COVID-19 Webinar: Wish You Were Here - Tourism in a New Age

Google Analytics

On June 16 IEDC hosted a webinar entitled “Wish You Were Here: Tourism in a New Age” which discussed the role economic developers can play in helping tourism industry partners working towards economic recovery. Daniella Middleton, Senior Vice President Development Counsellors International moderated the webinar with experts from three distinct regions:

  • Joe D’Alessandro from San Francisco Travel Association in San Francisco, California
  • Annette Rummel, Ph.D from Great Lakes Bay Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau in Saginaw, Michigan
  • William D. Talbert, III, CDME, from Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau in Miami, Florida

To set the scene for the webinar, Ms. Middleton started off by painting a picture of the current state of the US tourism sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a 40% decline in international arrivals in the US, and a 24% decline in domestic arrivals. While the rest of the economy is currently in a recession, the travel industry is bordering on a depression with 51% unemployment in the sector. The decline of the industry has a $1.2 trillion dollar impact on the national GDP, and local and state governments are missing out on $80 billion in taxes due to reduced travel. Although the road to recovery is long for the tourism sector, this week there have been some positive recovery signs with an increase in car travel compared to mid-March and growing readiness to travel again according to travel sentiment surveys.

Speaking on the situation in San Francisco, Mr. D’Alessandro highlighted the mayor’s early action in preventing big COVID-19 outbreaks in the city. By March 17, San Francisco was under a “shelter-in-place” order, which has led to one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates in US metropolitan areas. 

To re-open the tourism sector the San Francisco Travel Association, together with many partners and stakeholders, have enacted a 3-phase plan. During Phase 1, which took place in March and April, the focus was on flattening the curve. While gatherings were cancelled and potential visitors were encouraged to stay home, the organization connected with stakeholders to cooperate on reopening protocols and guidelines.  

In April, the San Francisco Travel Association activated Phase 2, which focused on media outreach while continuing stakeholder engagement. To highlight the importance of hospitality to the city and to attract new visitors to San Francisco D’Alessandro’s team started two campaigns: #turningthecitypurple, where building lit up purple lights in honor of hospitality employees, and #throughmywindow, where San Francisco residents were encouraged to share their window views to entice new people to visit. 

D’Alessandro expected to move into Phase 3 soon, once travel restrictions are lifted and consumers are ready to travel. In Phase 3, the organization will put their recovery marketing plan into action and work on establishing new metrics for success. Beyond connecting and cooperating with stakeholders, D’Alessandro advised others in this stage to develop appropriate messaging strategies, be honest with audiences, and talk to local and regional customers first. 

In Saginaw, Michigan the community had to cope with a 500-year flood at the same time as COVID-19 was spreading. Annette Rummel from Great Lakes Bay Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau spoke on the four pillars of focus for her organization’s approach:

  1. Community First

In keeping with this principle the local convention center pivoted to serving the local population in mid March, shifting the focus from tourism to community.

  1. Organizational stability and sustainability

To guarantee stability and sustainability of your organization Dr. Rummel stressed the importance of cooperation and connection with stakeholders at all levels.

  1. Advocacy

Dr. Rummel recommended a value-based approach to advocacy, and  to use simple words that allow your audience to connect with you. 

  1. Customer reengagement

In line with the first pillar, Community First, the Great Lakes Bay Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau only wants to re-engage prospective visitors once local residents feel ready. So far they’ve been using guerilla marketing techniques to send out a “When the Time is Right” message.

The tactics embraced by these previous two speakers are also visible in the work of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB), led by William Talbert. They are following a three step COVID-19 response strategy, “Educate, Mitigate, Stimulate.” Educate, or phase 1, encouraged visitors to stay at home while the GMCVB connected with stakeholders and partners on recovery planning. Several campaigns came out of these efforts, for both visitors and residents, such as Virtual Miami tours, #Miamimoments which recounts iconic moments in the city’s history, and #Miamieats which encourages residents to order directly from local restaurants for take-out. 

On June 9, the GMVCB announced that the Greater Miami area is open for business. Along with this announcement came a new marketing campaign called #Miamishines, and a Destination Pledge to keep visitors and residents healthy. The marketing campaign is primarily focused on those able to drive to the destination, and will be expanded as other modes of transportation return. 

When asked about their biggest concern for the future of tourism in their respective areas, all three speakers expressed their worry about future COVID-19 developments. D’Alessandro indicated that he’s worried about visitors bringing the virus with them, while Talbert’s concern is not knowing when there will be a vaccine, and Rummel is troubled by the possibility of PPE shortage.

With all three speakers addressing community engagement in their presentation, they agreed that moving forward this will remain crucial. In fact, Rummel said that moving forward without community involvement would not be in the best interest of any region. However, according to Talbert, cooperation with other organizations is still based on people’s personalities and that leadership needs to be open to it.

To continue engagement between tourism marketing entities and economic development organizations, Talbert advised interlocking boards and having representatives from one organization on the other’s board and vice-versa. D’Alessandro added that it’s important to have staff for these two organizations collaborate on issues, as consistent messaging will have better reach.

Lastly, when asked about the future of meetings and conventions, D’Alessandro said he expects them to be smaller in the near future and take on a hybrid approach with much more virtual attendance, but that they will return. Businesses realize the importance of conferences in their growth and associations depend on them, so none of the speakers doubted their return.