Destination Marketing - Do or Die!

The sudden and fast-paced transformation of the global economic landscape in the past 10 months has resulted in increased government intervention in business, not just the financial sector but other key sectors. One segment that has been sidelined (for now) is the tourism/MICE sector. Many countries and regions are seeing falls in the number of incoming visitors and are forecasting lower numbers and tourism receipts for the current year. People are travelling less - whether for business or pleasure.

This is precisely the time when government agencies responsible for promoting tourism need to step up.......its a lot of marketing of a destination; shouting out loud and being heard; being seen at all relevant tradeshows; frequently updating the destination website. The agency responsible for marketing the city as a destination for business-related events is more often than not a Convention Visitors Bureau (CVB). It can be quite a challenge for the CVB in times like these. Marketing and promotional efforts require money and the eyes of the general public, spending on marketing campaigns, advertisements etc is sometimes misread as being wasteful.

In tight economic times, government agencies are being cautioned against unnecessary spending (that means cut out the bells, whistles and frills). Unfortunately, destination marketing is made up of a lot of bells, whistles and frills and the more the better. I think full-on efforts are needed, in times like these, to promote destinations as M.I.C.E. ready.