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Smart
Marketing Ideas
from the Front Lines
Taken
from the Summer 2005 edition of the Zeitgeist client newsletter
Here are some of our favorite responses to an ever changing marketplace:
CYE CYA
While many tourism professionals used to look at a gig in Florida as
akin to hitting the lottery, last year’s spate of hurricanes has
sobered even the most optimistic marketer. While leisure travelers can
spin the wheel and take their chances on booking later in the cycle
to maximize weather conditions, Meeting Planners are in a completely
different boat.
Which is why VisitFlorida
has unveiled an innovative “Meeting Planner Guarantee”.
In order to assure planners that last year’s storms were a fluke,
the State is offering “Cover
Your Event (CYE) Insurance” that would help cover
the costs of rescheduling if a named hurricane forces conventions or
meetings to be canceled. Early response is said to be very positive.
Smart. Very Smart.
BLOGGING 4 DOLLARS
Pennsylvania Tourism has jumped on the bloggin’ bandwagon by engaging
six sets of visitors to contribute weblogs to the State website.
The participants, chosen based on 500-word essays they submitted to
the department, are expected to complete three trips this year, each
lasting three to four days. The state is giving them $1,000 per trip
to pay for travel costs such as gas, lodging, food, and admission fees.
Although tourism officials have recommended specific regions for the
bloggers to visit (and each blogger was selected to represent a specific
niche market tied to Pennsylvania’s rich product mix), it’s
up to the travelers to decide their itineraries... and what to write.
You can read the blogs at www.visitpa.com.
VANITY PLATES ARE SO SWEET
In what appears to be a first for state tourism, Nevada
has begun issuing special license plates that both promote tourism AND
fund it!
$25 of every $61 collected for the new “Travel Nevada” plate
will go to support tourism building projects in rural Nevada. Among
the projects eligible for the funds will be informational kiosks, visitor
centers, gateway signage and infrastructure improvements. And, the State’s
TravelNevada.com URL will be prominently featured across the bottom
of each plate. Now, why didn’t we think of that?
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