Steve Paganelli Archives - The Travel Vertical

A Racecar to Match a Website | A Theme Park for Peppa Pig | A $20M Endowment and More News for DMOs

March 2, 2021 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

March is Women ‘s History Month: A NYC & Company campaign promotes women-owned, women-operated establishments through the five boroughs. A new website guide, “The Women Who Made NYC History,” includes landmarks, hotels, restaurants, shops, cultural and historical venues.

“Female-owned and -operated businesses are so vital to our city and our industry, and we invite New Yorkers and visitors to support these enterprises now and into the future,” said Nancy Mammana, NYC & Company’s chief marketing officer, in a media release.

More than 700 attended last week’s virtual Visit California Outlook Forum, an annual event.

While Disneyland and other attractions remain idle, the California Tourism Act, Senate Bill 285 was under discussion. Introduced Feb. 1, it would provide $45 million to launch a media and jobs recovery campaign (when state guidelines allow) called “Calling All Californians,” aimed at driving in-state travel to hospitality businesses and popular destinations that largely have been dark for nearly a year. Newspaper publishers and broadcast media would match the funds provided to Visit California, said Visit California CEO Caroline Beteta during a Feb. 24 virtual roundtable discussion.

“We actually have more than 20,000 businesses that pay an assessment and because of the pandemic, when the tourism business revenues stopped, so did our funding,” Beteta said. “We were able to conserve some cash due to the shutdowns for a recovery campaign, but our marketing will stop in June of this year as those reserves dwindle.”

The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation has launched a $20 million endowment, Marriott-Sorenson Center for Hospitality Leadership, to establish a hospitality leadership program at Howard University, one of the nation’s most prestigious historically Black colleges and universities. Named after the late Arne Sorenson, the business school program aims to develop future hospitality industry executives.

“I can think of no better tribute to the amazing legacy of Arne Sorenson than to focus on educating and advancing future leaders of the hospitality industry,” said J.W. “Bill” Marriott, Jr., executive chairman and chairman of the board. “Arne’s passion for creating a culture of opportunity brought real change in the executive ranks of our company. But work remains to be done. Our industry needs a pipeline of diverse leadership talent and that’s exactly what this Center will achieve.”

Tripadvisor has launched a live sentiment dashboard to support global tourism recovery. It delivers real-time, affordable, and actionable intelligence derived from millions of destination–specific conversations happening across the internet so users can craft products and messaging that’s most relevant. Powered by Vancouver-based Tourism Sentiment Index, the new dashboard is part of Tripadvisor’s wider suite of data intelligence products for DMOs, known as the Tripadvisor Insights Platform.

Tripadvisor Group Head of Destination Marketing-Americas, Steve Paganelli, said, “This live dashboard puts actionable insights at DMOs’ fingertips to help them make more informed and strategic marketing and media placement decisions. For example, being able to understand travelers’ readiness to travel in real-time helps DMOs update their marketing with the most effective messaging, therefore, getting the most impactful message in front of the right people, at the right time.” Read more here.

Delaware Tourism Office is launching a two-pronged incubator and workshop program, Destination Development Program, to help ensure businesses are prepared for recovery.

For the incubator program, the state office is working with Miles Partnership, and leading the workshop training is Wilmington-based marketing firm Aloysius Butler & Clark. Visit Delaware tourism director Liz Keller said the idea for the program was hatched before the pandemic and the crisis emphasized its need.

A popular Louisville theme park is officially under new ownership, with Herschend Family Entertainment becoming majority partner and operator of Kentucky Kingdom and Hurricane Bay. Herschend operates popular attractions including Dollywood and Newport Aquarium in northern Kentucky, and is the owner of the Harlem Globetrotters.

“…Very proud and excited to announce our new partnership with amusement park Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, KY. Looking forward to working with Kentucky Tourism, Louisville CVB, and all our Kentucky friends and partners,” said David West, executive director of destination marketing at Herschend Family Entertainment.

Pre-schoolers and parents, are you ready? The owners of the Legoland Florida Resort will build a theme attraction dedicated to the British cartoon character Peppa Pig. Scheduled to open in 2022, it’s 4.5 acres adjacent to Legoland in Winter Haven. Rides and attraction details for the 4.5-acre park will be announced this summer, according to parent company, Merlin Entertainments. [Fun fact: Peppa Pig World opened in 2011 near Winchester in southeast England.]

