early have “jumped out in front” in recovery. He said cities that have suffered the most during the pandemic are those that rely heavily on business travel and meetings. Sacks also noted a correlation between higher levels of education and getting vaccinated, noting on average higher levels of education among business travelers, thus more likely to be vaccinated. (Source: Travel Pulse)

U.S. Travel Association President & CEO Roger Dow presented “Let’s Meet There,” an industry-wide effort to restore professional meetings and events to try to boost the pace of business travel recovery. It was introduced during MPI’s World Education Congress held earlier this month in Las Vegas. Messaging leads with data, said Dow, indicating there’s a white paper to download put together by the Ohio State University School of Nursing looking at the safe staging of structured, well-organized events.

The U.S. hotel industry recorded its highest monthly performance levels since before the beginning of the pandemic. In May 2021, occupancy was 59.3%. Average daily rate (ADR) was $117.69. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) was $69.81. Each of the three key performance metrics were the highest for any month since February 2020. (Source: Hospitality Net)

Tennessee #1, Rent Me a U-Haul, the Remote Work Revolution and Zoom Towns

February 16, 2021 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Trend-spotting: Almost four in 10 (39%) of all the U.S. jobs lost since last February are in leisure and hospitality—triple the number of the next-hardest-hit industry.

U.S. Travel Association reports,”Other numbers underscore the particularly dire situation of Leisure & Hospitality compared to the rest of the U.S. jobs economy:

The 23% of Leisure & Hospitality jobs lost since February 2020 is nearly double the industry with the next-worst job loss rate (mining and logging, 12%).
Leisure & Hospitality’s 39% share of all U.S. unemployment is three times that of the industry with the second-biggest share (government, 13%).
The 16% current unemployment rate in Leisure & Hospitality is almost three times the overall U.S. unemployment rate (6%).”

Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, said in a statement: “The math is pretty easy: The U.S. economy won’t get back on track until the Leisure & Hospitality sector is back on track, and that’s going to take aggressive policy actions. Safely restarting travel needs to become a national priority, which means not only relief measures but pressing ahead on vaccinations and continuing to emphasize best health practices.”

Got a laptop? Internet access? OK, you’re all set. Spotify just announced its “Work From Anywhere” program for all 6,550 global employees. Travis Robinson, Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging says the strategy will promote work-life balance and employee happiness, among other benefits.

Spotify, headquartered in Stockholm, is protecting existing pay packets regardless of an employee’s geographic location.

“I believe #WorkFromAnywhere is an opportunity that speaks to diversity, inclusion and belonging,” said Robinson in a LinkedIn post.

*Salesforce Tower, San Francisco skyline*

The Remote Revolution: Plenty of raised eyebrows when Salesforce (36,000 employees) announced a permanent work-from-home solution last week. The company’s landmark headquarters tower, San Francisco’s tallest skyscraper, was only just completed in 2018. Facebook and Twitter also announced remote work flexibility, but with downward pay adjustments for employees that opt for alternative, less pricey locations. So, where to?

Related: “Goodbye NYC…hello, Montana?“

Hello, Generation-work-from-home. Coastal metro super powers like New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles are shedding population in favor of Zoom towns, as employees relocate to less pricey places increasingly populated by permanently remote white collar workers.

Tracking one-way rentals, U-Haul’s annual migration report was released at the start of 2021, and for the first time, all roads led to (no income tax) Tennessee. Since 2016, do-it-yourself customers had made Texas and Florida their top two destinations, which dropped a place to second and third.

“Ohio, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina and Georgia round out the top 10 states for 2020 growth as self-movers continue to migrate to the Southeast, as well as markets in the Southwest, Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions,” says the report.

Where are U-Haulers saying goodbye? California, by a wide margin, followed by Illinois. Read more here.

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