Discover Denton (TX) the primary sponsor of the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro driven by Tommy Joe Martins for Martins Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 6. Even more cool, Discover Denton will leverage its first NASCAR sponsorship to promote the launch of their new website, DiscoverDenton.com, utilizing a car design that mirrors the aesthetic of the new website.

“There has always been a strong connection between NASCAR and Denton, especially with our close proximity to Texas Motor Speedway,” said Mike Pistana, VP of Discover Denton.

Take out & toke up: At Claremont Club & Spa, Bay Area icon since 1915, Limewood Bar and Restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., is unveiling a food-and-weed pairing. Meal with marijuana is a take-home dinner and Zoom call with reheating instructions and weed wisdom. Apothecarium cannabis dispensary supplies the marijuana ($34 to $36 for two grams or $110 to $116 for two eighths) and Limewood’s chef prepares the four-course meal for two ($150).

Marriott Announces New Leadership, Tripadvisor Moderates ‘See Tomorrow’ Conversation, People & Jobs

February 23, 2021 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line is the new national chair of U.S. Travel Association. Announced this week, vice chairs are: Julie Coker, president & CEO of San Diego Tourism Authority; Fred Dixon, president & CEO of NYC & Co.; Sharon Siskie, SVP commercial strategy, Disney Signature Experiences at The Walt Disney Company.

Serving as treasurer is Stephen Revetria, president, Giants Enterprises, San Francisco Giants; secretary is Michael Dominguez, president & CEO, Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI).

Marriott International has named Anthony Capuano as CEO and Stephanie Linnartz as president. The two longtime Marriott executives were recently installed in interim leadership roles when Arne Sorenson reduced his activity for medical reasons before his passing on Feb. 15.

Both Capuano and Linnartz are long-time members of the Marriott leadership team, having joined the company in 1995 and 1997, respectively. The new roles are effective immediately.

Arrivalist announces the appointment of Jeff Summerson as Vice President of Product. He joins from INRIX and brings deep experience in geospatial intelligence through operational, engineering and product roles in the fields of mobile location analytics, transportation, and connected and autonomous vehicles.

Devin Heath has been named executive director of Visit Natchez. He brings nearly 30 years of tourism and hospitality experience, most recently serving as general manager of the Embassy Suites Atlanta Galleria. His appointment is effective March 1.

Noah Brodsky has been named to lead the newly formed Travel + Leisure Co. in a new role as president and chief brand officer at the Orlando-based company. Previously SVP for Wyndham Hotel Group, his career includes chief experience officer at WeWork and VP of global brand management-Sheraton at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Named to HSMAI’s Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality in 2015, he serves as a committee co-chair at the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Brenda Hill was recently named assistant director at Visit Beaver County in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Previously, she had served for more than 14 years with Visit Pittsburgh, lastly as vice president of destination services.

Helen McCabe-Young has been named SVP- Marketing at Virtuoso, the exclusive international travel network. Her previous executive positions include luxury international hotel groups, as well as in the cruise sector at Silversea Cruises and for Princess Cruises’ ad agency, Campbell-Ewald.

* REGISTER *

RFP

Maine Office of Tourism, part of the Department of Community and Economic Development has issued an RFP for a tourism promotion agency as the current contract (now held by BVK in Wisconsin) comes to an end on June 30, 2021. The contracted agency would help develop and execute a statewide year-round tourism marketing program in key domestic and Canadian regions, and provides marketing services that include strategic planning, market analysis, market segmentation, positioning, branding, creative/production services, media services and web services, according to DECD. The contract will run through mid-2023, with two renewal periods through mid-2026.

JOBS

President & CEO — Visit Franklin, TN

President & CEO — Visit San Antonio

President & CEO — Visit Fairbanks

President & CEO — Big Sky Chamber of Commerce & Visit Big Sky, MO

President & CEO — Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority

Chief Executive Officer — Experience Olympia & Beyond, WA

President & CEO — Washington County Visitors Association, Beaverton OR

President & CEO — Visit Greenville, SC

Executive Director — Park County Travel Council, Cody, WY

Executive Director — Visit St. Mary’s, Leonardtown, MD

Executive Director —Visit Frederick, MD

Executive Director — River Parishes Tourist Commission, LaPlace, LA

Chief Executive Officer — Bermuda Tourism Authority, NYC

Vice President of Marketing — Visit Florida

Chief Marketing Officer— Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce

Vice President of Sales — Explore Asheville, NC

Business Analyst — Visit Grand Junction, CO

Tourism Director — Discover Front Royal, VA

PR/Communications/Social Media Manager — Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority

Sales & Services Manager — Santa Monica Travel & Tourism, CA

PR & Communications Manager, Visit SLO CAL, CA

Executive Director — Georgia Council for the Arts, Atlanta

Domestic Marketing Manager AND Digital Content Producer AND Research Specialist AND Planning & Budget Manager AND VIC Program Operations Manager — Georgia Department of Economic Development

Social Media Coordinator — Visit Puerto Rico, San Juan

Social Media Marketing Specialist — Douglas County Travel & Tourism, Inc., GA

Marketing & Communications Director — North Carolina Arts Council

Digital Marketing Manager — North Carolina Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources

Communications Specialist — State of Colorado Dept. of Human Services

Marketing Coordinator — City of Loveland, CO

Community Relations Specialist — City of New Berlin, WI

Public Engagement Coordinator — City of Brownsville, TX

Influencer Marketing Coordinator — NYC & Co., Remote

Business Development Coordinator — Visit Visalia, CA

Utah Director of Development — The Nature Conservancy, Salt Lake City

Research Analyst — Longwoods International

Community Manager — Arival

Marketing Manager AND Community & Customer Experience AND Creative Programming & Operations AND Senior Product Designer — Vacation With an Artist, Brooklyn (or Remote)

Chief Operating Officer AND Content Manager — RocketRez, Manitoba (or Remote)

Sr. Account Executive — Journera, Remote

Business Development & Content Creation Coordinator (P/T Remote) AND Sales & Project Manager (East Coast Remote) — Civitas

Sr. Specialist, Content Curation — Samsung Electronics Americas (TV Plus), Los Angeles

Director, Paid Social — Digital Matter, NYC

Jr. Data Engineer — CRANT, Coral Gables, FL

Sr. Software Engineer AND Probability Statistician AND Data Engineer AND Data Advisor AND Data Scientist — Entrada Insights, Salt Lake City (or Remote)

Communications Specialist — Simpleview, Tucson

Director of Content Strategy — Toptal, Remote

Director, Social Media — Philadelphia 76’ers

Sr. Director Marketing & Brand Engagement — LA 28, Greater Los Angeles

Integrated Marketing Manager — Afar Media, NYC

Content Specialist — TED Conferences, NYC

VP Marketing — Mina Group, San Francisco

Senior Director, Customer Engagement — Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Miami

Influencer Marketing Manager — SuperAwesome, NYC

Lifestyle Editor, Elite Daily — Bustle Media Group, Remote

Director of Personalization — Entercom, Denver

Vice President, Campaign & Creative Services AND Senior Social Media Manager AND 25+ roles — BerlinRosen, Currently remote

Account Executive/SeniorAccount Executive — B Public Relations, Denver

Blog/Content Writer — Internet Marketing Expert Group, Inc., Knoxville

Sr. Director Marketing – Tourism — Brookfield Properties, Los Angeles or Chicago

Director, Influencer & Ambassador Marketing — Rent the Runway, Brooklyn

Director of Strategic Planning — Friends of the High Line, NYC

Director Marketing & Communications — National Corvette Museum, Bowling Green, KY

Membership Manager — Museum of the American Revolution, Philadephia

Director of Customer Care/Social Media — Fanatics, Jacksonville, FL

Director / GM, US Market Strategy — DoorDash, Miami

Director of Marketing — Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, NY

Director of Marketing — Four Seasons Hotel, Silicon Valley, CA

Sr. Director, Marketing & Integrated Analytics — Zillow, Remote

Sr. Content Designer — Slack, San Francisco

Content Analyst — Instagram, NYC

Director of Content — Snap Inc., Los Angeles

Director, Global Events Marketing — LinkedIn, San Francisco/Silicon Valley

Global Marketing Manager, Content Development — Facebook, Wash., D.C. AND Director, International Marketing — Facebook, San Francisco

Developer & Enterprise Solutions Content Marketing Manager, SMB — Twitter, San Francisco

Content Strategist, Digital — Reddit, Remote

Director – Customer Marketing —Vimeo, NYC

Director of Storytelling — ACLU, NYC

Digital Content Editor — Entercom, Philadelphia

Marketing & Communications Manager, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Marketing Manager, Alumni Association— Stanford University, CA

Director of Marketing — The Julliard School, NYC

Is Time Running Out for Hotels? Elvis + the Vaccine, Weekly News Roundup

November 24, 2020 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr 2 Comments

American Hotel & Lodging Association has conducted a survey of hotel industry owners, operators, and employees from Nov. 10-13, 2020, with more than 1,200 respondents.

Key findings:

More than 2/3 of hotels (71%) report they will only be able to last six more months at current projected revenue and occupancy levels absent any further relief
One-third (34%) say they can only last one to three more months
63% of hotels have less than half of their typical, pre-crisis staff working full time
82% of hotel owners say they’ve been unable to obtain additional debt relief from their lenders beyond 2020
59% of hotel owners are in danger of foreclosure by their commercial real estate debt lenders, a 10% increase since September
52% of respondents stated their hotel(s) will close without additional aid

A national consumer survey commissioned by AHLA shows that 72% of Americans said they were unlikely to travel for Thanksgiving and 69% were unlikely to travel for Christmas.

Meantime, Bethesda-based Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is partnering with six other hospitality companies to bring 120 hotels with 22,000 keys under a new umbrella called the Curator Hotel & Resort Collection.

In addition to independent lifestyle hotels and resorts either owned or operated by Pebblebrook, the group includes Houston-based Benchmark Global Hospitality; Atlanta-based Davidson Hotels & Resorts; Seattle-based Noble House Hotels & Resorts; Portland, Oregon-based Provenance Hotels; Springboard Hospitality and Viceroy Hotels & Resorts, both out of Southern California. Jon Bortz, founder, chair & CEO says independent hotels can retain individuality rather than following a uniform brand standard. Curator will take care of participating hotels’ vendor negotiations, share business intelligence reporting and insights to improve operations and reduce costs, and will feature the hotels on its website.

Kansas City Kansas Convention and Visitors Bureau announced that the organization has changed its name to Visit Kansas City Kansas. The visual rebrand was designed by REACTOR, a local marketing and creative studio. “While our identity has changed, our mission remains the same – to generate economic growth in Kansas City, Kansas through tourism,” said Alan Carr, executive director.

North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitors Bureau has taken on a new name: Destination NMB. President and CEO Cheryl Kilday said the new name and logo is a good way to distinguish themselves from the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, while maintaining an amicable partnership.

A comment about virtual business meetings from Steve Paganelli, CDME, Head of Destination Marketing Americas, Tripadvisor in response to this 1990 United Airlines commercial (below):

“To all the naysayers who suggest that travel — particularly business travel and meetings & conventions will never be the same, we need only refer to the recent past or the way we conclude every virtual conference or Zoom call: ‘Great job; can’t wait until we can be back together in-person.’

In my estimation, business travel will be slow to return due to budgets and a misplaced belief that seeing someone through a screen can suffice for in-person interaction. As we’re all learning first-hand, that’s not the case. Virtual conferences will spur increased interest in being there in-person and I predict we’ll see higher attendance than pre-pandemic in 3-5 years as more delegates who weren’t able to attend previously get exposed virtually and through hybrid formats, and then push to be present in-person.

Mr. Gates teases one key reason at the end of this interview: New relationships don’t get initiated or forged virtually.” Note: Bill Gates predicts that 50% of business travel will disappear.

Replace “fax” with “email” in the script of this United Airlines ad from 30 years ago, and you’ve got mid-pandemic 2020. What do you think?

Tripadvisor will launch a subscription service, Tripadvisor Plus, in the coming months, giving members access to deals and perks on “tens of thousands of hotels” and 400,000-plus attractions. “Think of it as a travel club,” CEO Steve Kaufer told CNBC.

Tripadvisor says businesses that use its free Travel Safe tool (see Q&A with Todd Skelton, Tripadvisor) , which highlights health and safety information, saw a 16% increase in user engagement with their listings.

Read more: In partnership with Phocuswright, Tripadvisor has published a whitepaper, “2020 A Year in Travel: Charting the Travel Industry’s Path to Recovery.”

Qantas Airways is planning to require future international passengers to have a Covid-19 vaccination before they fly, said CEO Alan Joyce in an interview. On Australian television, he indicated that Qantas had discussed the idea with other airlines globally. “It’s going to be a common theme across the board,” he said.

China has another idea. Speaking at the virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit last week, President Xi Jinping appealed to world leaders to create a globally-accepted COVID-19 health-tracking system to enable the resumption of trade and travel. China is using a QR code -based health screening system that operates on Alipay and WeChat. It stores a passenger’s health and travel history to issue a traffic-light-colored QR code – green, yellow or red – that indicates that individual’s freedom to move around with access to public places. “According to an analysis by The New York Times, China’s QR code system, which stores health and travel data, appears to share information with the police,” reports The Independent in the U.K.

Affordable transatlantic carrier Norwegian Air has filed for bankruptcy. Reuters reports, “Growing rapidly to become Europe’s third-largest low-cost airline and the biggest foreign carrier serving New York and other major U.S. cities, Norwegian’s debt and liabilities stood at $7.4 billion at the end of September.”

Brightline Train will add a Disney World stop. The station would connect South Florida to Orlando’s largest attraction, including Disney’s four theme parks, two water parks and more than 25 hotels. No timeline for completion was given.

Did you know? To set an example for people to get the polio vaccine in 1956, health authorities had Elvis Presley take it. (These days, it might take many different influencers appealing to niche audiences all at the same time. Who would you suggest?)

Backstage at CBS Studio 50, before an airing of The Ed Sullivan Show, NYC Commissioner of Health Leona Baumgartner, right, holds the arm of Elvis while Assistant Commissioner Harold Fuerst administers the polio vaccine to the king of rock ‘n’ roll. The story is told on the website of NYC Department of Records & Information Services. — National Endowment for the Humanities

#eTS20 Keynotes, Conversations, and Actionable Takeaways

October 20, 2020 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

This week’s great lineup is anchored by Wednesday’s Keynote Panel with presenters from Google, Pandora, Facebook, and Tripadvisor on Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. ET. Shaun Aukland, Laura Fernandez, Carly Houlahan, and Steve Paganelli are “Brainiacs Without the Bluster.”

They’ll be sharing personal insights and insiders’ perspectives to suggest how 2021 will look.

Scroll through the week for a closer look at the topics, panelists, and speakers for Oct. 19 – 23.

ICYMI: Flashback Fridays — Takeaways from Attendees

| Oct. 12-16, 2020 |

…tourism marketers should be (and many are) going even more digital in terms of how we’re spending our marketing dollars. With resources more scarce, it’s more important than ever to make our budgets work for us. That desire to make sure we get the most out of our budgets also has many marketers looking farther down the funnel. We need to do more than inspire. We need to convert and, even more, connect that conversion to our marketing efforts so the ROI is plain to see. — Jake Brown, Content Manager, Visit South Bend Mishawaka

It has been reassuring that we have all realized that our new tourism market is our community and areas close to home. The focus on community will help to enlighten residents about what there is to do in their hometown and it will make them better ambassadors for our destinations. — Linda Jeffries, Director of Sales, Visit Beaufort

I specifically appreciated the practical takeaways from the DMO Marketing Stack and “Do Pictures Really Paint 1,000 Words” discussions. Learning what has worked from other leaders in the tourism space is incredibly helpful right now in a time when internal resources are spread thin. — Laura Soard, Marketing Director, Steamboat Springs Chamber, CO

Actionable Takeaways:

Monday | Day 8: Expedia

Examine funnel anew; look at core segments: Art community, sports community families.
Use native ads (+18% lift in purchase intent) and co-op ads to stretch dollars

Tuesday | Day 9: DMO Panel

Research says: Earning trust—with full disclosure—is singularly important
Boring but necessary: Stressing safety, honesty, friendliness
Suggest it’s more about planning than demanding
Shine a light on your outdoor assets, as in “For the Love of Tennessee”

Wednesday | Day 10: NYC & Company

Coalition & Community built “ALL IN NEW YORK” campaign
Rely on local leadership for braintrust, steering committee (we love where we live)
Grass roots recovery looks inward at all five boroughs
Profiles in the community = people stories
UGC and small businesses played a big role

Thursday | Day 11: Social Media

Enhanced functionality of Stories plays a “big, big” role in Facebook ecosystem and beyond
TikTok is not a “must have” for DMOs
Ask influencers to piggyback your messaging on their TikTok (and other) channels
Pandemic has reinforced the homegrown maker trend in social conversations
LinkedIn sees growing trend of “blending” personal & business

Friday | Day 12: Visual Messaging

Be relevant, be sensitive, be careful, be genuine to your core mission
Everything has changed but DMOs have an important communications job to do.
Do your research or work with an expert vendor because details matter: choice of image, color, placement, etc. make a marked difference
Need visuals? UGC contests are ‘micro-campaign’— engaging and super cheap